Big Graeme wrote:I doubt it will have come as a shock to them, this will have been written in their lease agreement as Excel has been a known venue for at least 5 years, were they given a chance to bid for a catering franchise there during the games? It may have been the cost of the lease during the games was too high, that is the problems a small operator faces. I know someone who runs a similar operation at Wembley, they were all given the chance to have their existing pitch before the rest went out to tender.
Why should anyone else pay to move and store their equipment?
Big Graeme wrote:Yet you fail to answer the question of who told them they can't open...
Because I, having been told the story by tb, have not personally (yet) had the chance to interrogate him. I see no reason, however, to suggest that he is a liar.
Locog have far-reaching powers to do all manner of things – like placing the portacabins for the cleaners' accommodation, without any recourse to the local council (although that didn't stop the
Daily Mail printing lies about the council having approved them).
I don't find it difficult to believe that they have said that they will not allow "unnecessary traffic" in certain areas (his apparent explanation), meaning, in effect, that some businesses are struggling to stay open. In his case, he was told he could open his workshop at 11pm, by which time there is no public transport for his staff to be able to get to work.
This entirely tallies with what I've heard about businesses, from water companies to broadband providers, being told that they can only have limited vehicles on London's roads for the duration – a point specifically suggested by a letter from Virgin saying that any call-outs would be more 'difficult'.
I did fleetingly hear, a couple of weeks ago, of someone who was simply told, along with her colleagues, that they were not to go into work for a fortnight – but I don't know the details of the case.
The point being, it is extremely unlikely that these are unique cases.
So the authority has successfully managed to drive customers away from the capital – custom that will not be made up – and it will impact particularly on small businesses.
And what is this for? Ah yes, a sports event, at which some very rich and powerful companies get an absolutely massive advertising boost, in certain situations, a trading monopoly, and even tax breaks.
