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Street market in revolt over rates
Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Affairs Editor09.04.08
Traders in a vibrant west London street market say they are being driven out by huge increases in their business rates.
Shop and stall owners in Golborne Road claim the 20 per cent higher bills they face from this month will be the final straw for many.
They say parking restrictions and the western extension of the congestion charge zone have already driven away much of their mid-week trade.
The North Kensington street, also known as "Little Morocco" because of its large North African community, is seen as particularly vulnerable because it does not attract the highspending tourist trade enjoyed by the more famous Portobello Market.
Although it has undergone some gentrification in recent years with the arrival of residents such as Stella McCartney, Golborne Road remains an oasis of urban grittiness in the country's wealthiest borough.
Tony Richardson, who has worked at architectural antiques shop Arbon Interiors in Golborne Road for 13 years, said: "Over the past two weeks we've all been getting these demands through the post and everyone is aghast.
"We've been hit by so many things we're starting to get a persecution complex." Mr Richardson said his monthly business rates bill was rising from around £400 to almost £500.
He accused Kensington and Chelsea council of wanting to turn Golborne Road, a sometimes chaotic market under the shadow of Trellick Tower, into a Notting Hill-style shopping street. "But I think this is one of a few community streets left - we should be helped," said Mr Richardson.
Collum Gough, who runs an antiques shop, said: "I've never seen people so downcast and I've been here 30 years. This is a very dangerous time."
He said rents had been steadily creeping up while the number of people shopping on the street had declined.
This was partly because of the retreat of traders from the northern end of Portobello Road, which had left Golborne detached from the main market. Jacqueline Skott, co-owner of Skott Haircare, said rates had more than doubled from £500 a month to over £1,000 in just two years.
She added: "The area has got much quieter since the congestion charge came in. More shops are going under and staying empty."
Kensington and Chelsea council's official policy is to help preserve small independent shops.
A spokesman for the council said the borough only collected the rates and the levels were set by central government.
No one at the Department for Communities and Local Government was available for comment.
Reader views (3)
Damian Hockney for Mayor!
- Nobby Clark, Perth, UK
Thanks to Ken Livingstone and Local Councils it looks as though small businesses and street market traders will soon be obsolete and only ever referred to in books about London when it used to be a great city!
- Fraser, Telford Park
Spot on and good luck to the traders. This is the reason why small shops go out of business, not Tesco. There is this strange idea that if you make food at Tesco more expensive or stop the supermarkets from opening where people want them, then somehow all small traders will blossom and their problems will go away. My group has spent four years on the London Assembly trying to get the message across that the more you attack the car, the more you put up rates, the more you add to parking charges and so-called congestion charges, then the more you damage small business. Look what happened when the C-Charge was introduced in central London. More small businesses closed or de-registered in the zone than opened in subsequent years, entirely the reverse of what happened outside the zone. And that is entirely separate from daft rules which ALL authorities bring in (not far from the area featured in this story the same local authority, not a bad local council as things go actually, got heavy with traders who have seats and tables outside). All of these things hang heavy on small traders, crush what they have to offer. Get rid of a load of the daft rules and financial penalties, then you can let Tesco get on no worries. It's interesting also that the idea of making life more difficult for the big boys involves raising more taxes from them...could that be the real reason? And of course loads of rules can't be changed because they respond to EU demands.
- Damian Hockney Am, London
