Business says clean air zone has forced it out of city centre

Sheffield business Yorkshire Decorators Centre says it has been forced out of the city centre by Sheffield Council’s clean air zone policy.

The clean air zone, which covers most of Sheffield city centre, sees van drivers charged £10 per day to enter, while bigger vehicles can pay up to £50 per day.

But since the introduction of the zone, Yorkshire Decorators Centre, which is based in Gibraltar Street at West Bar, says it has lost customers and seen a £50,000 fall in turnover.

However, Councillor Ben Miskell, chair of Sheffield City Council’s Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee, responded: “We are seeing more businesses move into the city centre than to leave. This is creating more jobs and boosting our economy in the process.

“This is positive sign that our regeneration plans are working. Consumer behaviour continues to change post pandemic and businesses, like Yorkshire Decorating Centre, will make their own commercial decisions about where to base themselves.”

Yorkshire Decorating Centre managing director, Tony Gallagher, said: “We are a small family business and have been at this location close to Sheffield city centre for 22 years now but the reality is that we can no longer afford to stay here and we certainly can’t afford to keep trading at a loss.

“Because so much of our business is with trade customers, they say they cannot carry the cost of bringing their vans within the zone and so have sought other suppliers.

“Parking in this area of the city is now almost impossible anyway, while ongoing road works, centred around the continued redevelopment of the West Bar area and the creation of the Dutch-style roundabout just a few metres away from our door have left us marooned.

“The council says that it is creating a more pedestrian-friendly city but footfall around Gibraltar Street is much lower than it used to be so we’re even losing out on passing trade.

“Some days we have so few customers now that we don’t even cover our staffing costs.”

Gallagher and co-director Lauren Whiting have looked at alternatives, including the offer of a free delivery service for customers, crediting the £10 zone fee. But they have now decided that the only viable option is a move to new premises.

“All our competitors are now based outside the clean air zone and we now recognise that the only way for us to survive is to move and start to rebuild our business,” Gallagher said.

“We are now pleased to confirm, however, that we are now planning to move to Darnall and a location that will be easily accessible and we look forward to being able to share more details in the new few weeks.

“It’s going to be a wrench for us leaving Gibraltar Street after more than two decades but we hope existing customers will come with us and that a fresh start will give us a sense of renewed energy that will encourage us to grow.”

Cllr Miskell said: “We’ve been monitoring vehicle movements following the launch of the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) and there hasn’t been a decline in the number of vans travelling within the zone.

“We’ve seen the emission standards of vehicles change as a result of the CAZ with a 70% reduction observed in the highest polluting types, 88% of vans travelling in central Sheffield are now compliant with CAZ emission standards and face no charge. We also do not charge private cars for driving within the zone.

“The regeneration of West Bar is transforming the area into a fantastic place offering high quality apartments and office space, and we have already seen several new businesses move into the area bringing new jobs to Sheffield.

“We’ve also had strong interest in other aspects of the £300m project, which is set to bring a total of 6,000 new jobs once complete.

“Sheffield city centre is changing into a cleaner, greener and more thriving place for people to live, work and enjoy.

“Further regeneration of areas including Moorfoot, Furnace Hill and outside the railway station will see up to 20,000 new homes created within the city centre and we’re continuing to work with Government and developers to ensure the city is a busy, bustling place for many years to come.”