West Point: Leeds bars and restaurants facing 16-month scaffolding 'nightmare' leaving them 'invisible'

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Businesses in Leeds city centre say they are continuing to feel the strain after another summer of misery brought on by scaffolding that has left them “virtually invisible”.

“Essential” scaffolding has been in place around the building at West Point - a complex situated between Whitehall Road and Wellington Street - since April last year.

Bosses behind a string of popular bars and restaurants including Toast, The Whitehall, Leeds Postal Service and Lazy Lounge say their businesses have been badly impacted.

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The scaffolding virtually covers up the front of each business.

Now, some 16 months after it was first erected, they have said that operating around the scaffolding remains a “nightmare” - and that there is frustration and confusion over how long it will remain in place.

From left: Fatjon Muca, Jacob Georgallis and Tom Bailey have all complained about the impact the scaffolding is having on their businesses.From left: Fatjon Muca, Jacob Georgallis and Tom Bailey have all complained about the impact the scaffolding is having on their businesses.
From left: Fatjon Muca, Jacob Georgallis and Tom Bailey have all complained about the impact the scaffolding is having on their businesses. | National World

It was installed as part of “essential” work to remove cladding following a government-mandated policy change in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy.

West Point, formerly known as Royal Mail House, is privately owned and the work is being carried out by Caddick Construction, which said it “empathises” with the businesses and residents and remains committed to “continuing to support” them while works are ongoing. Caddick added that public safety during the work was its “priority”.

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Business bosses told the Yorkshire Evening Post last year that the scaffolding had decimated trade and said staff at some of the venues had been made redundant over the period.

They say the scaffolding continues to be a “nightmare” and that their calls for financial support have not materialised.

Tom Bailey, owner of Lazy Lounge and Leeds Postal Service, said that in his 12 years of working at the site it had been the “worst trading period we’ve had”.

Fine-dining restaurant The Whitehall has been significantly impacted due to the scaffoldingFine-dining restaurant The Whitehall has been significantly impacted due to the scaffolding
Fine-dining restaurant The Whitehall has been significantly impacted due to the scaffolding | national World

He told the YEP: “It’s as bad as it possibly could be and it’s been worse this year than last year.”

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Owner of fine-dining restaurant The Whitehall, Fatjon Muca, previously said it had been a “constant battle” since opening nine months before the Covid pandemic hit and that they were still “battling through”.

Mr Muca said: “I know we talk about how bad the pandemic was but at least we got some help from the Government. It’s been 10 times harder to get through this.”

He added that the issues caused by the front of the restaurant being boarded up were “horrendous”.

“It doesn’t feel like we’ve had any help,” he said.

“We’ve not even had an apology. Just earlier, we had a [customer] booking who couldn’t find us for 20 minutes because we’re covered up.”

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The manager of Toast said that the sporting events of the summer had helped but that trade was still noticeably downThe manager of Toast said that the sporting events of the summer had helped but that trade was still noticeably down
The manager of Toast said that the sporting events of the summer had helped but that trade was still noticeably down | National World

Mr Muca said he was “really struggling” and bemoaned the lack of financial help for the businesses, which could have been spent on marketing to ensure people knew they were still open.

He said: “I’ve just had to make peace with it and ensure that the business is running and that the quality of food is still as it should be.”

Jacob Georgallis, general manager at Toast, said that the sporting events of the summer had helped with trade but that revenue was still down by 18 per cent on the year before the scaffolding went up.

Mr Georgallis said he had been told there could be delays to the work being completed.

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He said: “I’m not counting on anything until we see it come down.”

It is still unclear how much longer the scaffolding will be up for.It is still unclear how much longer the scaffolding will be up for.
It is still unclear how much longer the scaffolding will be up for. | National World

The three men all said that their attempts to nail down a time frame for when the work would be completed have proved fruitless - and that they have been told answers varying from later this year to March or May, 2025.

Lazy Lounge and Leeds Postal Service boss Mr Bailey added: “We don’t get confirmation of anything. It’s all rumours and hearsay.”

The business owners added that they hope to organise a “festival” when the scaffolding has been brought down, to bring customers back to the area and “show people that we are back open for business”.

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Steve Ford, from Caddick Construction, the construction firm carrying out the work, said: “We have put in place a number of measures to help support the businesses affected by our scaffolding, including signage, advertising CGI graphics on our site hoardings to notify the public that businesses remain open during the works and we keep all stakeholders regularly updated.

“Our priority is the safety of the public whilst delivering this important work as efficiently as possible. We empathise with the businesses and residents and remain committed to continuing to support local businesses and residents while works are ongoing.”

Homes England, the Government department that has ordered the work to be carried out and funded it, previously told the YEP: “With any remediation works, the work is the responsibility of, and completed by, the responsible entity and their team. Any arrangements or agreements about managing the impact on their commercial tenants is up to them.”

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