Art School blaze one year on: Inside Sauchiehall Streets forgotten businesses

On the first anniversary of the second devastating Glasgow School of Art fire, a Sauchiehall Street business is telling Clyde News it has crippled them.

Bagel Mania, which is next door to Campus at the bottom of Scott Street, has not recovered and its doors have been closed since the blaze.

Speaking exclusively to Clyde News owner Raj Mann said: "We were very close to the fire and a year later there's a lot of work to be done in thae shop, theres a lot of water damage, we can't move into the shop until all the work has been completed and we just feel that everyone's been dragging their feet.

"I walk in and feel very sad. I've been here 21 years and in the last year we've lost all our customers and I feel like we've lost all our business and feel like nobody's helping us and we're stuck in a bit of a rut now, don't know really what to do, we can't move in until the shop is in a fit state.

"The first time we got it cleaned the the second and third we actually cleaned it ourselves and paid people to come in and do it so that was out of our own pocket. We keep going backwards, we keep going in, cleaning it up, getting ready to open but because the work isn't being carried out we can't open so I don't know how long this is going to go on for, that's going to be a year.

"The water damage has caused a ceiling to get damaged and the back shop floor to get damaged, it's in a bad way and I think it's a new ceiling, a new floor we need and the work's just not getting carried out, we don't know who to talk to now because we're not getting anywhere.

"I think because we're still not in nobody's even approached us and asked why have you not opened, there's been no more financial support, we do feel as if nobody cares.

"We want to open up, the street is looking nice, hopefully business will go back to normal, but without Campus, without the ABC, and the way the Art School is, it's going to take time. The street looks nice, we really need to get back in, it's just dragging on and on.

"It hurts because we're still not in, when we do talk to them some of them say business is okay but quite a few of them are still struggling because Sauchiehall Street is not the way we left it on the 15th of June last year so I don't know how long it will take for the footfall to increase because at the end of the day we've still got bills to pay."

A report into the blaze by a Scottish Parliament committee lay the blame for the blaze at the door of Art School bosses.

It accused them of being complacent and failing to take fire protection seriously. A claim Glasgow School or Art strongly refutes.

Some insurance companies are also still delaying payment, as they wait for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Services report into the fire. It is still to be published.

Glasgow MP Paul Sweeney says there needs to be an independent inquiry.

He told Clyde News: "I think it's still critical to hold that public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the fire, particularly, as we look towards a strategy for the reconstruction of the Art School in Garnethill and the circumstances of how that will happen and what the building will be used for after the reconstruction whether it will continue to be an integral part of the Art School, whether it would be managed by the Art School, whether it would be taken over by a new trust, whether it would be run by Historic Environment Scotland for example, these thing all need to be thoroughly investigated to be considered and to understand how the building will be re-built, how it will be managed, but also there needs to be a broader investigation into the circumstances in which the government responded to the impact on the wider community.

"Particularly when you saw local residents unable to get back into their properties to recover vital effects such as photographic equipment if someone's a freelance photographer, they were unable to undertake their business, they suffered a financial detriment. People trying to recover passports because they were going on holiday, so they were not able to get on holiday in time and so on.

"We also saw businesses telling their staff there's not a job to come back to, I'm afraid we're going to have to close and so on. So there has been huge economic effects, social and personal impacts that this fire has caused and that is largely because of very punitive enforcement of building control regulations so there needs to be an investigation as to how appropriately that was managed.

"Could there be improvements, how can we improve that for future, similar scenarios that were to happen in the future, something of a similar scale in Scotland, how would that be managed, could it be better approached, but also there still needs to be an investigation into whether it would be appropriate to provide further compensation to those who have been affected on Sauchiehall Street and whether there should be a more robust strategy and investment plan created to recover Sauchiehall Street.

"So, I've suggested there should be a business rates and council tax holiday for that district to try and create a fertile ground for recovery, so that businesses have an insentive to re-establish themselves and residents have an insentive to move back into the area, that would be my idea of an initial way forward to try and improve and encourage growth in the street."

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “The council reacted immediately after the fire to support affected residents and businesses during this very difficult time. One of the first things we did was to significantly reduce the size of the exclusion cordon, which - while still wide enough to protect ‘life and limb’ - allowed the surrounding area to recover quicker than it otherwise may have done.

"Also included in our support was £3000 per household (half from the council and half from the Scottish Government) to residents, and council officers were on hand on Sauchiehall Street to offer support to both local people displaced from their homes and affected businesses.

"All business premises within the cordon had their non-domestic rates suspended, so no business will have paid this during the exclusion period, and their rateable value has been reduced by 20%. Businesses not in the cordon but in the surrounding areas were offered hardship relief on their non-domestic rates, and their rateable value has now been reduced by 10%.

"The council administered the Scottish Government’s Sauchiehall Street Fire Recovery Fund payments which saw over 200 businesses receive more than £3million. Our Economic Development team continue to work with businesses in the area to direct them to various measures which may be beneficial to them, and remain available.”

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