Council accused of 'actively harming' Wolverhampton economy after 'staggering' closure rate rise

Councillor Ellis Turrell, who is vice-chair of the council’s scrutiny board, has called this "staggering" and "appalling", and has criticised the local authority for pursuing what he called economically "harmful" policies.

In particular, he has spoken damningly of the pedestrianisation work in the city centre and its impact on local businesses.

Councillor Turrell, who highlighted the shocking figure during a recent board meeting, said: "This is a staggering and appalling statistic, to see a huge rise in business closures in the city over such a short period of time, which reflects incredibly badly on the city council.

"Businesses have repeatedly warned about the damaging impact of the pedestrianisation works on Victoria Street, North Street and surrounding roads in the city centre.

"While the economic climate nationally is undoubtedly tough, I believe this 170 per cent rise is a direct consequence of the council’s policies.

"They have not properly engaged with local businesses, and have pushed ahead with measures to restrict vehicle access to the city centre."

However, the acting leader for Wolverhampton Council has said this figure represents the entirety of Wolverhampton, not just the city centre, reflecting a national trend concerning struggling businesses.

He also said it would be "incorrect" to link these citywide figures specifically to the city centre improvement works.

Councillor Stephen Simkins, acting leader of the council and cabinet member for inclusive city economy, said: "These figures relate to businesses across the whole of Wolverhampton – not just the city centre - and reflect the national trend.

“While all businesses are being impacted by rising inflation and interest rates, closures can happen for a number of reasons including takeovers, mergers or being re-registered under a new name.

“On the flip side, Wolverhampton was recently ranked as the top council in the West Midlands for take-up of the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme.

“The council provides extensive business support and is working with businesses to develop further support programmes to help the city economy.

“It would be incorrect to suggest these citywide figures are linked specifically to the city centre improvement works."

He added: “We can see that the completed Victoria Street and North Street works are already attracting more visitors with public events and enabling businesses to thrive and grow. Local traders have also welcomed the council support through the Relaunch Grant and are investing in their businesses.

“This, combined with the huge success of the reopening of The Halls and new Box Space entertainment venue due to open next year, shows what an exciting time this is for Wolverhampton.

"A busy events programme is underway in the area and the recent Pride event attracted over 5,000 people to the city centre.”

The figure that business closures have risen by 170 per cent is contained within the council’s Strategic Risk Register, which all local authorities are required to have and to regularly report to councillors.

The first risk on Wolverhampton Council’s risk register is the "impact on council services due to businesses closing", with the loss of businesses potentially impacting on employer support programmes, the regeneration and the achievement of the Council Plan.

Despite the steep rise in business closures, the risk is only identified as an amber risk.

Councillor Turrell added: "Quite why this issue is only an amber risk on the council’s Strategic Risk Register, I do not know.

"This is an issue of huge concern and alarm to residents and businesses in the city. Labour councillors now need to give this the priority it deserves, stop any further pedestrianisation of the city centre and give our local economy a much-needed boost.”

Traders in the city centre have spoken of the drastic impact the pedestrianisation works have had on their businesses, including reduced footfall.

A major difficulty for restaurants in the city centre has been delivery drivers not being able to reach takeaways to collect orders from platforms like Uber Eats, which is now a major part of operations for restaurants and takeaways.

Mark Calleja owns Earl's Sandwich shop on North Street and said he hadn't realised how much the work would impact him.

He said: "I was told there would be things in place to enable car flow of traffic, making the shop accessible for deliveries, but I didn't think it would impact me this badly.

"Delivery drivers are finding they have to park a fair way from the shop, while we've seen a lot of cancellations on orders from Uber Eats and Just Eat, platforms we depend on because of people working at home, because they can't get close enough to the premises.

"It's had a huge impact as we're seeing less footfall at peak times, but I have to hope that the work being done can bring more people through eateries with tables and chairs outside, but it's the question of when as we need to survive."

Bruce Nagra, who co-owns Crazy Gin with his wife Paramjit, said he felt a lot of trade had been killed off by the road closing and also claimed there had been a lack of communication about what was happening.

He said: "It's definitely killed off a lot of trade with trying to get deliveries in as a lot of the drivers don't know where to go and end up finding alternative ways to drop stuff off, including parking at the bottom of the road.

"To me, there have been a lot of rumours or talks about what has been happening here, but the delays have been so long and having the road shut down prior to the work has been really bad and I think they've made it worse down here for footfall.

"I think there can be a benefit, but my fear is that the vision they put out and the work they are going to finish with will be a huge mismatch."

Meanwhile Mark Williams, owner of Markie's Barber Shop, has reduced the size of his workforce for the time being due to the reduced footfall, but he said he hoped the new area would make it better for people in the long run.

He said: "I would normally have six barbers on, but I've had to reduce it to three in the week as the number of customers has fallen in town, with people going to Bentley Bridge or Merry Hill instead.

"I really hope this works out as Wolverhampton has been missing out on a lot of stuff recently and I hope it can make it something that encourages people to live in the city more."

Wolverhampton Council has been contacted for comment.