‘I work on people’s trust. This is the problem.’
Basrah Lounge, Third Avenue, Trafford Park(Image: Google)
A restaurant owner has blamed repeated legal breaches at his Trafford restaurant on his “too trusting” nature.
When officers from Trafford Council visited Basrah Lounge in January 2025, they found the venue did not have a licence, and customers were smoking shisha in an area that was deemed to be more than 50 per cent enclosed, in direct contravention to smoking regulations. Further visits, in March and October, revealed ongoing breaches of the Health Act when it came to shisha use and also raised concerns over potential non-compliance with UK employment laws, a licensing meeting heard this week.
Owner Ahmed Al-Amood accepted that “mistakes” had been made at the Trafford Park premises when it came to licensing and health rules, saying he had “put his trust” in others who had let him down. Mr Al-Amood told the licensing committee that he had been assured when he bought the venue that it had a licence in place.
When he found out it did not, he was “shocked”, he said. Mr Al-Amood added: “I work on people’s trust. This is the problem.
“So I trusted in the agent who sold me the property originally, and he kept promising me that, because the person who owned it had died, his son and daughter will provide it, don’t worry, it’s there […] It did cross my mind and I forgot to ask again.
“It’s my fault, I put my hands up. I should have been a bit more on with it. But I took their word at the time and I trusted them.”
When it was revealed that there was no licence in place, Mr Al-Amood said the premises manager at the time had then “promised” him she would apply for one, and, later, that this “was all done and all sorted”. A licensing application was, in fact, not submitted until October. Mr Al-Amood added he owns a number of businesses and typically works out of London.
The licensing committee questioned why they should have “any confidence” that there would not be “further issues on [his] watch” should they choose to grant the requested licence. They added they felt he had not done his “due diligence” in assuring rules were being complied with and “oversight” from him was “very lacking”.
Mr Al-Amood assured committee members that, since October’s visit, he now travelled to Manchester “every weekend”. He said: “From now on, I will always visit the site and I will always be there.
“I am so sorry if it comes out as if it was my fault 100pc. But I have to put some trust into some people or otherwise I can’t make it work. But I do my best and I have done my best.”
The committee also raised concerns about Mr Al-Amood’s understanding of licensing laws, saying licences are issued to a person and not a building and, as such, could not have been transferred when he bought the premises. Mr Al-Amood “should have known this”, they said, as he had been in the trade for almost two decades.
The licensing team at Trafford Council had objected to the licensing application bid, saying the premises had been “very consistently non-compliant” with health laws and, as a result, they had “no confidence that management have any real will to uphold their legal obligations”.
Officers claimed that, during the March visit, they found the windows in the smoking area to be “mostly closed”. They spoke to staff, who lowered them and made assurances they would stay down, they added. However, when officers returned later that evening, they alleged the windows were once more shut.
The legal representative for Mr Al-Amood told the committee the business was now “100pc compliant” with the public health rules after work had taken place at the restaurant. He added: “What you’ve got is historic difficulties relating to the smoking of shisha and we’re sorry about that.
“What you shouldn’t say is ‘well there were historic breaches so you can never have a licence granted’. That would be the wrong approach.”
Ultimately, the councillors on the committee opted to grant a licence to Mr Al-Amood. However, this is subject to licensing officers visiting the premises and confirming it was now legally compliant.
Committee chair Sarah Haughey said: “This is no let off. You really must ensure that you don’t take your eyes off this because it feels like there’s been quite a lackadaisical approach to licensing and we didn’t all agree with granting this licence.”