York: Fancy Hank’s boss hits out over Goodramgate closure

And he hit out at City of York Council claiming it had not provided enough information about the closure of the street before the work started.

Joel Taylor co-owns Fancy Hank’s in Goodramgate where work started on Monday (August 14) to install anti-terrorism bollards.

City of York Council says Goodramgate will be closed for six weeks while the work is carried out.

Bollards are being installed at the Deansgate end of the street outside Boyes department store and Fancy Hank’s.

A fence has been installed around the work with the pavement partially blocked on the side of Fancy Hank’s, meaning people cannot walk past the front of the restaurant.

Joel and Wes Taylor outside Fancy Hank's (Image: Nadia Jefferson-Brown)

Mr Taylor, who has run the restaurant with his brother Wes since it opened in 2019, said the extent of the work was not made clear to the business by the council. 

The 32-year-old said he was told by the council that the closure would impact the restaurant’s deliveries but was unaware that it would mean people were unable to walk past the business. 

Fancy Hank's during the work (Image: Dylan Connell)

“Having more information (from the council) about what was going to happen would have been nice,” he said.

“We knew there was going to be work taking place, but not to this extent.”

City of York Council's corporate director of place, Neil Ferris, said all affected businesses and residents were contacted about the work last year and again last month ahead of works starting.

"This included issuing a press release, hand-delivering letters, speaking to businesses and residents, as well as putting signs and ‘businesses open as usual’ notices on the affected roads," he said.

Since the work started Mr Taylor said the street looks “completely closed” and his business has lost passing footfall which he fears will result a drop in trade during the summer – one of the restaurant’s busiest seasons. 

Mr Ferris said the council has ordered additional signage to highlight that business are still open on the street.

Mr Taylor said the street now looks 'completely closed' (Image: Dylan Connell)

Drop in footfall after 'booming' summer trade

Speaking on the first day of the work, Mr Taylor spoke of how the business had already lost passing trade.

“We don’t have footfall at all now,” he said.

“The only passing trade is across the road.”

Outside Fancy Hank's during the work (Image: Dylan Connell)

Before the work started he said the restaurant was enjoying a busy summer with business “booming”, but it is now having to rely on bookings.

The business owner added that he has hired summer staff but fears there may not be shifts for them if the business is quiet as a result of the ongoing work.

“I have promised (staff) hours and I might not be able to follow that,” he said.

'Very similar story to Lendal' 

David Skaith, a director of the York High Street Forum, said Mr Taylor’s concerns echoed those of Mannetti’s café in Lendal, which was impacted by work to install anti-terrorism bollards in the street earlier this year.

As The Press reported at the time, Marie Milburn, a director at the café, said potential customers were being put off from walking along the street due to the work, which had a huge financial impact on the business.

Mannetti's during the work to install the bollards in Lendal (Image: Dylan Connell)

Like in Goodramgate, the work closed one side of the pavement.

• ‘We are potentially going to go under’ – York café boss hits out at ongoing work

“I’ve just been round (to Goodramgate) myself to have a look and it appears to be a very similar story to that we saw on Lendal,” said Mr Skaith, who owns Winstons of York independent clothing store.

“Speaking to businesses it seems the extent to which the work would impact was not properly conveyed at the beginning of the process back at the start of the year.

“We always did say that if the work gets done, can it at least be during the quieter months, January/February/March to make less disruption? The fact it started end of April, early May was always going to be an issue. 

David Skaith (Image: Supplied)

“It also appears that the work is taking longer than first forecast, so are we now going to be running in the Christmas period?”

Mr Ferris said: "We understand that these works can be inconvenient, but to try and schedule the works around holidays, events or busier periods for the city would result in a significant increase in both the cost, and length of time of the overall project."

He added: "The works have been planned to maintain access to all premises and keep pedestrian routes open as far as possible, but we understand that these have still caused some inconvenience to businesses nearby and we apologise that it’s caused them challenges.

Work underway in Goodramgate (Image: Dylan Connell)

"We continue to welcome feedback from businesses as we continue to try and improve the city centre, and we will try to support them as much as we can.

"Access to all businesses and homes is being maintained while the work is carried out. Pedestrians have through access and diversions are in place for vehicles with staff on hand to support them.

"The works on Goodramgate are scheduled to be concluded by late September.”

The announcement that bollards would be installed across the city centre to combat the threat of ‘vehicle as weapon attacks’ was first made earlier this year by the Liberal Democrat-Green coalition running City of York Council.

Read next:

• 'It's absolute madness' - councillor resigns over speeding fears in town
• Boat blasted with air rifle pellets on river near York sparking police hunt
• Tips stolen and cash raided from till after break in at York sandwich shop

In May the Liberal Democrat-Green coalition was voted out of office and replaced by the Labour Party.

The new Labour council previously said it intends to reverse the ban on blue badge holders parking in the centre of York - brought in by the previous administration in 2021 - but confirmed that the work to install the bollards would push ahead.

A City of York Council spokesperson previously told The Press that all the work is to be finished ahead of the Christmas market to minimise disruption during the festive period.