by Rob Smith
I knew something was amiss – the sandwich bar that’s normally thriving with business wasn’t open
“It’s happened again Rob!” explains an angry Nelly. “This is the third time and I’m losing me patience never mind me business.” The shutters were broken and fitters weren’t due to arrive until later that afternoon. For Nelly this was a waste of another full day’s work. “Since New Deal paid for these shutters, they’ve been breaking down on us. I’ll let them know they’ve wasted the money again. I’d rather have me old shutters back right now I tell ya!”
On arrival of the shutter fitters, I decided to ask other premises along Spital Hill what their experiences were. Gower Domestics informed me they were fine and they’d had no problems so far. Malli.Com Café said theirs got stuck and they called the company out, but by the time they arrived the problem had resolved itself.
John Dugennan, proprietor of Andrea’s Barbershop, told me they’d had problems on two occasions. “They’ve only been in six months and although under guarantee I was quoted a call out charge of £150 by the installers, or a wait of up to five working days.” John told me he had to leave his business premises unsecured for five days. “The company who put the shutters in have had a load of business through New Deal,” he continued. “And to be honest, I prefer the old shutters. Believe me, this is shoddy workmanship.”
Sadiqu, owner of the grocers store on Spital Hill, admitted to being not very happy with the new shutters’ performance and to always having problems opening and closing them.
Staff at Young’s Solicitors said the only problem they’ve had is with the remote controls for the security device. “There are not enough remote controls and with no keys this creates problems.”
I spoke to Defence Security Services (DSS) who fitted the shutters and have recently moved into premises on Petre Street to be closer to Spital Hill. Company spokesman Sufian Abdullah informed me that the company was in the process of conducting a survey on Spital Hill to establish how their services have been received.
“We have reviewed the businesses concerns with Saghir Ahmed of NDC and will report back to the Burngreave Business Forum the results of our survey.”
If you have any problems relating to this matter then contact DSS on 244 1148.