A free-entry London Fields record shop says a new block across the road has brought complaints, while Hackney promotes a nightlife map for the same borough.
LONDON, England (Shore Roar) – Every London neighbourhood that has ever bragged about its nightlife eventually meets the person who bought a flat nearby. This autumn that collision has a face in Hackney, where a free-entry record shop and events space called the BBE Store is fighting a licence review after complaints about noise from a new residential building across the road.
What the BBE Store says is happening
Time Out’s report on the BBE Store’s licensing fight describes a free-to-enter shop in London Fields, opened in 2016 by the BBE record label, which was founded in 1996 and whose initials stand for Barely Breaking Even. According to the store, a new residential building went up opposite after the pandemic on a street that is mostly commercial and industrial. The store says nearby businesses, itself included, have faced noise complaints from that building, and that Hackney Council has begun a review of its licence.
The store says it has tried to adapt. With the council’s help it installed noise limiters and acoustic curtains, and it cut evening opening to three nights a week by dropping Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays. It says the complaints have continued regardless. It is now trying to raise 20,000 pounds to pay for lawyers and planning consultants, and it has a petition running as well.
What Hackney Council says
A fair account needs the other side, and the sources give only a thin version of it. A Hackney Council spokesperson told Time Out: “We have not taken any steps to close the BBE Store in London Fields.” That is not the same as saying a review is not under way, and the article itself reports that the review has started, so the dispute is about outcome rather than process. I could not find the residents’ account in any of the sources, and I will not guess at it.
It is also worth noting how many venues are in the same boat. The Time Out piece lists the Sekforde Pub in Islington, Blondies Brewery in Leyton and Walthamstow Trades Hall as facing similar noise-related licensing pressure. So this is not a one-shop story; it is a pattern across East and North London, and Shoreditch’s own late-night operators will be watching how each case lands.
The same borough, a nightlife map
Meanwhile Hackney Council has been promoting the other side of its night-time economy. Time Out reported on 28 October that the council has launched an interactive night map as part of its Hackney Nights campaign, which began in 2019. The map shows nearby toilets, drinking water and phone-charging spots, venue opening times, wheelchair-accessible places, and live bus routes and cycling paths for getting home.
Access is by QR code on posters in venue windows and on keyrings around the borough, or via hackneynights.co.uk/map. Every venue featured on it is council-accredited under the scheme. Time Out’s writer Eloise Feilden calls the borough “positively heaving with stellar spots for a night on the lash”, and few people who have spent a Saturday in Hoxton or Dalston would argue.
Accreditation and the noise question
The council’s Hackney Nights page explains what the accreditation involves. Venues that sell alcohol commit to staff training on vulnerability, welfare, Ask for Angela and drink spiking, zero tolerance of violence against women and sexual harassment, customer safety measures, inclusion, and a robust noise policy. In return, accredited venues get a 30 percent reduction in late night levy fees and access to a portal with training, alerts and networking.
The noise policy line is the one that matters here. If the council expects venues to maintain strong noise controls and the BBE Store says it has installed limiters and acoustic curtains, then the question becomes whether those measures are judged enough. I do not know whether the store is accredited, and none of the sources say so, so I will not suggest a connection. What can be said is that the same Time Out map article also mentions the Lord Napier Star in Hackney Wick, which it says is threatened by plans for flats next door that could cost it its late licence, and the dive bar All My Gods, reported as closing.
Why a Shoreditch column cares
London Fields sits north-east of Shoreditch, so strictly this is a neighbour’s problem. But the arithmetic is the same on both sides of the borough. Music venues, bars and shops that build a reputation do so on the strength of crowds, noise and late opening hours, and homes that arrive later bring a perfectly legitimate wish for sleep. Neither side is a villain. The test of a city that wants a night-time economy is whether the people deciding these cases treat a record shop as the cultural infrastructure the map suggests it is.
The Time Out report notes that DJ and broadcaster Gilles Peterson has been pictured at the store, and that the Australian musician Audrey Powne held an album launch there. Those details point to a place with a role in the music scene beyond selling vinyl. If you want to help, the store’s fundraiser and petition are the routes the article describes, though I would check the current totals directly instead of relying on my figures.
For anyone who wants a laugh with their licensing hearing
The comedy side of London has a long tradition of poking fun at councils and noise rules. The London Prat keeps the London Prat’s comedy archive, a page of British humor news and a Cockney rhyming slang explainer for anyone writing a very polite objection. You can find more of my Shoreditch culture reporting at The London Prat, and Bohiney Magazine carries the same habit across the Atlantic. The main page at The London Prat is the place to begin.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/
