Story: Caroline Brockelbank
Spital Hill businesses will receive investment to refurbish their shopfronts and regenerate the area.
Sheffield City Council will be offering a maximum of £4,500 to each independent shop.
The work could include repointing, repair of architectural features, brick cleaning, new signage, painting existing timber and the painting of pipes.
People in the area have mixed views about the investment. Usman Jahangir works in his grandfather’s shop, S.R. Raja’s Continental Food Store on Spital Hill.
“I think because of the outside you’re going to get more customers in. Look at the Tesco, it’s really new and looks really clean from the outside as well as from inside. A lot of people go inside because of the cleanliness.”
“If it’s really new and nice, people are going to look from the outside and think, oh yeah that’s a nice shop. So I think it’s a really good idea.”
Ali Saleh, owner of Food News, is unconvinced by the refurbishment plans.
He said,
“I think they’re just taking the Mickey with it, to be honest, not just this road but with the whole of Burngreave. They’re going to have parking meters outside for people who park for over 30 minutes.
“That’s what I heard and I think they’re going to increase business rates in this area so it’s good for them but not for us. They’re trying to keep us quiet by doing the shop fronts.”
The Council is funding the project with £300,000 from the Local Growth Fund. In Darnall, a similar idea was piloted with 100% of shopkeepers in the boundary taking up the scheme, which is due to finish in March 2014.
Evening drop-in sessions for business owners will start this spring/summer. The council expects work to start in the autumn.
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