Nexum considering position on all-inclusives
Nexum Leisure, the company run by Paul Kinsey is considering its position on all-inclusive drinks offers after Devon and Cornwall police condemned the offer in a letter sent to all licensees.
The company runs the Venue nightclub in Torquay where 40 licensees have met to discuss concerns about all-inclusive offers ahead of a police visit to Torquay harbour yesterday to highlight the issue.
Darren Sadler, manager of Valbonne's night club, invited 40 licensees operating in the Bay to the get-together last week. Sadler, who has been running nightclubs for 16 years, said police licensing officer Neil Stanlake attended the meeting at the Grosvenor Hotel as well as representatives from all of Torquay's nightclubs.
Now the town centre club has announced it has scrapped its "all-you-can-drink" Friday night promotion to a three-hour "Happy Hour".
The club he manages in Higher Union Street was criticised twice at two separate hearings sitting at Exeter Crown Court in July over the cheap drink promotions.
Sadler told the Herald Express: "I organised a meeting for all of the licensees to attend and 40 of them were asked to attend to informally chat about drink promotions and the mandatory code that was coming in and whether there was anything that we could do as responsible licensees to change the face of the late night economy."
The new three-hour happy hour promotion, starting at 9.30pm, will feature certain drinks costing as little as 99p.
He said he was also looking at putting on more entertainment, adding that cheap drinks promotions were in response to competition from drink deals available at supermarkets. He added: "These cheap deals stop people going into the supermarket and buying cheap drinks and instead they come here and drink in a controlled environment."
A spokesman for Nexum Leisure said they would be happy to discuss the police's letter once they have seen it, adding they were "currently considering their position" regarding all inclusive drinks promotions.
