Bus station is blamed for shop’s closure
Sunday 23rd May 2010, 11:30AM BST.
A travel agent in Wolverhampton has shut just weeks after traders warned they were facing financial ruin due to the rebuilding of the city’s bus station.
Sunshine Direct boss Peter Southall today described the closure of the bus terminus as the “final straw” for his business.
The 47-year-old, from Dudley, ran the Queen Street firm with his sister Wendy.
He said: “It was bad enough with the poor exchange rates, then the volcanic ash cloud cost me a fortune and the closure of the bus station was just the final straw.
“The details of all those who have outstanding holidays booked through us have been passed on to the tour operators who will deal with everything,” he added.
“Letters are going out to everybody concerned and nobody will lose out except for my family and I.”
Mr Southall was among traders in Queen Street who complained business had dropped by up to 60 per cent since the bus station in Pipers Row closed for redevelopment on April 3.
Following a crisis meeting on April 26, he told the Express & Star: “We are losing £1,000-a-week. We will have to close if things do not change soon.”
Councillor Paddy Bradley, Wolverhampton City Council’s cabinet member for regeneration and enterprise, said he was “saddened” to hear of the closure. He said the council, National Express and Centro had worked closely with traders.
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Isn’t it ironic…By the time they finish the new bus station, there will probably be no town for people to visit! Walking through the Mander and Wulfrun centre already resembles a trip through a ghost town and it will only get worse. I wish someone, somewhere would notice what is going on in this town, sorry, “city”…What a joke!
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Regeneration of wolverhampton what a joke the busiest stores are the 2 pound shops beatties has been killed off wolverhampton council neeed to encourage people back ito the town the only time i go into wolverhampton is to get the national express bus to wolverhampton 11.50 am to manachester then get the return from manchester at about 20.00 if booked in advance from 2 pounds return far better shops
wolverhampton council need to sit up and look around the place
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The council were told what would happen. The council did not listen. The council have been shown up to be a bunch of posturing and uncaring fools. I don’t know how they can sleep at night but rest assured, they will, people like that always do. Good luck to Mr Southall, his sister
and the rest of their family.
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Yea right, what about the big ash cloud, isn’t no one going to put any blame on that?
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Take another look at the article JJ – the owner did, see 4th sentence. Any way, what about the ash cloud???
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Some people are never happy. People want development of Wolverhampton and when it begins moan because of another issue. You can never win!!!
Has anyone thought this business could have been losing money prior to the closure of the bus station due to the fact we are in a recession.
Only time people are happy is when they have something to moan about!
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I disagree with your comment as all of these traders have an aray of businesses that have historically been busy – take the butchers, they have been relitivly busy throughout the recession and when they knocked the station down he looses trade.
The council should have consulted properly with traders to work a plan out before getting to this stage.
I agree with No.1′s comment that by the time the change happens and is completed there will be no Wolverhampton to visit as everywhere will close up.
I never visit Wolves CC now I visit the local shops in Wednesfield but I can see Wolves being like Willenhall – a deserted town because of closed shops.
It is that bad with Wolves City Council and their housing system too that me and my family are looking at relocating as there isnt enough around here anymore. The only thing the council have done during the last 2 years is distroy the city they had.
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Of course people want to new developments in Wolverhampton but they MUST BE co-ordinated with the traders and the the people who use the public transport.
Yes I realise I have made it sound simple to do but how difficult is the task in all honesty?
Traders will be going out of business at an alarming rate once the development work is in full flow and as someone else has stated, the new development will be totally devoid of customers as everyonwill have visited other shopping centres in other towns & cities to escape the mess and will they ever return?
Wolverhampton is a joke and no matter who runs the Council, they all seem to have the same ideas, make plans for futuristic developments which are often delayed or never even started or cause as much disruption as possible should they ever begin!
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I had a trip to london last week on national express and while the coach trip was faultless having to wait in Wolverhampton at 1.30am was one of the scariest thing I have done.Drunks passed out on pavement while others Urinating on the express and star building .Then there was the fighting in the street .I felt very unsafe And didnt know where I would get beat up or peed on.
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I spent the weekend in London which involved a night bus travel at 1am from Trafalgar sq. to Hounslow and that felt safer than any bus trip in Wolverhampton at any time of the day.
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Towns everywhere are suffering. But Wolverhampton seems to have the highest number of empty shops!!!
Something is wrong somewhere.
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This business is listed as Interworld Ltd however according to Companies House this is a Tetbury based IT business.
Also a quick look on Sunshine’s website details some high prices for holidays, surely this also has an impact. I wouldn’t pay £800 for a 2 week holiday on the Costa Del Sol, not when you can do it yourself for half that!
I don’t think the Bus station is wholly to blame, yes there are other factors such as currency rates, ash clouds and other factors, as a result, why not try and sell holidays in the UK?
Its noticing new markets and opportunities which makes the better businesses evolve and grow.
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How can the blame be put at the feet of the bus station, we have had ash clouds as the story says but with airline cabin crew strikes it has left the public with a level of distrust of the airline industry and to be fair the bus station has only been closed a month and a bit so the shop must have already been on the downhill slope long before the bus station closed and with all the extra buses stopping in queen street there shouldn’t have been that big of a drop in profits.
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