Stafford dance studio owners uncertain of future and looking for more support from council after notice given to vacate premises
The owner of a Stafford dance studio has spoken out about her shock at being told to vacate a town centre building due to redevelopment work meaning the building is to be demolished.
Alison Gallagher-Hughes said she was still taking in the enormity of the news from Stafford Council that the building which houses Topline Studio on Gaolgate Street has been earmarked for demolition and the studio had been given notice to quit by January 30.
Ms Gallagher-Hughes said the building had been purchased earlier in the year by the council, along with the former Wilko's store and the former Blue Cross Stop and spoke about how she found out about the notice to quit.
She said: "We received the notice to quit in October, but we had initiated some meetings with the council as our original landlord was the Central England Co-op and we completely unaware that the building was up for sale.
"It was in the process of being sold to the council when we started to hear rumours of the council buying other buildings in the town centre, so we actively approached the Economic Development Unit believing that or having heard that these properties were being bought up as part of the Future High Street funding that they received back in 2020.
"The conversations kind of started along the lines of them not wanting to endanger our business and they're in the process of buying the building, so don't worry too much, then the position started to change, but we didn't know for sure until we received that notice to quit from the Stafford Council estate team."
Ms Gallagher-Hughes said she was still taking in the news and the enormity of what was happening, with the studio having been at the site since 2019 and more than 250 students using the studio each week, and said it had been hard to take when there had been plans by the studio to expand.
