Lazy Lounge owner Tom Bailey complaining about scaffolding costing local businesses a significant amount of business.
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00:00 my name is Tom Bailey, I'm the owner of Lazy Lounge and Leeds Postal Service. Obviously we
00:05 had Covid, we had lockdowns, we got through all that, just things at the beginning of this year
00:11 were getting so much better. Me and my managers were breathing a sigh of relief and then in April
00:17 scaffolding was put up over the entire building to deal with the cladding because the government
00:22 had changed the policy. As soon as the scaffolding went up I lost footfall straight away. We're
00:28 looking at around about 75% loss over the summer. Not just the scaffolding, we've got more competition
00:34 from Wellington Place but the scaffolding has played a huge role. Unfortunately because it's
00:39 private land the council can't do a lot. They have given us a 75% discount on the business rates
00:45 which is helpful but when I'm losing three thousand four thousand pounds a week it doesn't really
00:50 touch the sides. The landlords have said they're victims because if the government hadn't changed
00:56 the policy then they wouldn't have to be doing the work. So they haven't been given a discount
01:02 and they can't pass a discount on to us. So we're stuck. We've gone to the council, we've written to
01:07 the MPs, this is all the businesses not just mine. We've had Toast, we've got the Whitehall as well,
01:11 we're all in the same boat, we're all independent, all owner operated. We've been told by the MP,
01:17 by Hilary Benn, that if the government hadn't thought of it, hadn't any help for the businesses
01:26 during the works, so they've actually advised us to go to the media. They said the only thing we
01:29 can do is advise you to go to the media and do something. So that's why we're here. It's worrying
01:37 because this is my livelihood. I've got a young family at home, 10 months old and a new one on
01:41 the way. I've been here for 16 years. We've got through some really tough times. The scaffolding
01:48 for us is worse than Covid because during Covid the government helped. We've now got this. It's
01:54 the government's decision and they're not helping. So we're stuck basically.