Nottingham business owners have expressed their frustration with ongoing construction work taking place across a number of shops on a busy city centre street. Shops on Wheelers Gate which is just off Market Square are part of a huge restoration project aimed at preserving the historic shop fronts.
The restoration work, which started over a year ago, has had a number of difficulties such as Covid restrictions and the landlord being placed into administration. The building work is still ongoing despite it being stated to finish in July or August this year.
While several of the shops have had the building and security materials removed from the front, they appear far from ready. Some of the stores need repainting and further work internally.
Read more: RAF explains reason for low-flying aircraft over Nottinghamshire
The restoration work is the result of £700,000 funding from Historic England in association with the City Council to preserve the traditional Grade II buildings. It was thought that some of the original stores would potentially return to the premises but it is unclear if this is the case.
The building work is a year over schedule after being set to finish in August 2021 but it was then moved back to an estimated date of being completed by August 2022. This is due to Glendine Properties who managed the property going into administration, covid difficulties and also the need for some additional work. The work continues and is now scheduled to be finished in November..
The city council says heritage-led regeneration schemes like this take a while to be delivered and will be worth the wait.
David Heath is the owner of J. Herbert Jewellers which is one of the remaining independents on the street. He is due to retire after 33 years on Wheeler's Gate. He was originally approached by his landlord to become part of the refurbishment but objected to it and decided not to take part. He is due to retire in October after 33 years and is unsure what will happen to the building after he retires.
David said: "The construction has been very disruptive and it has blocked the front of the shop, the signs have pointed pedestrians away from our store, the noise and other factors where they have set off the fire alarm several times. We've had our phone lines cut several times too so it's been 15 months of disruption."
He added: "We were approached by our landlord during Covid and but when we got the details of the plan, we objected to it because it would have been a major change to our set up. No one offered us any compensation for the disruption which they said originally would be two weeks but each shop has taken a minimum of eight weeks or three months."
David is glad that they objected to the work after seeking legal advice. His shop underwent a refurbishment in 2018 and he felt the proposed works weren't necessary. David says he has not had any further communication and reporting any problems with the building is difficult."
"We've had to report fire alarms going off last week. It started on a Tuesday and went on for four days with no response to it or our calls. To get businesses back onto the street, shorter leases would be a great benefit. We could have potentially sold this shop if there was a short lease on offer but they only allow ten-year leases."
Lena Aldairi is the manager of The Bag Company which was the first of the shops to be refurbished and reopened. The stock in the shop needed to be cleaned after the construction finished in late 2021.
"The barriers have been blocking people from seeing the shop then there has been a lot of noise. The shop next door has been empty for ages and the fire alarms were going off for days which was incredibly noisy," she said.
"The situation with the recession in England is already deterring people from going shopping. It has been quiet but the construction has definitely affected that and a lot of people think there are no more shops here. They assume that most of the shops are closed so they don't bother walking down this far."
Lena added: "The work started in November in the middle of Covid but they have been taking a long time to finish it. What are they doing in that time? If you were doing a new building then it would be done by now."
A City Council spokesperson said: “It had originally been hoped to finish by the end of August but a number of delays mean the scheduled completion date is now November. Steady progress is now being made and no further delays are expected.
“Large heritage-led regeneration schemes like this take a while to be delivered but, as can be seen with a similar project on Carrington Street, the wait will be worth it. All neighbouring businesses will benefit from the restored and improved appearance of the buildings.”
Read more:
- 'Massive loss' as Nottingham gym announces it must close for good
- Council refutes claims from homeless couple living in Nottinghamshire town square
- Neighbours fear 'nightmare' plan for street in 'overcrowded' town
- Crackdown on admission as new Nottingham Skybar launches
- The latest What's On News from Nottinghamshire Live
