Chapel Market traders face a hike in their rent despite the Council’s failure to provide adequate electricity supply.
Stallholders, who pay £57 a week, are furious at the £5 rise in rent as there has been no significant improvement in the facilities available to them.
Broken electricity cables in the market have led to a decline in the number of stalls, with a large number of food sellers relocating to other markets due to the unreliable electricity points.
Stallholder, George Norcross, said: “It’s diabolical. We’ve got no electricity but we’ve been paying for it. We’ve been waiting for the Council to get it fixed for at least 10 months. It’s driving stallholders away. Every time we ask the council when it will be fixed, the Council refuses to give us an exact day.”
Peter Adamides, Chairman of the Chapel Market Stallholders’ Association, has been involved in lengthy discussions with Islington Council over the increased rate and obtained a postponement of its introduction until April 1st.
He said: “Why should stallholders pay more money for a worse service than 10 months ago? It’s unreasonable to expect us to be happy about this. The electricity cables are dangerous, people can easily trip on them if they’re not careful, it’s really not safe. The only explanation we have been given for the price rise is that the Council wants to balance its books and that’s why they are charging us more. We haven’t been told why the electricity is taking so long to sort out though.”
Brian Roberts is one of the few remaining food-sellers at Chapel Market and says the only reason he is still in business is because his electricity supply is still working. He said: “We’re one of the few stalls in action. Vehicles drive down here at night and damage the electricity boxes. To be honest the supply boxes aren’t built for this environment and it’s really affecting people’s ability to make a living. How can you run a business without electricity?”
Thursday, 15 March 2007
Market rent hikes leave traders at end of fuse
Council betrays small business for £45m
John Holland strikes a disgruntled figure. Dressed in a chequered, tatty shirt, he stands at the frontier of the changes that have engulfed the helter skelter world of business in Islington.
Speaking this week to Islington Now, he is by turns angry, disconsolate and fatalistic. His optimism has been dented by years of fighting a losing battle. “It is inevitable that I will go out of business. I could earn as much money working at B and Q as I do here,” he says before pointing a customer to a mosaic-coloured carpet. “It’s upsetting to think about it. On quiet days like this, it gets you down.”
His comments come as Islington Council finalises plans to sell off £45m worth of property. Some 242 shops, warehouses and voluntary group offices are to be sold under the proposals. Local businessmen and women are up-in-arms. They say they are being priced out in an effort to raise hard cash.
A combination of competition from firms on Upper Street, who wield financial clout the handful of bakeries and bric-a-brac stores on Essex Road can only dream of, parking charges and escalating rent rates have hit the fraternity of small businesses.
“I have lost good friends. They cannot keep up with the rates. I pay £600 just to be here. It’s astronomical,” John Holland says, reclining in his chair, blue denim and advertisements for Hook & Leather hanging behind him. “In the last year, I have lost 20% of my customers. I have been fined because of the congestion charge, too. How am I supposed to deliver my stock?”
While John will not be directly affected by the council sell-off, it threatens the livelihood of many around him – his friends and neighbours on Essex Road where a string of shops will be shut down. It is set to rip the heart out of close-knit communities in Islington.
A beret-wearing employee at Haggle Vinyl expresses the exasperation that local traders feel. “Life’s tough. That’s business,” he says wearily, dismissing inquiries about the sell-off programme as “just one aspect” of a many-layered, complex problem before advising Islington Now to clear off. He has business to attend to.
Local business owner Dale Barter has set up a website against the Council plans, complete with a petition signed by over a hundred people. He is chairing a committee that rallies against the proposals and says: “This process is in favour of property developers and against diverse, eclectic local business. Why should 242 properties in Islington have one landlord. It’s positively feudal.”
Mike Weedon, owner of Mike Weedon Antiques, speaks to Alice Wright about owning a business in Camden Passage
Why did you decide to open an antiques shop in Camden Passage?
Islington is my home for a start, so it’s on the doorstep. And the market’s only open two days a week. I couldn’t bear the thought of being a shopkeeper and sitting in the shop all day long. Opening just two days gives me time to go out and buy.
How long has your business been open and what changes have you seen in Islington in that time?
I’ve been here for 30 years. It’s got more affluent in that time but it’s not changed that much. 30 years ago the whole of Islington was a rundown area of London, especially after the Second World War. There was a lot of bomb damage. It’s sort of become gentrified since then but not as much as it would appear. There are still traditional white-collar workers.
How has the antiques business in Islington changed in that time?
There wasn’t an international antiques scene as there is today. But Camden Passage has lost a lot of its antiques. The new generation came in and sold the family silver, so to speak. It’s natural progression that people who were here when I started have passed on. And there’s a huge temptation for their children to flog off the family business.
What is the secret of your success?
I love it. I get a buzz out of buying something. I’m not selling potatoes, I’m selling something beautiful. Antique dealing these days is more of a vocation than a job. You don’t earn so much money, there’s very little room for mistakes. Loving it is more important than knowing what you’re doing.
What is the biggest problem you face as a business in the area?
The rates in Islington have gone up over the years. I pay seven and a half hundred pounds. That’s an awful lot of money. It doesn’t help small businesses. I’d like to see a rating system especially for independent businesses where you pay rates on your profits. The rating system in the UK certainly hits little businesses hard.
What are your plans for the future?
It’s still cheaper for me to have a shop in Camden Passage than to do the three major antique fairs in London a year or to have a shop in Portobello Market. As long as I can afford it I will keep it. I might downsize in a few years time as I get older. I’d like to make more money and not have the responsibility of having a shop. Then I could do more travelling. Selling is dreadful, it’s really boring. Buying is interesting.