Oldham takeaway reinspected after poor hygiene rating row

Friends Restaurant, in Hathershaw, was issued a one food hygiene rating in January after an inspector from Oldham Council identified “significant issues” – one of which was the chef refusing to handover a food safety management booklet.

Now, more than 100 days later, the Ashton Road takeout has been awarded four stars following a visit from an officer last Thursday (May 9) – much to the relief of owner Hivi Sadar.

The 36-year-old said: “The lady said she was sad to not give us five stars because she was really, really surprised how clean we were.

Owner Hivi Sadar told The Oldham Times that it's a good feeling to be awarded a high hygiene score (Image: Newsquest)

“We know we didn’t deserve the last score, so it was really upsetting - we have never experienced anything like this, but our customers were really supportive.”

Previously, a statement from the council stated that a reinspection “would never have been needed if the premises were clean in the first place”.

However, when the officer visited last week the cleanliness was not an issue, so too when The Oldham Times reviewed the establishment last month.

Instead, there were three issues raised. Speaking about them Mrs Sadar continued: “The first was that the booklet was out of date so we have to buy or download a new booklet.

Surfaces sparkled behind the bar at Friends Restaurant when The Oldham Times visited last month (Image: Newsquest)

“Another was with the ceiling downstairs because we had a painting issue but it was just a tiny area – the painting is crumbling, we’ve already sorted this.

“The other was that there was only two staff members working at the time and one of them forgot to turn on one of the fridges.”

Despite paying £198 for reinspection the business had to wait days shy of three months from when they signed off for it before a food inspector came – the authority promises to attend three months from the booking.

She added: “We’re waiting until it’s uploaded online but it is a good feeling to be given four stars.

The Ashton Road premises is set to deliver once more (Image: Newsquest)

“Our next step is to get back to business by the end of this week.”

In order for the restaurant to trade at capacity it needs to be able to work in partnership with Uber Eats, after the company suspended its account last month.

On April 15, the delivery giant informed Friends Restaurant that it would not be servicing the business until it received a rating of two or above – the same policy is held by Deliveroo, while Just Eats demands its clientele have at least a three.

Mrs Sadar, who has two young children, estimated her business lost out on roughly £10,000 worth of delivery orders – due to them not having an in-house delivery driver, as she claimed they made a minimum of £3,000 each week through deliveries.

Friends Restaurant lost out on an estimated £10,000 worth of delivery orders after its account was suspended by Uber Eats (Image: Newsquest)

A spokesperson for the council said: "Our staff are here to offer advice and support so it’s good to know that businesses are working with them and taking advice on board.

"After a reinspection and significant improvements at the business, the council has been able to issue a food hygiene rating score of four. We never want to hand out a one star rating but we do it for a reason.

“Earlier this year, we revealed 87 per cent of food businesses across the borough are rated four and above for hygiene and we’d like to see that figure increase."

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