A popular Bangladeshi restaurant which counted UK home secretary Sajid Javid among its many high-profile diners has lost its licence to sell alcohol on the premises over a series of breaches.
Jilabi restaurant in Birmingham had been raided by West Midlands Police recently, which led to the arrest of three illegal immigrants from Bangladesh working in the restaurant. The three men have since been deported back to their home country and the police force had called on Birmingham City Council to undertake an urgent review of the restaurant.
"It was not accepted by the committee that the illegal employees discovered had only been there a short period of time," the Council concluded this week as it revoked the alcohol licence, the toughest possible sanction available to the local authority in such cases.
"The sub-committee's reasons for revoking the licence are due to concerns by West Midlands Police and licensing enforcement in relation to an alleged offence of employing illegal immigrants and multiple breaches of licensing conditions over a significant period of time," it said.
The restaurant is extremely popular in the area, with many customers writing into the council in support of Jilabi’s excellent customer service and raising money for charity. However, the Council found its operations “shambolic”.
"I apologise profusely. I am sorry for having to bring everybody here,” said Abdul Rouf, one of the managers of the restaurant who said he has now hired an administrator to help with checks and paperwork, installed CCTV and updated staff training since the police inspection.
“I'm responsible for everything that went on and going forward I have taken on board our mistakes. They happened inadvertently and I want to reassure that nothing of this nature or any other mishap will occur under my watch," he said.
The licence revocation is expected to have a severe impact on the restaurant’s day to day business.