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Roadworks drive historic Wolverhampton firm out of city

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One of the most established names in Wolverhampton city centre is shutting up shop due to the ongoing roadworks nightmare.

E. Marsh has traded since 1913 but bosses said they had now been pushed 'past breaking point'. They said customers and delivery drivers could not get to their shop in Princess Street due to roads and pavements being torn up and changes to the bus stops.

The upholstery and furniture specialist has been run by four generations of the same family but will close its doors in the city centre in June. Owners, Barry and Keith Marsh, said the long-running roadworks had damaged trade.

Keith, aged 62, said the work had forced his staff to carry settees 50 yards down the street to get to delivery vans and people could not get to the front door as Princess Street was being torn up.

He said buses that used to stop on the road were now being diverted elsewhere and estimated that 90 per cent of his customers now refused to come into the city centre because of the disruption.

"Can you blame them?" he said. "There's nowhere to park and getting to the shop around all the roadworks is no easy task.

"It's driven us mad. We had a customer saying to us 'we can see you, but we can't get to you'.

"We just don't get any passing trade anymore. Five years ago, we would have seen a steady flow of customers throughout the day. Now we're lucky to get four people in the shop on a Saturday."

As well as the £1.6 million council project to overhaul the roads, work to revamp the Midland Metro station over-ran by four months, meaning customers were unable to get a tram into the centre for eight months.

Prior to that, the bus station was closed for 16 months for the first stage of the city's Interchange project.

Barry, 63, said: "We planned to renovate the store front three years ago but we put it on hold to see what was going to happen with all the work.

"Things have got steadily worse and we've now gone past breaking point. We're a proper Wolverhampton firm with deep ties to the city, but we feel there's no point in having a shop here anymore."

From June, the firm's entire operation will be run from its warehouse in Pountney Street, Blakenhall.

"The warehouse has been doing well. It's far easier for our customers to get to and there's ample parking," added Barry.

"We'd like to open another showroom, but sadly it won't be in Wolverhampton."

Wolverhampton City Council said the roadworks are necessary to improve the centre for pedestrians, shoppers and tourists.

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