| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Pavement Dining | |
| Posted by: | Mark Talbot | |
| Date/Time: | 17/01/17 16:32:00 |
| Hi Paul, okay so still only £12.25psf so say £2,500pa for 200 sq ft of pavement seating for which the same seating inside the front of a High Road place would cost £24,000pa. It's a bargain and no way only used for a third of the days in a year nor mainly at lunchtime nor just a coffee - a cursory glance at High Road House, Bills, Pizza Express etc and you see many people eating outside in all kinds of weather. The LA undersell this space comparative to the additional t/o outside seating drives - why is the profit margin on this space incidental anyway? The LA should drive as much revenue as they can from this valuable space and it's up to the operators to take it or not, it isn't a god given right to have external seating on LA owned pavements. I wouldn't feel sorry for market stalls, they only have to pay the licence fees, no "market" rent or rates or building insurance and again the LA undersells those as well - you don't see a poor market stall holder in Chiswick! As I said originally the side roads like Devonshire Rd / Elliot Rd are a different matter IMO. There's simply no getting away from the fact that pavement seating is incredibly cheap space representing a much smaller cost in terms of % of turnover generated than seating in an occupier's rented demise. I'm not saying for a moment pavement seating should be at levels approaching inside but the increases being tabled by the LA are tiny, could and should be more (a lot more on the High Road) and the front page article is very misleading in the sensationalistic way it's written. |