Hooters firm fined as sign saga ends

Beauvoir Developments slapped with penalty in three year row over bright orange signs on New Zealand House on Water Street.

Transcript

00:00The former operator of the Liverpool branch of Hooters has been slapped with a fine as

00:05the saga over their controversial signs came to an end.

00:08Almost three years after they first went up outside the hotly debated venue on Water Street,

00:13Bevoir Developments Ltd, the firm which bought the brand to the city, has been hit with a

00:17financial penalty for putting up large orange displays without the permission of the City

00:21Council.

00:22The firm, which went into administration in January, was sentenced for the failure to

00:26comply with requirements and regulation over the making, retaining or furnishing of documents

00:31on two occasions in 2023.

00:35After years of wrangling and ignoring the City Council's requests, Bevoir will be forced

00:40to pay thousands of pounds for their failure to comply.

00:43The row first ignited in October 2022, just before the restaurant's opening a month later.

00:49While the city's licensing committee was happy to grant permission for the new venue to operate,

00:53the local authority's planning body was not keen on two large neon orange signs to be

00:57placed outside New Zealand House.

00:59As such, planning permission for those was rejected, however, this didn't stop the business

01:04who put the signs up anyway.

01:06An appeal to retain the signs was also thrown out by the planning inspectorate.

01:10Officials say there was no public benefit that could outweigh the harm identified by

01:14the signage.

01:15Further efforts were made to retain the brand's iconography outside the business with permission

01:19for slightly smaller signs, which were also knocked back by the council in August 2023.

01:24The business was given 14 days to take the signs down or face prosecution.

01:30This has now concluded in a courtroom with Magistrates fining Bevoir Developments and

01:34its director, Rachel Tansey, £1,500 with a victim's surcharge of £1,200.