Glasgow dessert shop accused of 'putting profit before safety'

A Glasgow dessert shop has been accused of “putting profit before safety” after opening late for almost four years without permission.

Crumble, on Pollokshaws Road, has been refused a late hours catering licence — required to serve food beyond 11pm — after councillors heard the venue was already operating into the early hours.

The applicant, Jason Singh, of Apex Fast Foods Ltd, said he “wasn’t aware” his initial licence bid had been refused in 2022.

He told the city’s licensing committee that he had been opening until 12.45am from Sunday to Thursday and up to 1.45am on Friday and Saturday.

The dessert shop is on the ground floor of a tenement, where late hours catering licences will generally not be granted beyond midnight if there are residents above.

Cllr Alex Wilson, SNP, who chairs the licensing committee, said: “You haven’t been granted a licence yet and you’ve just kept your business operating unlicensed.

“The public are using your establishment, what happens if someone gets injured? You are not covered by insurance. That means they can sue you.”

He added operating while unlicensed and uninsured is “incredibly serious when you’re dealing with the public”. “You are selling items to the public outwith core hours.

“If anything happens to a member of the public, that’s on you. You are putting profit before safety, that’s serious.”

The applicant, who had requested permission to open until 1am through the week and until 2am on Friday and Saturday, said he had been “chasing up” the council to find out the outcome of his first application.

He said his premises, on a “busy thoroughfare road”, contributed “positively to the community”. Mr Singh said he would uphold the licence regulations and provided two letters of support from neighbours.

Cllr Wilson said: “Something would have been sent out to tell you that the application was refused.”

He added the applicant was “putting the blame on the council” when it was his own responsibility to “know the rules and regulations”.