Due to a so called town centre improvement, the road where we have our business has been closed for 39 days, while they raise the kerbs and renew the pavements. The road is being narrowed outside my shop, so my customers will have difficulty collecting their framing by car.
Were we consulted - No!
Were we given advanced notice - Not much!
Do any of the shop keepers want this - No!
I can go on, but today I was told that our local council was not involved and that this was a scheme hatched by Devon county council and I am told funded by Tesco who have recently opened a store in our town and appear to me to be doing their best to put the boot into the rest of the town's retail sector over this 39 day period.
Business has taken a massive dive over the last few days, which I trust we can survive, due to a very full order book. Others though, I fear may not fair so well. I hope I'm wrong, but this so called improvement scheme looks set to wreck some of the town's retail businesses.
The road where we have our business is closed for 39 days
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Not your average framer
- Posts: 11003
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- Location: Glorious Devon
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Spit
- Posts: 1102
- Joined: Fri 17 Mar, 2006 8:54 pm
- Location: Glandwr
- Organisation: Framing Mad
- Interests: Framing, watercolours & CCFC
- Location: Pembrokeshire
- Contact:
You only have to look at other reports of Tesco's underhand tactics elsewhere, completely ignored by the government, to realise this is what goes on in Bliars (Browns?) Britain.
Small business is just a bug to be stepped on. We've gone from a nation of shopkeepers to a service industry (servicing Tesco's, that is) in just over two decades.
Why do people still vote Labour & Conservative?
Small business is just a bug to be stepped on. We've gone from a nation of shopkeepers to a service industry (servicing Tesco's, that is) in just over two decades.
Why do people still vote Labour & Conservative?
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Not your average framer
- Posts: 11003
- Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
- Location: Devon, U.K.
- Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
- Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
- Location: Glorious Devon
What worries me is that you need continuity of cash flow to pay your staff wages. So far this week our sales figures are almost non-existant as people can't pack to bring-in or collect work.
We are already discussing the posibility of going to customers homes to collect or deliver work. A few doors away is a very popular and busy fish and chip shop. It's always busy, you always have to wait to be served, I went in there today and it was empty and only glum looks from the counter staff.
I'm just starting realise just how bad this is looking. I don't want too, but if this is how things are going to be until mid June, I may have to lay-off my staff just find the cash to keep paying the bills.
We are already discussing the posibility of going to customers homes to collect or deliver work. A few doors away is a very popular and busy fish and chip shop. It's always busy, you always have to wait to be served, I went in there today and it was empty and only glum looks from the counter staff.
I'm just starting realise just how bad this is looking. I don't want too, but if this is how things are going to be until mid June, I may have to lay-off my staff just find the cash to keep paying the bills.
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markw
Tesco's must be p***ing themselves laughing at the gullibility of your local council. This is a classic example of why business need bodies such as a local chamber of commerce - and why as a business you should try and be active within your local chamber.
We had a new parking scheme slapped upon us by Cotswold District Council effectively doubling the cost of parking in the town centre car parks. Business just seemed to disappear overnight. The local Chamber of Commerce had been consulted and warned this would happen - they kept pressing the case - hired lawyers etc. - the charges were reduced and all is now back to normal. (It also helped that some nasty vandal kept filling the parking ticket machines up with expanding foam - nothing to do with any official body in the town of course).
I would suggest that you get together as a force to be reckoned with - check that all legal notifications were made (they do have to tell you in advance so that you can object). You may well all have to dig in to your pocket to hire legal representation - but this is your livelihood that they are taking away - you really do have to fight hard.
For all of us who sit back and think this cant happen to us - watch out! The law has just changed handing over the policing of parking on the streets to your local council - They can and will soon see the free on street parking outside your business as a nice little earner. Fortunately we learnt from the last experience that we have to be part of the decision making process and Tetbury's chamber of commerce has been part of the discussion group talking about changes here - You can only hope that makes a difference.
Apply for a rate rebate because of the downturn in trade caused by council work - As a group sue the council for loss of trade - do anything you can to get a positive outcome. Use the situation to get a positive result - tell your council what you need to make business even better - they have an obligation to encourage the local economy - not help Tesco kill it.
We had a new parking scheme slapped upon us by Cotswold District Council effectively doubling the cost of parking in the town centre car parks. Business just seemed to disappear overnight. The local Chamber of Commerce had been consulted and warned this would happen - they kept pressing the case - hired lawyers etc. - the charges were reduced and all is now back to normal. (It also helped that some nasty vandal kept filling the parking ticket machines up with expanding foam - nothing to do with any official body in the town of course).
I would suggest that you get together as a force to be reckoned with - check that all legal notifications were made (they do have to tell you in advance so that you can object). You may well all have to dig in to your pocket to hire legal representation - but this is your livelihood that they are taking away - you really do have to fight hard.
For all of us who sit back and think this cant happen to us - watch out! The law has just changed handing over the policing of parking on the streets to your local council - They can and will soon see the free on street parking outside your business as a nice little earner. Fortunately we learnt from the last experience that we have to be part of the decision making process and Tetbury's chamber of commerce has been part of the discussion group talking about changes here - You can only hope that makes a difference.
Apply for a rate rebate because of the downturn in trade caused by council work - As a group sue the council for loss of trade - do anything you can to get a positive outcome. Use the situation to get a positive result - tell your council what you need to make business even better - they have an obligation to encourage the local economy - not help Tesco kill it.
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kev@frames
- Posts: 1951
- Joined: Mon 09 Jan, 2006 12:06 am
- Location: Penzance Cornwall UK
- Organisation: Moonshine Framing Penzance
- Interests: 4 or 5 ...
- Location: West Cornwall, UK
- Contact:
you have our sympathy twofold.
We've had a lot of "regeneration" in town, with many shops marooned and inaccesible for weeks or months at a time, one way systems changing, being changed back, and generally experimented with until people are sick and tired of trying to get into town and figure it out, so they go somewhere else when all this work is on (at christmas and in the summer, peak trading times).
Tescos must have peed themselves at our local council too. Their edge of town store has created a very dangerous roundabout, and a confusing and dangerous traffic system, which nobody in their right mind would have implimented if Tesco were not involved, and due to it being on an old factory site on reclaimed marshland below sea level the drainage sink tanks put in and operated improperly have caused subsidence to many nearby homes, severe traffic problems getting in and out of town, and a negative effect on local business at all levels.
Never mind, you can buy jeans at tesco for three quid though. and bloody picture frames....
Talking about gullability of councils- ours made it conditional that tescos kept open their town centre store if they were to get the out of town site. The week the out of town store opened, the town centre one shut.
when we moved to our last shop, for larger premises, some building works next door, which were scheduled for 3 or 4 weeks turned into a demolition and nine months of constant noise, dirt and problems. Needless to say our business plummeted, eventually we moved (again) to our current premises three years ago (and guess what, the place next door to our current shop has just been sold with planning permission for 4 shops and 6 flats, so the building nuisance will be on again....)
re local councils responsibilities - sadly the small business community in most towns dont count one jot compared to a new Tesco as far as the councils are concerned, after all, who cares about a few dozen whinging self employed shopkeepers when you can have beans at 7p a tin and 100 new jobs stacking shelves ? ... and any amount of business rates relief does not help when you are put in a (hopefuilly temporary) position where you are not making a living.
You would be surprised at how many people locally who used to run their own thriving small businesses in shops now work in Tesco. Three local greengrocers, the man from the deli, the florist, two butchers. Needless to say these shops no longer exist in town, having been replaced by mobile phone shops, estate agents and "pound" shops. Great....
Im only glad that we sell a lot on the internet. It used to be a case of having a sound bricks and mortar business, and anything we sold online was just gravy. Nowadays its a case of a steady income online, and anything in the shop is a bonus.
Its the changing nature of retail I guess. Penzance is the main market town for west cornwall, and so it is "live" all year round, with the summer tourist trade a regular bonus in past years. But due to many of the regeneration projects, traffic measures and Tesco, plus parking charges, parking restrictions, "traffic calming" and new road layouts that encourage traffic round the town or indeed straight through it ASAP with no opportunity to stop park and shop, we dont get the summer trade uplift that we used to.
You adapt and change your business as things change around you, and with luck you keep up with it and theres always "maybe next year".
We've had a lot of "regeneration" in town, with many shops marooned and inaccesible for weeks or months at a time, one way systems changing, being changed back, and generally experimented with until people are sick and tired of trying to get into town and figure it out, so they go somewhere else when all this work is on (at christmas and in the summer, peak trading times).
Tescos must have peed themselves at our local council too. Their edge of town store has created a very dangerous roundabout, and a confusing and dangerous traffic system, which nobody in their right mind would have implimented if Tesco were not involved, and due to it being on an old factory site on reclaimed marshland below sea level the drainage sink tanks put in and operated improperly have caused subsidence to many nearby homes, severe traffic problems getting in and out of town, and a negative effect on local business at all levels.
Never mind, you can buy jeans at tesco for three quid though. and bloody picture frames....
Talking about gullability of councils- ours made it conditional that tescos kept open their town centre store if they were to get the out of town site. The week the out of town store opened, the town centre one shut.
when we moved to our last shop, for larger premises, some building works next door, which were scheduled for 3 or 4 weeks turned into a demolition and nine months of constant noise, dirt and problems. Needless to say our business plummeted, eventually we moved (again) to our current premises three years ago (and guess what, the place next door to our current shop has just been sold with planning permission for 4 shops and 6 flats, so the building nuisance will be on again....)
re local councils responsibilities - sadly the small business community in most towns dont count one jot compared to a new Tesco as far as the councils are concerned, after all, who cares about a few dozen whinging self employed shopkeepers when you can have beans at 7p a tin and 100 new jobs stacking shelves ? ... and any amount of business rates relief does not help when you are put in a (hopefuilly temporary) position where you are not making a living.
You would be surprised at how many people locally who used to run their own thriving small businesses in shops now work in Tesco. Three local greengrocers, the man from the deli, the florist, two butchers. Needless to say these shops no longer exist in town, having been replaced by mobile phone shops, estate agents and "pound" shops. Great....
Im only glad that we sell a lot on the internet. It used to be a case of having a sound bricks and mortar business, and anything we sold online was just gravy. Nowadays its a case of a steady income online, and anything in the shop is a bonus.
Its the changing nature of retail I guess. Penzance is the main market town for west cornwall, and so it is "live" all year round, with the summer tourist trade a regular bonus in past years. But due to many of the regeneration projects, traffic measures and Tesco, plus parking charges, parking restrictions, "traffic calming" and new road layouts that encourage traffic round the town or indeed straight through it ASAP with no opportunity to stop park and shop, we dont get the summer trade uplift that we used to.
You adapt and change your business as things change around you, and with luck you keep up with it and theres always "maybe next year".
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foxyframer
- Posts: 313
- Joined: Tue 12 Sep, 2006 6:46 pm
- Location: Netley Marsh New Forest Hampshire
- Organisation: Hampshire Framing
- Interests: Golf, DIY and baking bread,cakes, biscuits and making chilli jams and various chutneys.
- Location: NEW FOREST HAMPSHIRE
Got it in a nutshell, Kev.
Most local councils must be rubbing their hands with glee, when the likes of Tesco's and the other hoods want to move in, or expand out of town.
All they can see are ££ signs and the promise of jobs. Like you said, shelf-stackers and trolley dorks.
The time will come when small shops like ours become non-existent and the councils will turn round and wonder, where and why, we have all gone. Where it all went wrong.
The council in Southampton had, in its infinite wisdom, the madcap idea to charge 24hr.on street parking - including Sundays. Now, how crazy is that !
Never came fruition - just another money grubbing piece of folly.
I hope that everyone claims the small business rate relief, because you do have to make the effort to claim. It is not automatic.
Most local councils must be rubbing their hands with glee, when the likes of Tesco's and the other hoods want to move in, or expand out of town.
All they can see are ££ signs and the promise of jobs. Like you said, shelf-stackers and trolley dorks.
The time will come when small shops like ours become non-existent and the councils will turn round and wonder, where and why, we have all gone. Where it all went wrong.
The council in Southampton had, in its infinite wisdom, the madcap idea to charge 24hr.on street parking - including Sundays. Now, how crazy is that !
Never came fruition - just another money grubbing piece of folly.
I hope that everyone claims the small business rate relief, because you do have to make the effort to claim. It is not automatic.
Measure twice - cut once
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Not your average framer
- Posts: 11003
- Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
- Location: Devon, U.K.
- Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
- Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
- Location: Glorious Devon
I don't sell on the internet, but I'm starting to wonder whats involved and if it would work for me. The fact is this may well turn out to be one of those wake up calls. Nearly all of our business is framing and we don't do anything serious on the art side due to the small size of our premises. I'm not all that sure if framing alone works as an internet thing.kev@frames wrote: Im only glad that we sell a lot on the internet. It used to be a case of having a sound bricks and mortar business, and anything we sold online was just gravy. Nowadays its a case of a steady income online, and anything in the shop is a bonus.
Added to all this, I quoted for a large insurance repair and restoration job during October while we were no too busy, but did not get the go ahead until Februay when we were already worked off our feet. Unfortunately having taken on and trained a second member of staff who was working out well, we now no longer have her because she has moved house. We haven't got room to move and the last thing I need is people not coming in to collect things while the road is closed.
We needed a good month for May, because in past years June, July and August are generally not that good, but I guess the road improvements ain't gonna help with that.
Thanks guys for your sympathy.
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Roboframer
You have my sympathy too - bleedin' Tescos calling shots like that is bang out of order.
I can sort of relate - our village is on a very busy through route and there is a good amount of free parking.
It's not the best route from North to South, but the ONLY one that brings traffic out on a road that bridges the main railway line - all other routes have level crossings.
NIMBYs called the preferred route a 'rat run' - wrong - it's the best route - they would take it in the commuters' shoes (wheels!)
Finally they built a bypass, trouble is, 99.9% of through traffic wants to head WEST when they join the E-W main road from the North.
So they build the freakin' bypass to the EAST of the village, spilling the traffic out over a mile further from their destination onto a gridlocked road - at peak times, always extremely busy at others.
So - commuters did not use it.
So, to solve THAT problem they built 'pinch points' along the through route - 5 of them - traffic leaving the village has right of way. Each one has been written off about 8 times and the village is only slightly less busy, the route is now just the lesser of two evils.
But what it also did was make the village a bad place to come TO, never mind THROUGH - shops like the chippy and the general store& PO suffer really badly. Didn't affect me at all - no shortage of competition for the chippy etc.
But when the plans for this went up I objected violently on the grounds of overkill and the effect on the environment - more low gears, plenty of idling, in this day and age councils should be making it easier for traffic to get from A to B; not more difficult. But no-one wanted to join me.
AFTER the event they all want to get petitions going etc etc etc.
Very difficult to get support here - bloody lethargic bunch all moaning and no action.
So, anyway, as part of this 'traffic management' scheme, they gave us a one hour restriction in front of the shops, we had been campaigning for this for years.
When the workmen turned up to paint the lines we watched like hawks. The lines they chalked in were FAR too narrow and at an angle to a 2 way road.
My wife did a 'Frank Doberman' "OY - YOU - NOOOOO!" - collected all the workmens' cones in, threw them in the back of their flatbed and told them to ... er .... go away, and they did!!!
Now we have wider bays at right angles to the road, had they been allowed to paint the bays as per their stupid plans it would have been a nightmare trying to get them to put it right.
Pat is now a Parish Councillor - things will get done, believe me, things will also get stopped from being done.
She takes nooooooooooooooooooooo Sh** from no-one!!!!
I can sort of relate - our village is on a very busy through route and there is a good amount of free parking.
It's not the best route from North to South, but the ONLY one that brings traffic out on a road that bridges the main railway line - all other routes have level crossings.
NIMBYs called the preferred route a 'rat run' - wrong - it's the best route - they would take it in the commuters' shoes (wheels!)
Finally they built a bypass, trouble is, 99.9% of through traffic wants to head WEST when they join the E-W main road from the North.
So they build the freakin' bypass to the EAST of the village, spilling the traffic out over a mile further from their destination onto a gridlocked road - at peak times, always extremely busy at others.
So - commuters did not use it.
So, to solve THAT problem they built 'pinch points' along the through route - 5 of them - traffic leaving the village has right of way. Each one has been written off about 8 times and the village is only slightly less busy, the route is now just the lesser of two evils.
But what it also did was make the village a bad place to come TO, never mind THROUGH - shops like the chippy and the general store& PO suffer really badly. Didn't affect me at all - no shortage of competition for the chippy etc.
But when the plans for this went up I objected violently on the grounds of overkill and the effect on the environment - more low gears, plenty of idling, in this day and age councils should be making it easier for traffic to get from A to B; not more difficult. But no-one wanted to join me.
AFTER the event they all want to get petitions going etc etc etc.
Very difficult to get support here - bloody lethargic bunch all moaning and no action.
So, anyway, as part of this 'traffic management' scheme, they gave us a one hour restriction in front of the shops, we had been campaigning for this for years.
When the workmen turned up to paint the lines we watched like hawks. The lines they chalked in were FAR too narrow and at an angle to a 2 way road.
My wife did a 'Frank Doberman' "OY - YOU - NOOOOO!" - collected all the workmens' cones in, threw them in the back of their flatbed and told them to ... er .... go away, and they did!!!
Now we have wider bays at right angles to the road, had they been allowed to paint the bays as per their stupid plans it would have been a nightmare trying to get them to put it right.
Pat is now a Parish Councillor - things will get done, believe me, things will also get stopped from being done.
She takes nooooooooooooooooooooo Sh** from no-one!!!!
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Not your average framer
- Posts: 11003
- Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
- Location: Devon, U.K.
- Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
- Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
- Location: Glorious Devon
The following link will take you to an image shows our business, the pub next door, followed by a charity shop and our local Fish & chip shop.
http://www.devoncam.co.uk/devon_image/2 ... CT0127.JPG
All of us know each other and are friends. We are all suffering with the road closure, about which no one consulted us.
The old fashioned low kerb stones which you can see in the picture are just ideal for so many of the towns older people, but these are being replaced with high kerbs to prevent vehicles parking on the pavement. Many of my more elderly customers may well find these high kerbs difficult or even dangerous when accesssing my shop.
Further down the hill is Tesco, who it is said are behind this and paying for the project. Apparently they want the fountain in the middle of the road removed and the bus stop moved and if what I am told is true, there is every chance they will get it. All these little details seem to be leaking out day by day.
http://www.devoncam.co.uk/devon_image/2 ... CT0127.JPG
All of us know each other and are friends. We are all suffering with the road closure, about which no one consulted us.
The old fashioned low kerb stones which you can see in the picture are just ideal for so many of the towns older people, but these are being replaced with high kerbs to prevent vehicles parking on the pavement. Many of my more elderly customers may well find these high kerbs difficult or even dangerous when accesssing my shop.
Further down the hill is Tesco, who it is said are behind this and paying for the project. Apparently they want the fountain in the middle of the road removed and the bus stop moved and if what I am told is true, there is every chance they will get it. All these little details seem to be leaking out day by day.
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Mary Case GCF
Edinburgh Council in their infinite wisdom, removed some of the parking bays from outside our shop to put zigzags for a new crossing, (even though its embayed off the main road)
let me get a picture : http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en ... iwloc=addr
that grey rectangular thing is a Bus Stop - we are right behind it... (PITA for people to see us)
all in all those zig-zags have reduced about 6 car parking spaces.
let me get a picture : http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en ... iwloc=addr
that grey rectangular thing is a Bus Stop - we are right behind it... (PITA for people to see us)
all in all those zig-zags have reduced about 6 car parking spaces.
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Manor Fine Arts
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Tue 07 Dec, 2004 7:46 pm
- Location: Banbridge Northern Ireland
- Contact:
Tesco
we have a tesco in our town, my self and family have decided to do all our shopping in local shops, to support the people who support us with their framing, and only vist tesco when the items are unavailable elsewhere.
Come on everyone, support those who support you.
Come on everyone, support those who support you.
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Roboframer
Well, we get all our veg from a local farm shop, we know the owner - good framing/art customer.
We get a lot of convenience stuff from the, er, convenience store, we know we are paying for that convenience.
Then it's Waitrose - Sainsburies is mainly for cleaning gear, plus any bits we fancy when we're there.
We get a lot of convenience stuff from the, er, convenience store, we know we are paying for that convenience.
Then it's Waitrose - Sainsburies is mainly for cleaning gear, plus any bits we fancy when we're there.
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WelshFramer
- Posts: 996
- Joined: Wed 30 Nov, 2005 10:03 am
- Location: Llanwrtyd Wells
- Organisation: Neuadd Bwll Framing
- Interests: Does running a framing business leave any time for interests?
- Location: Llanwrtyd Wells
- Contact:
We're similar, veg is delivered from an organic farm but Waitrose is a 100-mile round trip so we try to go only once a month.Roboframer wrote:Then it's Waitrose - Sainsburies is mainly for cleaning gear, plus any bits we fancy when we're there.
I can't remember when I last visited a Tesco but I did buy some of their software mail order earlier this year. I'm not sure whether that's better or worse than supporting Norton or Microsoft - not much in it really.
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Not your average framer
- Posts: 11003
- Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
- Location: Devon, U.K.
- Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
- Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
- Location: Glorious Devon
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foxyframer
- Posts: 313
- Joined: Tue 12 Sep, 2006 6:46 pm
- Location: Netley Marsh New Forest Hampshire
- Organisation: Hampshire Framing
- Interests: Golf, DIY and baking bread,cakes, biscuits and making chilli jams and various chutneys.
- Location: NEW FOREST HAMPSHIRE
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Not your average framer
- Posts: 11003
- Joined: Sat 25 Mar, 2006 8:40 pm
- Location: Devon, U.K.
- Organisation: The Dartmoor Gallery
- Interests: Lost causes, saving and restoring old things, learning something every day
- Location: Glorious Devon
No, it was early May. If it was as far back as March, I don't think we would still be in business by now.foxyframer wrote:Hi NYA
Glad to hear your area is clear of roadworks at last. Until some utility tosspot digs it up for what ever reason. That was the back end of March; hell of a long time for disruptions.
Foxy