‘Most cursed’ city street hits food businesses again
Bosses hit out as road is building site once more
TWO businesses are fighting for survival on “the most cursed street” in Birmingham centre, their bosses claim.
There has been redevelopment work in Cornwall Street, in the Colmore business district, for several years now.
And, just as lockdown restrictions are lifting, exasperated owners have witnessed the street being turned into a construction site once again.
A £1.2 million council plan to pedestrianise the road, off Newhall Street, began in February.
However, Zen Metro and nearby Bon Bon cafe fear they will not survive to see it completed.
Building work and roadworks has left customers struggling to access Zen, hitting trade at an already hellish time for hospitality.
And on nearby New Market Street, Bon Bon sandwich shop co-owner Alex Mustafa said “never ending” building work was now creating further pain post-Covid.
Both businesses first spoke to the Post about how sales had nosedived due to lengthy construction work back in 2017.
Zen boss Jaimon George said: “It is hard enough to operate a restaurant as it is right now without customers having to walk through a construction site to get here.
“Yes, the work is for the physical benefit of the street, but I am so tired of the same issues again and again.
“I have already cancelled our weekday lunches, apart from Friday, because there is no one here.
“And in the evenings it’s not ideal to entice customers to enter a building site for a meal.”
Back in 2017 Mr George said the venue was losing £5,000 a week due
to suspended parking bays as well as scaffolding on the street, which was obscuring the restaurant.
The work was part of a lengthy private renovation project to turn the empty Herbert House offices into The Lightwell apartments, which opened last year.
The new £1.2 million pedestrianisation plan forms part of the Colmore Business District’s Outstanding Places vision.
Mr George said: “It feels like this street is cursed. Our summer is ruined. We can’t put tables out. There are not many people about anyway but the people that are here can’t easily access us.
“Yes, I knew the pedestrian programme was coming, but I never thought I’d be in a position when we couldn’t receive deliveries.”
He added: “The whole city centre is a building site now, but this has to be the worst street considering how
long this has been going on.”
Mr George spoke after Opus restaurant, which was also in the street, closed its doors in May
In February, workers began to dig up the road directly opposite it – and it is still going on.
The restaurant said it was permanently closing as it was not viable to carry on trading, due to the impact of coronavirus.
After the pandemic struck, the city centre became a ghost town overnight and some 16 months on, most
workers have yet to return to their offices.
Alex Mustafa, who co-owns Bon Bon Cafe, relied heavily on the trade from Cornwall Street offices.
He said: “The construction work is going far too slow.
“I’ve never seen more than a handful of builders on the road at any one time. How can you finish a job with such a small team? You can’t even finish a small extension, never mind redoing a whole road?”
Blaze Gym, which neighbours Zen Metro, has also had problems accessing deliveries as the work goes on.
A spokeswoman for the council told the Post: “The whole of Cornwall Street is being transformed to make it a pedestrian-friendly environment as part of the next phase of the Snow Hill Public Realm scheme due to complete in the autumn.
“Advance works to utilities were
needed to be undertaken ahead of the works.
“We reviewed this against the programme, and it became apparent that soon after Cornwall Street was set up with traffic management and the contractor had mobilised, work would need to pause for Christmas.
“This would cause additional costs and disruption to the public. We reviewed timelines and agreed to start the utility works after the Christmas period, with the main works commencing in February 2021. Completion is expected in late 2021.
“We are working closely with businesses to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum.
“However, it should be highlighted that if a business did not have a formal loading bay under the original road layout, then they would not be able to claim a formal loading bay whilst the works are ongoing.”
It’s not ideal to entice customers to enter a building site for a meal. Jaimon George, Zen Metro