Business owners based in the "damp" Victorian railway arches behind Temple Meads station have said they fear being priced out after the company that owns them more than doubled the rent.
The landlords said that the area in The Dings is changing rapidly, with blocks of upmarket flats being built nearby and the location being at the heart of the Temple Quarter regeneration space. But what that means for the businesses who have been there for years appears to be paying a massive rent hike or facing the task of finding somewhere else to go.
The owner of the Cycle Shack, Steve Farrell, said he has been renting an arch under the main railway line in to Temple Meads for years, and the rent had been increasing by three per cent every year, according to his lease. But last month, he was shocked to receive a letter informing him that his annual rent of £12,247 would be increasing to a proposed £28,400 - and neighbouring businesses had received similar letters.
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Mr Farrell, whose son Caleb runs the bike rent and repair business, said there was no way he would be able to pay this. The Arch Company, which bought hundreds of railway arch business sites from Network Rail around six years ago, said market rents were increasing in the new ‘Temple Quarter’ area, but that it hoped they could reach a deal with all the businesses in the area.
Mr Farrell said the area around the Cycle Shack had been changing in recent years. The arch it occupies is on Oxford Street, just a stone’s throw from Temple Quay and Temple Meads station, and in the heart of the new Temple Quarter regeneration area.
The area had been run-down and empty for decades, and is still largely based around industry and business, but almost all the plots of land between the railway arches of Oxford Street and Temple Way have now been built on with glass-fronted office blocks or towers of apartments.
Earlier this year, the Government finally gave planning permission for hundreds of new homes and offices and a new secondary school on the other side of the railway line the Cycle Shack sits underneath, heralding more regeneration development coming on nearby Silverthorne Lane.
Mr Farrell said the change arrived on his stretch of Oxford Street five months ago, when Deliveroo opened up the first ‘supermarket’ of its kind. The takeaway delivery service has now gone into food shopping, and teamed up with Morrisons to create what is effectively a delivery store for Deliveroo riders to come and collect supermarket orders, without having to go to an actual Morrisons supermarket.
He was informed that Deliveroo is paying The Arch Company more than £46,000 a year for a six year lease on two of the arches at the end of the road, and Mr Farrell said that was now triggering massive increases for everyone else, including the Pasty Emporium next door to the Cycle Shack.
“Our lease is up, and we had been paying annual increases of three per cent a year,” he said. “This was absolutely fine, and we could manage that. But they phoned me in May or June to say you’re getting a rent review and it arrived in August.
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw how much they were asking for. It’s already tough for us. The weather’s been good so we’ve done alright renting the bikes, but we can’t get bikes to sell anymore, and times are hard for everyone,” he said.
“When Deliveroo came in, it was as if they’ve thought everyone can pay that now, which they can’t. The area is changing, but these arches won't. They are damp and only certain kinds of businesses can work in a location like this,” he said.
Mr Farrell responded with an offer back to The Arch Company stating how much rent he can afford. A spokesperson for The Arch Company said: “We are at the very early stages of a negotiation with our customers Pasty Emporium and Cycle Shack to agree their new rent level. We recognise the value they bring to the area and we hope we can reach an agreement with them.
“Market rents have increased at Bristol Temple Quarter, in line with demand in the area. However, we are committed to working with small and independent businesses if they can’t afford the new rent level – for example, by offering them a stepped rent with more gradual increases over time,” she added.
Read more about Temple Quarter:
Massive Silverthorne Lane development of homes and school given green light
Govt finally gives missing £95m to kickstart Temple Quarter regeneration
Chinese food wholesaler behind Temple Meads could become hundreds of student flats
Temple Island revamp deal finalised for 550 homes, hotel and offices
Deliveroo opens its first Bristol delivery store in partnership with Morrisons
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