Wingstop wants to open in part of the old TGI Fridays at The Brewery until 2.30am at weekends. Two council teams object to the hours. Councillors decide on 2 October.
Wingstop has applied to open a restaurant at The Brewery in Romford, trading until 2.30am on Fridays and Saturdays. Two of Havering Council’s own teams have objected to those hours, and a licensing sub-committee will decide the application on Friday 2 October.
The unit is 11A The Brewery, RM1 1AU, part of the former TGI Fridays. The applicant is Lemon Pepper Holdings Ltd. The council received the application on 11 August (Havering Council, licensing officer’s report).
What Wingstop has asked for
- Alcohol: 10am to midnight, seven days a week, on and off the premises
- Late-night hot food: 11pm to midnight Sunday to Thursday, and 11pm to 2am on Fridays and Saturdays
- Opening hours: 10am to 12.30am Sunday to Thursday, and 10am to 2.30am on Fridays and Saturdays
The application says alcohol will be sold only alongside a meal. It argues the alcohol hours are no longer than the old TGI Fridays licence. The only extension it seeks is hot food until 2am at weekends (application, via Havering Council).
No residents or other members of the public objected.
Why the council’s teams object
The Brewery sits inside Romford town centre’s cumulative impact zone. In that zone, council policy says new licences that add to existing problems “will normally be refused” unless the applicant shows they will not.
The licensing authority says it is “not opposed in principle” to a licence at the site. Its objection is to the hours. Its representation makes four points:
- The 2.30am weekend closing is later than the council’s guideline hours for restaurants, takeaways and even nightclubs
- There are homes about 50 metres from the unit
- Alcohol stopping at midnight while food runs to 2am could cause conflict with diners refused a second round
- A late dine-in venue could become a “post-pub” destination and delay people leaving the area
It adds that the old TGI Fridays licence has lapsed and has no bearing on a new application. It also says it contacted the applicant’s solicitors on 20 August and had no reply more than two weeks later (Havering Council, responsible authority representations).
The council’s environmental health team objects on noise. It says the application does not show how noise from customers, delivery drivers and the extraction system would be controlled for those living nearby. It would not object to the hours the previous business had, 10am to 12.30am every day.
How late is 2.30am for Wingstop?
The licensing authority checked the chain’s own list of branches. Most close between 10pm and midnight, it says. The latest listed is 4am in Birmingham, but that branch is delivery only. The next latest is 2am in Leeds.
If this application were granted as submitted, the council says Romford would have the latest-opening Wingstop dine-in restaurant in the country.
The council’s guideline weekend closing times are:
| Type of premises | Friday and Saturday |
|---|---|
| Restaurants and cafes | Midnight |
| Takeaways and fast food | 1am |
| Pubs and bars | Midnight |
| Nightclubs | 2am |
Source: Havering statement of licensing policy, as quoted in the licensing authority’s representation.
What it means for you
A Wingstop is likely to come to The Brewery either way. Neither objection opposes a restaurant there. The question for councillors is how late it can trade.
The hearing is at 10.30am on Friday 2 October at Havering Town Hall. The papers are public, and the meeting page lists the full application (Havering Council, Licensing Sub-Committee, 2 October 2026). The time to make a representation has passed, so only the parties who already objected will speak.
The sub-committee can grant the hours asked for, grant shorter hours or refuse. Anyone who took part can appeal to the magistrates’ court within 21 days of the decision. We will report the outcome.
Another late-licence application in the town centre is in our Jukebox licence hearing story.
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