Times are tough enough without a local council flunky (with all his job and pension security) damaging a restaurant business in the middle of nowhere, where owner Ruth Hanson does all the kitchen prep herself, the washing up, the bookings, the till, payroll and then cooks the meals.
The restaurant is called Hansom in Bedale, North Yorkshire. To give you some idea of its remoteness, it's seven miles from Northallerton, 31 miles from York and 36 miles from Middlesbrough.
So, on occasions, her husband Mark, who has a job of his own, gives up his evenings to chauffeur some guests to the restaurant from their homes.
Times columnist Giles Coren, who first alerted his readers to the scandal, pointed out that when he reviewed the place last year (he gave it a glowing recommendation), he had to hitchhike to the place from Northallerton station. No Ubers hanging around.
No local train and no metro.
Enter Chris Doyle, licensing enforcement officer for North Yorkshire council, who has written to Ruth saying in his view Mark was operating a taxi service and that would require a licence.
That would be damned expensive, the admin time-consuming and in truth a complete waste of time. Not unreasonably, Ruth responded that Mark was her husband, he was unpaid, and there was no charge for the journey. That didn’t satisfy the pipsqueak.
He said there was a commercial benefit, and unless she sought a licence (or scrapped the free rides), the council may take legal action.
Why would the council want to damage a little business in the middle of nowhere? You would have thought Coren had a great last paragraph to his column: ‘’Yeah, you sue her, you absolute local heroes.
‘’You teach Ruth and Mark a lesson for being great at their jobs, for treasuring their customers, for trying to create a little joy and make ends meet in a collapsing world.’’
We must stop this council flunkie from killing off a great one-woman restaurant - Kelvin Mackenzie
|North Yorkshire Council
North Yorkshire council is Conservative-controlled and has just increased council tax by five per cent - around 25 per cent of the money goes into pensions for council employees like Chris Doyle.
I saw a stat the other day saying that thanks to minimum pay being hiked, national insurance being increased, and business taxes being raised, three restaurants and pubs are shutting every day. Mr Doyle, who I’m sure will say he's just doing his job, is adding to the problem.
P.S., I thought you might like to see what Ruth’s menu looked like. This one is called the Sunday Sharing Feast.
Starters
Smoked leek and pickled croque monsieur.Whitby crab crumpet, pickled cucumber, garden herbs.Heritage beetroot, whipped goat’s curd, wild garlic mushroom.
Main course
Wensleydale chicken, apricot and sage wellington. Honey and mustard mash, buttered spring greens, cider sauce.
Dessert
Yorkshire rhubarb and ginger trifle.
Cost: £55.
Thanks to Coren’s column and this article (plus my tweet), I suspect bookings will explode as potential customers see the injustice of Ruth’s business being damaged by the council, and will want to support her.
Great food will be an added bonus. In turn, that will give Mark a much-earned night at home.