The Class International Saga

The former Fairline/Arista Foods/Class International closed down a few months ago amidst mysterious circumstances. I'm not going to repeat the stories I've been told since none of them have been confirmed by a primary source.

However what has happened since (and a bit before) is a matter of public record. Arista/Class was owned and run by sub-lessees of the principal leaseholder. It appears that the sub-lease was made after the lessee was refused permission to turn the premises into a restaurant in 2013.  Following the sudden, and apparently non-voluntary departure of the Arista crew, the leaseholder again applied for permission to turn the premies into a restaurant. On this occasion the application was made under the permitted development provision which meant that the Council is obliged to grant it. 

The permission was duly granted but, a provision of this type of permission in essence limits its scope to a single shop. The leaseholder, however, started a conversion of all three shops. He was duly reminded by the Council that this was going beyond the permission he was granted.

This week a court notice has been taped to the front of the shop requiring that all works cease. I am told that it's likely that this court order is at the behest of the freeholder rather than the Council.

So it's a matter of wait-and-see before we know what will become of the old Fairline.