Council hits back over claims city traders have been left in the dark

COVENTRY City Council has responded to shop owners’ concerns about the City Centre South project.

It comes after independent store owners aired their worries regarding the £450m regeneration project in the city centre.

The 12-year long project will see part of the city centre demolished to pave way for new buildings including affordable homes, flats and retail space.

The work will be taking place at City Arcade, Bull Yard, Market Way, Shelton Square and Hertford Street.

However, some independent shop owners shared concerns about the scheme, with one retailer saying they felt they had been left in the dark about the details, while others revealed they were scrambling to get by. Some said they are forced to shut down their shops, claiming rent is too expensive elsewhere.

We approached the council to address shop owners’ concerns. The council stated that they continue to “work closely with all traders” regarding the scheme, and are willing to keep supporting businesses during the transition.

However, the council denied the claim about lack of communication with traders - and said they have been in “close contact” with businesses during the process.

A Coventry City Council spokesperson said: “It is simply not true that traders have not been kept informed. We have worked closely with all traders who are impacted by the City Centre South project and the project itself has been subject of much coverage in the local media over some time.

“City Centre South is a £450 million private sector investment in our city centre which will create new homes, retail space, leisure facilities and more.

“Traders old and new have been on flexible rent agreements for some time and we have been in close contact about timeframes throughout the process.

“There are vacant units in the city centre and in other parts of the city and as the work is completed there will be new options too. We have been and we remain willing to work with anyone who wants support.”

This comes after some shop owners were left heartbroken over the redevelopment scheme. Some businesses said rent was too costly elsewhere to move out of the area, saying they had “no choice” but to close down.

Nemat, owner of Tailor Quick Stitch, is one of the businesses in the area that will be closing their doors for good. He said: “It’s very stressful. I was trying to look for somewhere else to rent and I

couldn’t find anywhere with the rent price I’m paying now.

“You can see this area is empty, there is no one. Since your business is down, you don’t have enough money to go somewhere else.

“We don’t have a lot of benefits from this property to find the money and get another place. The other place is a lot more expensive so we have to close down.

“We don’t have a choice, there is nowhere we can go. The other shops who had the money found somewhere else, but we didn’t have any choice so we stayed.”

In addition, the spill over effect from the pandemic has had a huge impact on business turnover. James Coote, one of the Managing Directors of Escape Games, said his shop suffered when Covid-19 hit.

He said: “We’re going to have to find somewhere to move to. Before the pandemic [it] would not be a considerable issue as we had a reasonable amount in our bank.

“We were quite comfortable. If we had to move at any point before the pandemic we would have had the funds to do so.

“The government paid for twothirds of our rent over two years, but we had to find a third of our rent with no revenue.

“So we had to close for two years which meant we had to empty our savings to stay open.

“We come back from the pandemic and they announced they’re going to be destroying a third of the city centre. If they provided like-for-like, a place with equivalent rent and size, that wouldn’t have been a major issue.

“The places they’re offering to us are twice our current rent. Which means we have to find a significantly more rent deposit and three months’ rent upfront.

“We’re looking at a shortfall of £10,000, which is not easy to manufacture when we’re suffering through one of the worst hits to our economy that we’ve seen in our lifetime.”