BUSINESSES in Greenwich Town Centre have complained of a slump in business since the start of London 2012.
A long-hoped-for boost from Olympic visitors has failed to materialise as spectators are marshalled from the railway station along a barrier-lined route to Greenwich Park.
Shops and cafes are having to watch on as spectators are guided past their business, with Olympic venue rules inhibiting their ability to promote themselves directly to the passing trade.
Managers from Greenwich Hospital, landlords of the market and nearby properties, attempted to hand out flyers yesterday but were instructed not to do so.
Non-Olympic footfall is also thought to be down because of long predicted, but not yet materialised, traffic problems deterring people and TFL road signs saying to “avoid [the] area.”
Amy Mccondach from Cedarlia in College Approach says that the shop’s sales have been “significantly dented since the barriers have gone up.” She called on LOCOG to install a crossing within the barrier so potential customers can across the road.
Dorothy May Thomas from Greenwich Market jewellers, Autumn and May, has written a letter to local MP Nick Raynsford saying:
“A lot of the restaurants have increased the buying of food for the period and they to have lost Business this last WEEKEND BY OVER 80%.” She says her own business was down thousands of pounds last weekend compared with the previous one.
Other businesses located in the market or on the surrounding roads, such as San Miguel, Red Door Cafe, Beaddoir, Beauty and the Bib and Artyglobe have taken to Twitter to plan a fightback to the slump.
A Royal Borough of Greenwich spokesperson said: “LOCOG are responsible for the barriers in Greenwich Town Centre and, at our request, they have left gaps so that visitors can cross over roads and enjoy all the shops and independent traders around Greenwich Market and town centre.
“We have not received any formal approaches from stallholders in Greenwich, but we have noticed that restaurants in Greenwich appear to benefitting from an upsurge in trade from visitors to the Olympics.
“The Royal Borough of Greenwich is committed to ensuring that our local businesses benefit from the Games. That is why we have 160 volunteers handing out information to visitors which signpost our shopping areas and help ensure that they enjoy a great day out in Greenwich. We hope the thousands of visitors in Greenwich seeing our wonderful attractions, who might not othwerwise have come, will lead to a boost in visitors and spend for years to come.”
A LOCOG spokesperson said: “The barriers are put in place to manage the crowds of spectators making their way towards Greenwich Park. We are doing what we can to minimise the impact on businesses in Greenwich and where it is safe and practical to do so we will remove the barriers once competition has begun.
“Spectators are also being encouraged to enjoy all that Greenwich has to offer whilst they are in the area.”
UPDATE
Greenwich.co.uk spoke to Greenwich Council leader, Chris Roberts, in Greenwich town centre today about the impact the Olympics is having on local businesses. Listen to his comments:
Resident says
The businesses complaining about lack of trade wouldn’t be the same ones that have raised their prices, would they?
mike Reply:
July 31st, 2012 at 5:53 pm
yr an idiot talking out the back of yr axxse
Franklin Reply:
July 31st, 2012 at 7:07 pm
No s/he isn’t. Locals have reported that all of the following have put up their prices:
– The Old Brewery
– The Union
– Buenos Aires
– Trafalgar Tavern
– The Mitre
– The Admiral Hardy
http://www.thegreenwichphantom.co.uk/2012/07/mean-times/
But stay classy!
Resident Reply:
July 31st, 2012 at 7:45 pm
If you follow the link on mike’s comment you’ll discover that Mr Chambers “is a Kent based..”
Mmm. Good to see that someone from Kent is an expert (not) on what’s actually happening in Greenwich.
Classy indeed.
Just Weight Reply:
July 31st, 2012 at 8:13 pm
Mr Chambers is a resident Greenwich Market stall holder.
Franklin Reply:
July 31st, 2012 at 11:14 pm
Then perhaps Mr Chambers should refrain from crude insults directed toward local residents, whose custom he presumably values.
Also, I’m not sure ‘resident’ means what you think it means – normally, ‘one who resides.’ ‘Resides’ meaning ‘lives in a place permanently.’ If he sleeps under his stall, he might be a ‘resident stall holder.’ Otherwise, he’s really just ‘a stall holder,’ isn’t he?
Please don’t get me wrong on the big issue: the massive cockup by LOCOG that has deprived local traders and market stall holders of the Olympics-related footfall. I think it’s appalling management and I hope that recent, if belated, steps by LOCOG and the Council will make up for some of the lost trade. I just take issue with anyone insulting others in crude and unsubstantiated ways on our local blogs.
Just Weight Reply:
August 1st, 2012 at 10:24 am
Resident’s (the original poster) implication is vulgar in the extreme and, were he as honourable as yourself, Franklin, he might consider apologising and retracting his/her statement.
Ruthie Reply:
July 31st, 2012 at 7:13 pm
No, ‘Resident’, they are NOT. There are over 120 small businesses trading in the market (we are one of them) and I have not seen that ANY of them have put their prices up. In fact, despite 15% increases in our costs, we have have not increased our prices for over a year as we are acutely aware of the financial pressures most of our customers are under at the moment. Our much decreased profit margin is one reason why this devastating drop in our business (we only took about 30% of our ‘average’ takings on Saturday) is so disasterous for us. We no longer have any buffer against such dramatic and unexpected drops in turnover. We are talking survival here, not profits. Many people with decent businesses are sick with worry and don’t know how they will be able to pay staff, buy stock or ingredients or indeed survive as a business if things carry on like this.
Anne says
It is outrageous that LOCOG says that visitors are being “encouraged to enjoy all that Greenwich has to offer” when they are barricading the market, have removed the signs that tell visitors where the market is and have posted their people around to re-direct visitors to the “places that they need to visit”. If it were to be the case that some of the businesses had raised their prices [and it’s not] how are these small independent traders supposed to survive if their trading spaces are being crushed underfoot by the casual arrogance and blind self-interested of the Olympic gestapo? Take down the barricades!!!
Mark says
Same is happening in Blackheath. People are pointed to station from central London. Then all the barriers and marshalls ensure nobody goes near Blackheath village. As a local we had to actually argue to be let through on return from park! It is precarious enough running a local shop and they are all fab. It is just daft not to fix this. The visitors would love both villages, but are being actively discouraged from experiencing it. Call the 24 hour locog resident helpline and register your support
GORN61 says
Ah, all that wonderful benefit to local business from the Olympics.
And think of the legacy!
GORN61 says
“The Royal Borough of Greenwich is committed to ensuring that our local businesses benefit from the Games”
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Presumably what this really means is “when someone asked if they could steal Greenwich from the residents and businesses to hold the Olympics here, the council rolled over and said yes, no problem, no need for any recompense”?
Darryl says
I’ve not made it into Greenwich town centre since it all started, but are Greenwich Council’s red-jumpered volunteers handing out anything there? They could be handing out flyers rather than the council’s copycat version of the Greenwich Visitor.
j garcia says
The spokesman for Greenwich Council is inhabiting another planet when he claims to have noticed an upsurge in restaurant business. All shops, market stalls and restaurants are empty. The well meaning Olympic stewards are only doing their job to shepherd spectators to the events but they and the barriers are killing everything else.
Sean Brogan says
The damage is already done to the local economy.
In Greenwich we have seen a massive downturn in business due to people rushing to get back onto transport through fears of getting stuck.
Pink jackets are not helping by ushering spectators out of the stadium and round into the station and heavy handed tactics to push them towards the stations and not let them veer off course.
Come to Greenwich today and see a ghost town, whilst the spectators are in the stadium, it is absolutely unbelievable!
Nelson's Left Eye says
Anyone up for a pub crawl tonight?
Gary Brady says
I was in East Greenwich yesterday morning about 9.30am as 50,000 people poured into Greenwich and it resembled 8am on Xmas morning – no people and no traffic,during a time of day when it’d normally be bustling with locals and traffic.The barriers and stewards in West Greenwich are sherherding people in and out of the arena and although there are a few gaps in the barriers,large groups of people will allow themselves to be led like sheep.I worked in the covered market on sunday and it was dead…..
Abdu says
Prices have not gone up where in the world ex europe can you get food full plates for 5.00 pound in a turist area pasta tapas fish and chips waiter sevice etc
Abdu abdurahman says
Where in the world can you get fish and chips pasta noodels waited on for 5.00 pound in a prime turist area so who ever sugest we have put our prices up is not true if any thing all our prices are down
Fatty Fatty BumBum says
Its a shame these visitors are not getting a chance to experience both villages – they are jewels in the crown of South East London and the Olympic-Paranoia which the organizers seem to have about potential congestion etc… have just not borne out and so they need to open the barriers and let the visitors come visit. They are frightening people away! Did you see that poor festival at the o2? Not a sinner at it because of all this hysteria about traffic. These Olympics will be known for London being deserted, instead of visitors enjoying this vibrant lively city.
Darryl says
Worth remembering Olympic paranoia was also fed by NOGOE with their predictions of death, pestilence, and crowd crushes on cross-country Monday.
The Peninsula Festival has been a fiasco, but seems to be going for a relaunch next week judging by its Facebook page.
Just Weight says
There are some pics of the desolation in the market yesterday at lunchtime here: http://afalsebalance.org/static/london2012/2012-07-30.htm
Fatty Fatty BumBum says
WOW those photos are awful – lunchtime in the market during the Olympics? It looks more like 10am on a wet Tuesday in February. I guess there are so many food options inside the event itself so people aren’t going to leave and go back in as they may not know the area. I wonder if the organizers of the Greenwich Festival in the Old Royal Naval College still have the food stalls from Brockley market down there adding to the competition.
When the event is on people aren’t going to be around though as they are watching the sport and the scaremongerers have frightened we locals away; that and the horrendous parking charges. The best time for businesses should be after the games when the punters leave hungry and seeking refuge in a local boozer.
I do feel for the traders – maybe the large number of rubbish businesses will finally realize that locals are an important part of their business but their poor service means many of us are simply not loyal to them. Many of the places in SE10 need to simply up your service, clean your bogs, smile at your customers and charge reasonable prices and the place would always be chocka – INC group are you reading this?
Resident says
Anne (and others) who think or claim that prices haven’t been inflated for the Olympics
The comments here http://www.thegreenwichphantom.co.uk/2012/07/mean-times/ name several offenders.
Nelson's Left Eye says
“Managers from Greenwich Hospital, landlords of the market and nearby properties, attempted to hand out flyers yesterday but were instructed not to do so.”
By whom and under what authority?
GORN61 says
I saw a statement by Meantime that they had increased their prices because of the extra costs to them of night-time deliveries of fresh goods, because they can’t have day-time deliveries during the Olympics.
GORN61 says
> the scaremongerers have frightened we locals away
Certainly true in my place. I live by the Standard and hadn’t dared to venture down to the centre over the weekend, because I believed the roads were closed, there were no buses and the town was heaving with Olympics spectators. I had no idea the Summer Festival was going on.
Darren says
There’s been a lot of negativity about congestion and about the games as a whole, perhaps rather than continuing on this trend more focus should be made of the positives.
But then this is Britain and a negative story still appears to be worth 50 positive ones.
GORN61 says
Are there positives? I know I’m not getting much out of the games being here, but perhaps others are. The council claims there is large amount of legacy investment, but I’ve not yet seen anything that couldn’t have happened anyway (and better) without the cost and inconvenience of the Olympics.
Just Weight says
Go on then Darren, list those positives?
Anne says
that is not fair, Darren. The Traders are not expressing negativity about the sporting stuff [or, if they are, I haven’t heard it] it’s the LUDICROUS behaviour of the LOCOG gestapo which is causing the hostile comments. I heard Cameron say something like “grin and bear it” … that’s alright for him, but it’s rough, don’t you think? for the local independent traders as the LOCOG gestapo systematically decimate their takings. These are businesses which will not survive the removal of their livelihood for the 6 or 7 weeks of the Olympic depredation. Will anyone pay their running costs? No. People are rightly angry. They are being mindlessly stamped underfoot and they do not deserve that treatment.
GORN61 says
Can we ask the Government to divert some of the profits they claim the Olympics will make to support traders who are damaged by them?
j garcia says
What makes things worse for the poor old market traders is that LOCOG persuaded
the landlords to keep the market open until 8pm, three hours longer than normal and this is being rigidly enforced by the managers.
The reason? To keep the departing Olympic spectators from leaving en masse and overwhelming the transport system. How ironic that the much hated orange and white Olympic barriers actively discourage visitors from fanning out and enjoying Greenwich at the end of the day!
Sean Brogan says
Today approx 4:15pm I saw 3 Greenwich council people handing out leaflets for the market and directing the spectators to where it was. Imagine my horror when I heard one of the Olympic herders ask them to move along.
Flaming Unbelievable!
Rob Powell says
If you’re subscribing to the comments on this article, may like to know I’ve just updated it with comments from council leader Chris Roberts.
Rob Powell says
Locog has announced it will take down the barriers tomorrow and Thursday as a trial
http://www.greenwich.co.uk/news/08789-controversial-barriers-to-come-down-in-greenwich-town-centre/
jane gardner says
I too was in Greenwich yesterday afternoon; supposedly going to be the busiest of all the Olympic period. There was no queue and plenty of seats in the coffee shop, unlike most weekends. Shops were empty and appearance of the lovely town centre (world heritage site ) disfigured by this blockade of barriers. No benefit to community or traders. I assume spectators not allowed out of arena until event finished. And then Locog insist they are kept moving. Terrible for all concerned. Understand if prices have to rise a bit for night time deliveries but if trade had increased they should not have to as it would be offset by more trade. Visitors must be encouraged not deterred.
Pete Stean says
Surprisingly, shopper numbers are down markedly in Westfield too – and that’s one of the main routes into the Olympic Park.
In addition to the Greenwich ‘kettling’, has anyone considered that the people attending Olympic events just aren’t the kind of people who enjoy browsing around Greenwich Market of a Sunday afternoon? The Westfield evidence indicates that they don’t behave like regular tourists…
Nelson's Left Eye says
“has anyone considered that the people attending Olympic events just aren’t the kind of people who enjoy browsing around Greenwich Market of a Sunday afternoon? ”
Of all the Games demographic groups, I would have thought the Equestrian set were *exactly* that type of people.
However, we do need to remember that Games-goers are only going to pass by while arriving at/leaving the venue, so not a constant stream, and those going home will often be too tired to want to do anything other than return to their home/hotel.
blackheath flower co says
We are further along blackheath on shootershill road, but are experiencing the same problems, not kettling of olympic spectators but OLYMPIC PARKING ATTENDANTS!!! There is around 3-7 of them patrolling all day, as soon as someone takes a chance to stop in the so called ‘parking bays’ the attandants swoop!! which customers are instantly put off and decide to drive off!!
Saturdays trade was awful 90% down and has been the same since the olympic restrictions have come into play.
As a post said earlier ‘THIS IS SURVIVAL NOT PROFIT’!!
Albert Beale says
The obvious answer is for the stall-holders to march up to the barriers and simply take them all away!
And if they want to give out leaflets, they should so so and defy the undemocratic Olympic rules. If enough local people took direct action to remove the barriers, both in Greenwich and anywhere else with a similar problem like Blackheath, the Olympic bosses would have to lump it.
Good luck with resisting…
Albert Beale (not based in the area, otherwise I’d move some of the barriers myself!) (worldpeace@gn.apc.org)
Blissett says
Albert,
Whilst well intentioned, I really don’t think that is very good advice.
Despite the disappointing consequences, there is a legitimate reason for those barriers to be in place. There is clearly a safety risk of having large numbers of pedestrians crossing the road to get to the market – and it’s that location on a traffic island that is the real problem here.
Were storeholders to remove barriers and encourage visitors to cross randomly at inappropriate locations, there could be serious consequences.
Jack Cross Reply:
August 3rd, 2012 at 9:14 am
Exactly – I’m told that it’s a slap on the wrist the first time, then a £1500 fine. How many of the beleagured market shops and stalls could laugh that off?
Jack Cross says
That’s just for attempting to distribute leaflets – who knows what the penalty for removing barriers would be?