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Search the Public Notice PortalHUSBAND and wife business owners in Northwich are ‘emotional wrecks’ after their landlord obliterated the view of their shop front with shipping containers.
Marcus and Nesrin Mentesh, from Davenham, took out a lease at Chester Way Retail Park for their business, Chic Alterations, more than seven years ago.
Since then, they have built a thriving clothing alterations business with their top sewing skills, great value for money, and friendly, personal service.
Chic is housed inside one of several units within Surestore UK’s Chester Way self-storage facility, which is also their landlord.
Other Surestore tenants there include PJR Guitar Shop, Retrofits Vintage Fashion, and food waste charity, Northwich Community Support.
But Marcus and Nesrin were distraught on Monday, April 13, when lorries turned up and started dropping shipping containers in the car park outside.
Eight of these ended up right in front of his and his neighbours' shop fronts, which are all now obscured from the view of passing trade on busy Chester Way.
Surestore has planning permission to build additional self-storage units on the car park, though its application makes no mention of retail units on the site.
It has also confirmed the containers are permanent, but will be clad to look like buildings, which it says does not breach the terms of its planning permission.
Marcus had no idea when work would begin, or that the units would be shipping containers.
Asked whether it is fair to block its tenants' shop frontages, Surestore replied that, under the terms of their leases, Marcus and his neighbours' businesses are not technically shops.
They are what it calls ‘retail-style operations’ in which their customer facing operations are ‘ancillary’ to what are really storage businesses.
Marcus is 'furious' with this characterisation of Chic Alterations and called it 'scandalous', adding: "Anyone in their right mind can see we are all shops."
Surestore admits is it not allowed to have fully-fledged retail tenants, though so-called retail-style businesses ‘fall within the tolerances of the scheme’.
Though Surestore has agreed to put up extra signs on Chester Way, Marcus says he feels ‘betrayed’ and ‘walked all over’ by the landlord's behaviour.
Not only are she shops now hidden, the 67-year-old says the containers mean he and his neighbours have lost valuable parking, adding: "There's now barely enough space for the staff."
He describes driving around the site as ‘a nightmare’ and ‘like a rat run’, and believes even loyal customers will now take their business elsewhere.
Despite this, the couple are 'absolutely determined' to carry on, and want their customers to know they are still for them, whatever their sewing needs.
Marcus is also 'livid' at Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) which granted planning permission for the new storage units on the car park.
He added: "No planning inspector came around to look at the site. It was all done on the computer.
"If they had, they would have realised there are shops here, which surely would have been mentioned in the written decision, whichever way it went.
"It was not."
He says a site visit may have led to further questions into Surestore’s lettings framework, which he believes 'exploits a loophole' leaving tenants without the rights they deserve.
"I have been in business for 40 years, and no retail landlord in their right mind would ever block their tenants’ shop fronts to maximise their own trading space," he added.
“When you take on one of these retail units, they make it all glossy and everything is all so nice.
“Then something like this happens, and suddenly you realise your haven’t got a leg to stand on.
“How dare they deny I am a retail business. I'm absolutely fuming.
“If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.
“We feel like we are being trampled all over. My wife is an emotional wreck.
"It's so sad because the Surestore staff who work here have always been fantastic to us.
"It's the higher ups who are behind this. It's probably happening all over the place.
“You spend years slogging your guts out building up a business and then someone comes along does something like this.
"But no - our little business is not even worthy of their consideration.
“It’s not right what they are doing, and it really needs to be stopped.”
Surestore’s CEO, Rennie Shafer, says Marcus was aware the new self-storage units on the car park would appear sooner or later.
"He had the opportunity to relocate, if he so wished," he said.
“He was not informed of the actual day the containers were placed, which in retrospect, we should have managed better.
“However, the construction has full planning approval and all customers impacted were advised throughout this process.”
On the question of the legal status of Marcus' business, he said: “The unit Mr Mentesh has is a self-storage unit, and is covered by a self-storage contract, but a portion of space can be used for ancillary services.
“This allows some of the self-storage customers to operate retail-style operations, as long as this is within the tolerances of the scheme.
“This gives him much more flexibility than a commercial lease would give him.
“It is also considerably cheaper than a retail lease would be.
"This is what makes self-storage attractive to growing businesses: the flexibility to be able to leave at short notice; change their space; no business rates and the like.
“This was very clear when he signed the agreement.”
When asked whether a planning officer had visited the site over the new storage units, CWAC would not answer.
Its spokesman said: “In its capacity as local planning authority, the council will not be drawn into disputes between landowners and their tenants.
“There is no planning requirement that the frontage of a commercial unit needs to be visible, so lack of visibility would not be a valid reason to refuse a planning application.
“A complaint the containers are not in accordance with what was approved has been received and will be investigated by the council’s planning enforcement team.”
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