Bradford traders say they will not survive the impact of the roadworks

Business owners in Bradford city center have said they face permanent closure unless they are compensated for a loss in trade caused by extensive roadworks.

Regeneration work and a number of motorway schemes ahead of City of Culture 2025 have led to a drop in traffic around the main shopping areas.

Traders told the BBC that the road closures and diversions had a “devastating” impact on their receipts.

They have called for more financial support from Bradford Council to help them survive a tough period until the work is finished.

Shoppers have to cross barriers, excavators, construction dust and narrow sidewalks.

The council hopes the disruption is a necessary sacrifice that will improve the town center for the cultural showcase ahead.

Hamza Abbas has run his gift shop on Market Street for more than seven years, but said a sharp drop in traffic in recent months has caused his income to drop. He made the decision to close the store at the end of the month.

“I lost all my trades, at least 95% gone,” he said.

“We used to have 100 customers a day. Now I’m barely making £50 a day – today I’ve made £35 so far. How can I survive?

“The buses, the taxis, everything moved from Market Street and that’s where the customers came from. Now no one comes because they have to walk 10 minutes to get to my shop. It’s been like this since February or March. It’s like this. stressful that I can’t think straight, I’ll have to close at the end of July.”

Mr Abbas said he had spoken to Bradford Council a number of times, asking on behalf of himself and other businesses for additional support in terms of rent relief grants and lost income.

He contacted his MP and City Hall, but claimed he had been passed over from pillar to post – partly because of the general election.

“I know a lot of the traders here are asking the landlords to reduce their rent because everyone is behind on it,” he added.

He said he had handed the council the names of about 20 struggling traders.

He had a reduction in business rates but said more help was needed and asked why the road schemes could not have been staggered.

“What will they do when 14 or 15 shops are closed? What will happen during the City of Culture year when people are walking around town and there are no shops to go into?”

Next door is Mohammed Asghar’s mobile phone shop. He said trade has fallen by 80% in recent months and he also plans to close later this summer.

“The council has yet to respond to our concerns,” he said.

“It is very difficult for us. My message to the authorities is “please help us”; if they don’t do something, many shops here will close.”

Husnain Zafar works for Mr. Asghar who is his uncle. He believed that the move of big retail brands to the Broadway shopping center was also a factor in the decline in trade and speculated that there was no real desire to support existing small businesses.

“Just give us a stall and we’ll move to Broadway too,” he added.

Mr Asghar added that the temporary closure of Bradford Interchange bus station due to building damage also caused “major problems” for businesses as many customers used to get straight off the bus and into the shop.

Mohammed Waqas owns City Hair and Beauty on the edge of Centenary Square. He told a similar story of 90% lost income and a struggle for survival in recent months.

“All businesses will die downtown,” he warned.

He added that other initiatives such as free parking on Broadway could help.

Bradford Council had not responded at the time of writing to specific questions about providing additional support for small businesses.

However, the overall state of the city center roadworks and their impact were discussed at a meeting this week.

It was an issue that many councilors themselves were concerned about and questioned the Labor leadership.

Labor councilor Mohammed Amran said taxi drivers were “finding it almost impossible to make a living”, with road closures and the relocation of taxi stands leading to losses of “over 50 per cent” of their trade.

Asked what help would be given to taxi drivers, the council acknowledged in a written response the disruption caused by the roadworks, but said temporary taxi ranks close to the original ones had been created to ease problems and were welcomed by some drivers.

But the authority also insisted that issues “beyond the council’s control” were contributing to the overall traffic decline – adding that it was currently “unable to provide compensation for the disruption to trade caused by the construction of roadworks on behalf of the council as the authority local highways. ” because there was “no statutory mechanism for this to take place”.

Councilors were also due to vote on a motion tabled by the opposition Tory group, urging bosses to “express concern” to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority – which oversees transport in the region – and to “work with them to resolve ongoing issues to improve the city center”. accession”.

The meeting was also told that several other initiatives have been put in place to increase traffic in the city center in the coming months, including the full opening of the One City Park office building next month, a new street patrol service for to help combat anti-social behavior and several events and festivals throughout the year.

Councilor Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, said when the work was completed “we will have a town center that will be much better than what we had before”.

Becoming UK City of Culture for 2025 was also “a real opportunity to attract further investment”, she said.

Opposition leader Tory councilor Rebecca Poulsen told the meeting that the city center had become “complete chaos” in recent months, with “a lot of people” now shopping elsewhere.

She wondered what benefits an improved downtown would bring to businesses forced to close.