Shops say they will not survive city's roadworks
Business owners in Bradford city centre have said they face permanent closure unless they are compensated for a loss in trade caused by extensive roadworks.
Regeneration work and a number of highways schemes ahead of City of Culture 2025 have led to a drop in footfall around the main shopping areas.
Traders told the BBC that the road closures and diversions had had a "devastating" impact on their takings.
They have asked for more financial support from Bradford Council to help them survive a tough period until the work is finished.
Shoppers have to navigate barriers, diggers, construction dust and narrowed pavements.
The council hopes that the disruption is a necessary sacrifice that will improve the city centre for the cultural showcase to come.
Hamza Abbas has run his gift shop on Market Street for more than seven years but said a drastic drop in footfall over the last few months had seen his takings tumble. He made the decision to close the shop at the end of the month.
"I've lost all my trade, at least 95% has all gone," he said.
"I used to have 100 customers a day. Now I barely make £50 a day - today I have made £35 so far. How can I survive?
"Buses, taxis, everything has moved from Market Street and that's where the customers were coming from. Now no one is coming because they have to walk 10 minutes to get to my shop. It's been like this since February or March time. It’s so stressful that I can't think straight. I will have to close at the end of July."
Mr Abbas said he had spoken to Bradford Council on several occasions, pleading on behalf of himself and other businesses for additional support in the way of grants for rent relief and lost income.
He contacted his MP and the Mayor’s office, but claimed to have been passed from pillar to post - partly because of the general election.
"I know many of the traders around here are asking their landlords to reduce their rent as everyone is behind with it,” he added.
He said he had handed the names of around 20 struggling shopkeepers to the council.
He has had a discount on business rates, but said more help was needed and questioned why the road schemes could not have been staggered.
"What will they do when there 14 or 15 shops all shut? What will happen during the City of Culture year when people are walking through town and there are no shops to go into?”
Next door is Mohammed Asghar’s mobile phone shop. He said trade had dropped by 80% in the last few months, and he also planned to close later in the summer.
“The council still hasn’t responded to our concerns,” he said.
“It’s really difficult for us. My message to the authorities is 'please help us'; if they don’t do something, many shops here will close."
Husnain Zafar works for Mr Asghar, who is his uncle. He thought the movement of large retail brands into the Broadway shopping centre had also been a factor in the drop in trade, and speculated that there was no real desire to support existing small businesses.
"Just give us a stall and we’ll move into the Broadway too," he added.
Mr Asghar added that the temporary closure of the Bradford Interchange bus station due to damage to the building had also caused "major problems" for businesses too, as many customers used to come straight off the bus and into the shop.
Mohammed Waqas owns City Hair and Beauty on the edge of Centenary Square. He told a similar story of 90% lost revenue and a struggle to survive in recent months.
“All the businesses will die in the city centre,” he warned.
He added that other initiatives like free parking in the Broadway might help.
Council's response
Bradford Council had not responded at the time of writing to specific questions around offering additional support for small businesses.
However the general state of the city centre roadworks and their impact was discussed at a meeting this week.
It was an issue that many councillors themselves were concerned about and questioned the Labour leadership on.
Labour councillor Mohammed Amran said taxi drivers were “finding it almost impossible to earn a living”, with road closures and the moving of taxi ranks leading to losses of “over 50%” of their trade.
Asked what help taxi drivers would be given, the council acknowledged in a written answer the disruption caused by the roadworks, but said temporary taxi ranks close to the original ones had been created to mitigate the issues and had been welcomed by some drivers.
But the authority also insisted issues “beyond the council's control” were contributing to the lower overall footfall – adding that it was currently “unable to offer compensation for disruption to trade caused by the construction of roadworks on behalf of the council as the local highway authority” as there was “no statutory mechanism for this to take place”.
Councillors were also due to vote on a motion brought by the opposition Conservative group, urging bosses to “raise concerns” with West Yorkshire Combined Authority – which oversees transport in the region – and to “work with them to resolve ongoing issues to improve city centre access”.
The meeting was also told there were several other initiatives being put in place to boost footfall in the city centre in the coming months, including the full opening of the One City Park office building next month, a new street patrol service to help tackle anti-social behaviour, and several events and festivals across the year.
Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, said when the roadworks were completed "we will have a city centre which will be markedly better than what we have had before".
Becoming the UK's City of Culture for 2025 was also "a real opportunity to attract further investment," she said.
Leader of the opposition, Conservative councillor Rebecca Poulsen, told the meeting the city centre had become "complete chaos" in recent months, with "many people" now shopping elsewhere.
She questioned what benefit an improved city centre would bring for businesses forced to close.
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