Sushi restaurant wins bid to stay open until 2am despite locals concerns

By Charlotte Lillywhite, Local Democracy Reporter

A businessman has won a battle with neighbours to sell sushi until 2am on the high street in a bid to cover expensive rent and business rates.

Locals feared rowdiness on Putney High Street would get worse if the new branch of Sushi Co was allowed to open into the early hours.

But manager Talha Tahir said the family-run restaurant will help the area by providing another venue to better manage night-time customers who can eat inside instead of loitering on the high street.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service his priority is serving the community. The restaurant has permanently slashed prices for key workers by 30 per cent.

Mr Tahir said: “We understand they’re giving the best part of their lives to helping the community so we want to contribute how we can.”

He said the late hours are important as it is a new business facing expensive high street rent and business rates.

He added: “My experience and the things that I learned in the past will definitely help – especially connecting with the people, bringing the community together.”

The restaurant dropped the requested opening hours from 3am to 2am on Fridays and Saturdays, and from 1am to midnight for the rest of the week.

Mr Tahir said the restaurant currently gets around 10 to 15 customers an hour as it’s new.

He told Wandsworth council’s licensing committee on Thursday he first applied to open until 3am to meet expenses as the “rents are really high on Putney High Street”.

Neighbours objected to the plans, saying they’re already plagued by noisy drunk customers from other venues who they claim dump litter and hang around their homes.

They feared this would get worse with another venue staying open until the early hours.

Local resident Rochelle Pearson told the committee: “It’s a real problem and I would question why giving a 2am licence to a sushi establishment is a real necessity… you’re just encouraging them to stick around, you’re encouraging them to not move on and by the time you get to 2am, there’s no public transport et cetera, and it is exacerbating the issue that we currently have.”

Mr Tahir agreed there are general issues on the high street but said Sushi Co’s experienced team will make sure neighbours aren’t affected negatively by the restaurant.

He said: “I would like to have a healthy relationship, positive relationship, with [the community] and I would like them to be our customers in Sushi Co. I would love them to come and enjoy the food.”

Pictured top: Talha Tahir at Sushi Co, Putney High Street (Picture: Charlotte Lillywhite)