When Ahmad Alaswad opened his shop on one of north Manchester's busiest high streets, he had high hopes of it becoming a success.
Having run a florist's in Dubai, he dreamed of bringing his skills and expertise to the UK. He set his sights on Manchester and, after exploring his options, came across the ideal location for a shop.
Sandwiched between a chemist and a dental laboratory in Moston Lane, the building was owned by a friend of Mr Alaswad's. The rent was reasonable and a lack of competition in the area meant he would have the market all to himself.
Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features.
It seemed like a no brainer. But, as Mr Alaswad was about to find out, Dubai and Moston are very, very different places.
After kitting out the shop in a stylish, modern interior, The Flower Place opened in May of last year. Its arrival came as a breath of fresh air to many who felt Moston Lane had become overrun by takeaways and off-licences - the road was once dubbed 'alcohol alley' due to the number of licensed premises.
But while the eye-catching bouquets and floral arrangements regularly draw compliments from customers, they have not sold as well as Mr Alaswad had hoped.
"Sometimes we make no sales in a day," he explained. "It's not good for business.
"Everyone that comes in says it's a beautiful shop and we are lucky to have a florist but people here have low budgets.
"When I tell my friends I'm based in Moston Lane, they say it's not a good area. We've been here a year and have tried to do a lot of social media but it's not had much impact."
Mr Alaswad's shop has also been targeted by shoplifters on several occasions. It's little surprise then that he is considering moving the business elsewhere.
Yet he is also encouraged by multi-million plans to regenerate Moston Lane. Manchester council recently announced proposals to improve the run-down high street through a range of projects, including a new public square and improved green spaces.
Aided by the council’s successful Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) bid, the plans are aimed at encouraging residents to spend more time in the centre of Moston by making it a 'greener, more attractive and sustainable destination'.
The council says visiting Moston Lane is currently made difficult due to the volume of traffic, informal car parking and limited opportunities for meeting and spending time in the area with friends and family. The plans also seek to encourage more sustainable travel, including walking and cycling, by creating 'improved and safer streets'.
A public consultation period was launched this week and the early proposals have largely been welcomed by residents and business owners, including Mr Alaswad. He says the changes could be enough to persuade him to remain in the area and hopes the council will take inspiration from successful high streets elsewhere in Manchester.
"There are no walking areas and nothing nice to see here," he said.
"If you go to Didsbury village, you see a lot of people walking and there are a lot of restaurants, coffee shops and ice cream shops. Maybe they can do that here to attract people."
Donna Carlin, the owner of Stax hairdressers, is another who is encouraged by the plans to invest in Moston Lane.
"The pictures look really good," she said. "I can't imagine it looking like that down there but if that's what they are going to do, it will be the best thing ever."
Despite her optimism, Ms Carlin is worried that any new public spaces would be targeted by vandals. Moston Lane and the surrounding area has been blighted by high levels of crime and anti-social behaviour in recent years, she says.
"If you see a police car going up the road, it means nothing to you," she said. "It's every two minutes.
"I've saved two people from being mugged over the years. People are frightened of coming out of their houses at night.
"We've had machete attacks and knife crime. People call it Muggers Lane now.
"They can make down there really nice but nothing is going to stop people vandalising it."
Takeaway owner Sameer Khan is another fed up with the amount of crime in the area. He says he and his staff have been targeted by local gangs on several occasions.
"They have to work on Moston Lane because it's not a safe area," he said.
"It's got a bad reputation. There's a lot of crime.
"You can't leave your car for more than five seconds or there will be no car there. We have had five cars stolen in the last three years.
"Some people are nice but there are a lot of gangs around here. It makes us scared. Cheetham Hill and other areas are a lot better."
Mike Willner owns Moston Lane Appliances, a staple of Moston's high street for several decades. He grew up in the area and has seen plenty of changes over the years.
In his view, Moston's reputation is worse than the reality.
"We've been here for 40 years and we do get a lot of customers that say they are reluctant to come down Moston Lane due to the crime," he said.
"I think the perception of the crime rate is exaggerated. You get gangs fighting in Chorlton and other areas too. It's not just here."
Mr Willner is cautiously optimistic about the potential regeneration, which he described as 'long overdue', and said he hoped it would improve the appearance of the high street and 'tap into the diversity of the area'.
"You have to welcome any interest the council is showing to invest in the area," he added.
"It's not viable to leave a high street to market forces because they will decline. They need to attract new businesses and incentivise them and help them understand that Moston Lane can be a very busy high street again.
"It needs more social amenities like cafes and restaurants and more variety of people during the day.
"Since I was a child on a council estate in Moston, it has traditionally been a transient place. People moved out to New Moston or Alkrington.
"Hopefully that will change and it will become a place where people take pride and are happy to stay on a more permanent basis."
Regeneration has been a long time coming for those who know Moston well. Back in 2009, a developer was tasked with a plan of drawing up a masterplan to rebuild the run-down high street but the plans never came to fruition.
A lot of housing in the area is in a poor state and a number of properties were demolished under Compulsory Purchase Order to facilitate development.
Several years ago, Manchester council launched an initiative called 'Moston Matters' to try and generate more community pride. The aim was to improve the 'overall look of Moston Lane and surrounding areas as well as resident perceptions' by promoting 'better environmental and neighbourhood management initiatives for both residential and commercial areas.'
Pride and community spirit is one thing that Moston has in abundance, according to Peter Kilian, who moved to the area from South Africa 17 years ago.
"I lived in Cape Town where I saw dolphins and whales," he said. "Now I see machetes and hoodies.
"I'm proud to live in Moston though. There are good and bad people here.
"It's a forgotten area. Everyone always says 'do you remember what Moston Lane used to be like?'"
For Mr Kilian, changes to Moston's high street cannot come soon enough.
"Small things will make a difference like painting the bins," he said. "It's dull around here.
"There are no flowers or colour. If the council put more interest into the area then people will take more interest as well.
"It's all kebabs and takeaways. We need something different."
The view that Moston has seen better days is not uncommon in these parts. One man, who said he had lived in the area his whole life, described the area as having 'gone down the nick'.
"It makes me sad," he said. "It needs doing up.
"I've had a flyer through the door but the plans are very vague. It said there will be a public square but will it be policed properly or will it be full of druggies like Piccadilly Gardens?
"It's rough enough around here at the moment. Moston Lane used to be a lovely area. I hope the plans will help the area get back to how it used to be."
Moston resident Tayo Mustapha said he supported the plans but hoped they would include an increase in the number of parking spaces.
"It's a good thing as long as they will not tell people who live here to relocate," he said. "Moston is a good area but could be better, especially for parking spaces.
"It's a major problem. I know a lot of people who would like to come and do business here but they don't have anywhere to park their car. They go to other areas where it's easier to park."
Coun Gavin White, Manchester City Council's executive member for housing and development, said: "It's really encouraging that the people who work in and use Moston Lane daily know about the current consultation as they have valuable input that will help guide the principles of future investment in the area.
"We share many of their opinions, including issues around parking, supporting existing businesses to flourish and attracting new ones to expand, what's available for local people, and the need for quality, well-managed public spaces that are positive for the area.
"We want to see a safe, green and attractive Moston Lane that also encourages active travel. We think the area has great potential and I would urge local people to send us their opinions formally. They will be vital in helping us invest in the things they want to see in their community."
The public consultation will close on July 23 and the findings will be presented to a future meeting of the council’s executive committee.
Public drop-in sessions will take place at Simpson Memorial Hall between 3pm-6pm on Thursday, July 13, and 12pm-3pm on Saturday, July 15.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said the force was 'committed to reducing crime across GMP including in the Moston Lane area'.
They added: "We are committed to tackling all forms of criminality and engage with the local community through providing regular high visibility patrols. We also use a number of overt and covert tactics to detect and deter offenders.
“Our Neighbourhood officers work tirelessly with the community and will not tolerate any behaviour that negatively impacts the community or surrounding area. If you have any concerns or information about a crime in the area, please make a report to GMP so we can act upon it. You can make a report by calling 101 or via the LiveChat function on GMP’s website: www.gmp.police.uk
“Alternatively, you can report information anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Always dial 999 in an emergency.”
