Government blocks Hertfordshire restaurant from serving alcohol due to previous illegal workers

Per Tutti, an Italian restaurant with four branches, had applied for a new licence to sell alcohol at its location on Watling Street in Radlett.

The previous licence was revoked by Hertsmere Borough Council in June 2024 after a Home Office inspection found three illegal workers at the restaurant and councillors raised concerns about “modern slavery”.

However, the previous licence currently remains active because an appeal has not yet been heard at a magistrates’ court.

A fresh application was made to the council in December, mirroring the terms of the existing licence but adding a condition requiring the restaurant to use an “external agency” to carry out right-to-work checks on all employees.

The council’s licensing sub-committee was set to consider the application at a meeting on Friday, 7 February, but it was cancelled at short notice after the application was withdrawn.

An objection had been raised by the Home Office’s immigration enforcement department.

Last year, they handed a £90,000 civil penalty to Per Tutti’s parent company, Il Carciofo Ltd.

It came after the Home Office had conducted inspections of all three Per Tutti branches – at the time – in Radlett, St Albans and Berkhamsted – and found a total of eight illegal workers, including at least one at each location.

Commenting on the new alcohol licence application, a Home Office official said that the involvement of Besmir Hoxha, the applicant for the new licence and previously believed to be the manager of Per Tutti in Radlett, “may undermine the prevention of crime and disorder”.

They said: “Hoxha was the manager and former director of the restaurant where three illegal workers were found working.

“The Home Office does not have confidence that the same person can uphold the prevention of crime and disorder objective.”

The previous licence was held by Olga Sipcenoka, who launched Per Tutti in St Albans alongside her husband in February 2016.

The new application from Per Tutti said they were “fully aware” of the issues raised by the Home Office and would “ensure that all conditions are adhered to”.

They said they have been using a system of right-to-work checks “operated by an independent company”, and that employees are “verified” before beginning work.

They added that they would keep an incident log of any notable incidents at the restaurant.

But Hertsmere Borough Council’s licensing officer noted that a condition around right-to-work checks had previously been suggested before the June 2024 committee meeting where it was decided to revoke Per Tutti’s licence.

At the time, the condition was not deemed “sufficient to promote the licensing objectives”. Members of the council’s licensing sub-committee were also “not satisfied that [Olga Sipcenoka] appreciated the importance of her role in upholding the licensing objectives”.

The borough council joined the Home Office in raising an objection.

The authority’s licensing officer said the issues with Per Tutti appeared to be “a widespread corporate management practice, whether intentional or negligent, rather than being localised to an individual premises or the individual decisions of a manager”.

They added that there are concerns Mr Hoxha was “part and parcel” of the same business that had already seen its licence revoked.