Blake Lapthorn to run licensing seminar in Oxford
Blake Lapthorn's Leisure sector group is
hosting a licensing seminar to take place at the firm's Oxford
office on Monday 29 June.
The free seminar will run from 4-6 pm at the
firm's Seacourt Tower office and is aimed primarily at
those running or working in licensed premises. The seminar
has been designed to be practical and uplifting in that speakers
will address not only the difficulties that people working in the
industry might be facing in these tough economic times, but also
offer some solutions.
Paul Clerehugh, the award-winning chef and
owner of the Crooked Billet at Stoke Row near Henley will be
speaking on the highs and lows of running a pub, offering the
benefit of his many years in the industry. Neil Morgan from
Christie and Co will provide a talk
offering advice about how to 'survive and thrive' in the present
day and Bill Oddy, licensing officer from West Oxfordshire District
Council, will talk about the night time economy from a local
authority perspective. Phil Crier and Philip Somarakis,
partners in the Licensing team at Blake Lapthorn, will also be
speaking and provide talks addressing the specific legal issues
and/or concerns that licensees might have.
This seminar will provide those attendees
working in the industry with the opportunity to get together with
colleagues and local authorities to share experiences and ideas for
their mutual benefit going forward.
seminar programme
4.00 pm - Registration and refreshments
4.20 pm - Pavement drinking and external
management of premises (Phil Crier, partner, Blake Lapthorn)
4.40 pm - The night time economy from a local
authority perspective (Bill Oddy, licensing officer, West
Oxfordshire District Council)
5.00 pm - The highs and lows of running a pub
(Paul Clerehugh, The Crooked Billet)
5.20 pm - Surviving and thriving (Neil Morgan,
Christie & Co)
5.40 pm - Final thoughts (Philip Somarakis,
partner, Blake Lapthorn)
5.45 pm - Questions and answer session
6.00 pm - Close of seminar followed by
networking drinks
Speaker biographies
Phil Crier, partner, Blake
Lapthorn
Phil started his career in the Magistrates’
Court in the Manchester area before moving to Nottingham where he
was a Senior Licensing Clerk for two years before entering private
practice in 1988. In 1996, Phil moved to the licensing department
at Edge & Ellison (now Hammonds) and then joined Blake Lapthorn
as a partner and head of the Licensing team in 2000. During his
career, he has dealt with many high-profile and complex cases
including revocation and review proceedings and contested premises
licence applications for national operators. Phil has run training
courses on the Licensing Act 2003 and advised a number of the
team’s national clients in a consultancy capacity on the legal and
administrative effects of licensing reform. He also co-ordinated
the team's transitional licensing applications for clients during
2005. Phil is a regular speaker at national licensing conferences
and has also advised the British Institute of Innkeeping on the
questions for the NCPLH course. Phil is recognised as a specialist
in his field by the legal directories and has appeared in Courts
and before local authority licensing committees in all parts of the
country.
Bill Oddy, head of community services,West
Oxfordshire District Council
Bill is the senior manager in local
government; he has responsibility for regulatory services including
licensing, environment protection, and food health and
safety. Bill is working with the Home Office and DCMS
(Department of Culture, Media, and Sport) developing services and
sharing best practice on managing the night-time economy and in
2009 received national recognition for this work from Improvement
and Development Agency for local government (IDeA).
Paul Clerehugh , The Crooked
Billet
Paul Clerehugh has run The Crooked Billet
since 1990, having previously played guitar and worked with
various bands including John Otway and Wild Willy Barret. He is a
self taught chef, who won Time Out’s ‘Best Out of London’ award for
two consecutive years. The Crooked Billet is Britain’s first Gastro
Pub and in 1997 Paul achieved international renown when he cooked
sausages and mash for Kate Winslet's wedding guests. In 2000, Paul
opened a second restaurant, London Street Brasserie, which was
immediately voted restaurant of the year and gained Michelin
recognition.
He is a consultant for the second series of
Jamie Oliver’s School Dinners programme. The Crooked Billet is a
finalist on Local Food Hero, the TV series championing British
Food. Paul is a presenter on Mind Your Own Business (BBC1) a series
helping ailing businesses and occasionally cooks on Great Food Live
on the UKTV Food channel. Paul Clerehugh is the second pub chef
ever to win the highly coveted Craft Guild of Chefs award. Previous
winners include Paul Gayler, Brian Turner, Anton Mosimann and
Raymond Blanc.
Neil Morgan, director and head of public
houses, Christie and Co
Over the past five years, Neil has been
responsible for the acquisition and expansion of a number of small
private/regional pub companies. Neil was instrumental in managing
and concluding one of Christie + Co's most high profile campaigns
when, in August 2007, the company successfully completed the
letting of 637 pubs for Punch Taverns, just 15 months after
receiving the instruction to do so.
Philip Somarakis, partner, Blake
Lapthorn
Philip qualified in 1996. He spent five
years working as a court legal adviser in the Magistrates Court
Service between 1994 and 1999 before joining Challinors Lyon Clarke
where he helped to establish the Licensing department. He joined
Blake Lapthorn in 2000 and has experience in all aspects of
licensing applications throughout the country, including clubs law
and betting and gaming. During 2005, Philip represented clients in
over 70 variation and appeal hearings before licensing committees
and in the Magistrates’ Court. He has also advised on judicial
review proceedings including a recent successful appeal against the
police. Philip has conducted training to clients for the NCPLH
examination. He is also a specialist road traffic and regulatory
lawyer and has gained considerable experience appearing as an
advocate in courts throughout the midlands and south dealing with
due diligence defences for age-restricted products including
alcohol. He has advised a number of national retailers on the legal
and practical requirements in relation to due diligence
documentation.
