Market traders tell Boris Johnson why they are struggling to survive

Small business owners in Shepherd’s Bush Market told Conservative mayoral candidate, Boris Johnson, on Tuesday (1st April) that crime was damaging their businesses and destroying the area.

Johnson, who visited the market last year and met a trader who had been attacked, said he wanted to know what progress had been made in driving down crime.

“The key issue for me is to discover what’s happening with the safety and security of market traders,” he told business owners, who had gathered in one of the market’s oldest shops to hear him speak.

Many traders said that since the introduction of the community scheme, Market Watch, in January the situation in the crime-ridden marketplace had improved. “It is getting safer,” said one businessman.

Several business owners said the scheme, which is similar to Neighbourhood Watch, had created a sense of community in the marketplace and that traders now looked out for one another. They also said the Safer Neighbourhoods police teams were making a difference.

Cllr Greg Smith, Cabinet Member for Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour said the statistics backed this up: “Since 24-7 (policing), robbery has halved in this area,” he said.

However, many traders said crime was still a major issue and had caused the market to deteriorate.

Shop-owner Danielle Horada, whose business has been in the family since 1919, said muggings, knife attacks and graffiti were commonplace in the market and were destroying the area. “We used to serve a thousand customers a day. Now you don’t even serve a thousand customers a month. We’re struggling to survive,” she said. “If we can regenerate the area, we can increase the footfall. It has declined so much.”

Johnson said street crime had to be tackled. “We call this stuff anti-social behaviour but it’s a criminal offence and should be treated as such,” he told traders. “I’m absolutely convinced that London should be far safer than New York”.

For Shepherd’s Bush Market traders, it was not just crime that was of concern. Carpet shop owner, Barry Mills, whose family business has been running for five generations, said traffic policies were making his life very difficult: “Congestion charge has killed the parking here,” he said. “We have to pay £700 a year to park our cars. Everything’s against us now.” He said other costs, such as complying with the low emission zone, might force him to close up and move out of London. However, he was not sure that Johnson – or any other mayoral candidate – would improve the situation. “What they say they’re gong to do and what they do are two different things,” he said.

Another shop-owner said doing business in Shepherd’s Bush was only set to get more difficult: “The big stores have taken out all the small businesses. It’s going to be very tough when Westfield opens,” Surjeet Duggal said.

As Johnson climbed into his taxi to leave, one market trader was quite clear about how the mayoral candidate could win her support: “I will vote for you if you reduce my rent,” she said. “Look at the condition of the market! We’re losing money every day”.

Yasmine Estaphanos

April 27, 2010