Lidl is set to open its first ever in-store pub in the UK.
Yep, you read that correctly - the weekly big shop could be about to get a little more interesting after the budget supermarket chain won a court battle to install a controversial tap room.
After a fire destroyed the Lewis Tavern just outside Belfast in 2019, Lidl began to explore the possibility of operating a public house in its nearby store.
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A year later, the German company secured planning permission for a boozer in its shop in Dundonald, Northern Ireland.
Under the plans, the owners of the Tavern were going to surrender their licence, allowing the chain to pump £410,000 into developing its own watering hole..
At the time, a spokesperson for Lidl said it would operate 'an off-licence service along with a public house'.
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However, Philip Russell Ltd, a NI-based wholesaler who runs a number of off-licences, raised a formal objection against the plans, arguing that they had failed to show that there were 'inadequate licenced premises' near the site as required under the Licensing (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, and plans were put on ice.
He claimed it was an attempt by the giant to open an off-licence, something it had tried and failed to do several years earlier.
But following a legal battle, the High Court in Belfast dismissed Mr Russell's appeal this week.
The decision, which came on 27 January, now paves the way for the long-awaited pub to open within the Dundonald store in the near future.
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Initial plans suggested that the pub would be able to seat 45 customers and will sell draft and bottled beer, wine, cider, and spirits.
The report from judiciary NI states: “Ultimately, the proposal will provide a public house facility that is located within the commercial/retail and transport hub of the vicinity and where significant numbers of people are attracted daily from within and from outside the vicinity. It will replace the existing licensing facility within the vicinity. It will not result in any increase in public house provision. Indeed, the contrary is the position.
"It may well be that it will not meet the full demand for licensed premises within the vicinity given its size and lack of food provision. That however does not mean that the [respondent] fails to establish inadequacy.”
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The judge also noted that Lidl's proposed investment was a significant one, and dismissed Philip Russell Ltd's case.
"It will invest a significant sum of money – at least £410,000 into fitting out the public house." Justice Colton concluded. "I accept that it has concluded that the public house will be profitable, knowing that if it closed through lack of profitability then an evitable consequence would be that the off-licence permission would lapse following any such decision. I am satisfied that this is a bona fide application and that the applicant fully intends to operate the premises as a public on/off-licence. I am satisfied that it meets the statutory requirements and there is no good reason for refusing the application.”
When the pub officially opens, it might be advisable to stay away from Lidl's iconic middle aisle after sinking a few pints, if you want to avoid coming home with a new vacuum cleaner or pancake maker.
The LADbible Team