One hair salon splits £200k as Sauchiehall Street businesses question compensation rules
One hairdressing salon in Glasgow’s fire-ravaged Sauchiehall Street received £200,000 in compensation while bigger firms nearby got only £10,000, we can reveal.
The gulf in payments provoked criticism of the compensation system put in place after two fires caused huge disruption to trade in the famous street.
Seven self-employed stylists based at the salon claimed £20,000 each from a fund set up to compensate businesses affected by the Glasgow School of Art blaze in June while three businesses operating from the premises also received £20,000.
While other nearby firms said the compensation system was unfair, salon manager Paul Evangelista yesterday said claims were fair and legitimate.
Absolut Hair and Beauty and Sauchiehall Street Barbers were shut by the fire and a cordon set up in its wake but found a temporary site to keep trading.
Besides the seven stylists claiming £20,000, Absolut Hair, Absolut Beauty and Sauchiehall Barbers also claimed £20,000 each, meaning the total going to the shared first-floor premises was £200,000.
Mr Evangelista, manager of Absolut Hair and Beauty and owner of Sauchiehall Barbers, said the claims were justified because a number of businesses operate from the premises.
He said: “The Scottish Government made a statement inviting individual businesses to apply if they were affected by events and that’s what they did.”
He said he had nothing to do with the applications by Absolute Hair, Absolute Beauty or the applications from the hairdressers. He did apply on behalf of Sauchiehall Barbers.
“I have done nothing wrong,” he added.
However, other business owners have questioned the Scottish Government’s handling of the £5 million fund.
The £5m Fire Recovery Fund was set up in the wake of two major city centre fires earlier this year and around £3m will be paid out in compensation while the rest will be used to reduce the rates paid by affected firms.
Iain Gordon, manager of the affected Pavilion Theatre, said: “I don’t think it’s fair. Some people who got the maximum grant won’t make £20,000 in a year.
“The Scottish Government and the council were just desperate to hand out money because they ignored us for so long.”
Almost 200 firms have been handed grants of either £10,000 or £20,000 from the fund to compensate for disruption to business. The payment depended on how close they were to the art school blaze.
Glasgow Film Theatre got £10,000, while the Centre for Contemporary Arts and charity shop Cancer Research UK were handed £20,000 each.
Jamie O’Neill, who runs two mobile phone shops in Sauchiehall Street, said he has no doubt the hairdressers and the salon were eligible for the grants but suggested the system had not been properly planned.
“The money has not been handed out in a fair way,” he said.
Zeishan Nazar, who owns printing company Ink Co in the Savoy Centre, said: “Most people would have liked more in compensation but it seems ridiculous that seven hairdressers from one salon got £20,000 each.
“We were told as a small limited company in a certain area we’d get £10,000. We were told that’s what we should apply for. They basically drew a line on the map.
“They wanted to pay quickly and get it settled, but if I’d known that self-employed hairdressers were getting £20,000 each I’d have pushed for more. It’s unbelievable. They’ve got no stock, almost no overheads.”