‘Building work is terrible timing’
Businesses hit out as High Street pavements dug up
Businesses on Paisley’s High Street have hit out at a broadband company claiming they were given no notice of building work outside their shops.
CityFibre is currently installing full fibre broadband in the town centre which requires them to dig up pavements and roads.
A section of Paisley High Street from numbers 34 to 50 was dug up on the pavement directly outside the businesses.
It meant disruption for staff and businesses desperate to welcome back customers after a long covid lockdown.
Yvonne Smith has run Metalworx on High Street for the last 25 years.
She said: “We have seen them digging up other parts of the town but we weren’t told it would be outside our door.
“My son runs the shop now and he phoned me saying they were locked in. We had to reschedule an appointment because there was no way in.
“I feel they should have given us some notice so we could rearrange appointments and let our customers know. The timing is rubbish, we could really do without any other disruption to businesses.
“Surely they could have done this during lockdown when none of the shops were open?
“We opened back up on April 24 and we’re already working on reduced capacity to comply with guidelines. We have to do appointments only, we can’t do walk-ins any more.”
Staff from Cafe Malatso posted on Facebook that they wouldn’t be able to open till after 12noon due to the City Fibre work.
They wrote: “Unfortunately due to CityFibre road works we are not able to open today.
“Sorry for the late post as we only found out about it when we turned up this morning.”
Utility companies have a responsibilty to notify businesses in advance of any works they are doing and provide contact details at the location.
But the Paisley businesses claim they knew nothing of the disruption until it happened.
David Cannon, city manager at CityFibre, said: “We’re sorry to learn that concerns have been raised by business owners in Paisley and want to reassure them that we always endeavour to manage any disruption and complete all works as quickly and efficiently as possible. We also do everything in our power to inform the business community well ahead of work starting, which includes direct mail, press and speaking directly to individuals.
“This digital infrastructure work, which represents a private investment of £ 40m in Renfrewshire, will futureproof the town’s digital infrastructure for decades to come.
“We are so appreciative of the support we’ve received and would ask the Paisley community to continue to bear with us while we deliver this important project.”