Businesses impacted by a huge Glasgow blaze say they face financial “catastrophe” without further support from the council.
The blaze broke out in a vape shop on Union Street near Central Station on March 8, tearing through a Victorian-era building that has since been demolished.
A fund is being administered by Glasgow City Council using the Scottish Government’s £10m commitment to support recovery efforts.
However, businesses that have since reopened say support available falls short, with many struggling to recover lost trade.
‘We’re open – but it’s not business as usual’
Dale Forrest has co-owned barbers Beardy Beardy on Renfield Street for seven years.
He said the business has been hit hard despite escaping physical damage.
Located at the edge of the cordon that still remains, the shop has been affected by restricted access, reduced footfall and a lack of targeted financial support.
“it should’ve been business as usual, but it’s far from it. It feels like we’ve set up a barber shop in the middle of a construction site.”
The owners are eligible to receive £2,000 from Glasgow City Council’s recovery fund. While they welcome the grant, they say it does little to offset the huge drop in footfall.
“We’re expected to pay 100% of the running costs with a fraction of footfall. It’s not sustainable or fair.
“It will last for a couple of months but essentially it feels like a false economy.”
Dale said he spotted smoke billowing from the area after finishing work at around 3pm on the day of the fire.
Hours later, they learned that the blaze had engulfed the building along Union Street.
The shop had planned to open as usual the following day but staff were told to leave the area.
STV News“We set up to come into work Monday morning, only to realise there was no access.
“No real guidance, just a police officer saying ‘you have to leave’.”
“We remained closed with no information telling us when we were able to reopen.”
After three days, the cordon was reduced and the business was able to resume trading.
But Dale says footfall dropped by around 40% in the first week.
The impact has been compounded by pre-existing issues, including scaffolding erected by the landlord that already reduced visibility of the shop.
“It’s an uphill battle,” Dale added.
STV News“The road technically is open, people can walk down the pavement, but no one’s coming in. From St Vincent Street it looks like a demolition site.”
The funding being offered to businesses is on a tiered basis, depending on how far from the affected building a business might be and the impact of the subsequent cordons.
That’s £25,000 for every business that was destroyed in the fire, £15,000 for those that are still in the cordon and £2,000 for each of the businesses that were in the immediate cordon the days after the fire. Over £1m has been allocated so far.
Non-domestic rates, or business rates, are set at a national level and have been suspended for businesses still inside the cordon.
Dale says he fears for the future of the shop without further support.
“We spent a long time in this premises building this business, creating this team, building clientele. For it to disappear is devastating.
“It’s great we’re still here, but it’s not a great position we’re in.
“How are you expected to continue to trade? How are you supposed to survive?”
STV NewsHisashi Kuboyama, development manager for Federation of Small Businesses, said current funding does not reflect the scale of the impact.
“Businesses lost four full days of trade, with significant footfall due to the closure of the city centre used by about 70,000 people on a daily basis. That means they lost quite a lot of their monthly income in March, and £2,000 would probably only scratch the surface of this financial struggle at the moment.
“They are resilient, but they are now facing the reality of financial pressure due to the fire. Those in the cordon don’t have to trade, but those outside do, and that’s where the council can step in.
“Timing is of the essence because they are struggling, and we want the council to act very quickly and decisively with additional support for them.”
A council spokesman said: “Our Fire Recovery Fund has allocated almost £1m to small businesses to date – with the greatest support due to those that remain locked out of their premises for safety reasons. We have also automatically granted rates relief for those businesses unable to occupy their premises.
“The Scottish Government has provided funding to support the Fire Recovery Fund and the city’s wider recovery efforts. Officers are reviewing a range of options around this – including potential NDR reliefs.”
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