Wednesday, December 7, 2011
 

£800 million lost due to proposed West End parking restrictions
 

Proposed night time parking charges for London's West End might help fill Westminster City Council coffers but would economically stifle the heart of Europe's biggest city, according to new research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).

The research, commissioned by a group of West End businesses www.westending.org today (Wednesday) forecasts the economic consequences of Westminster Council's controversial plan to charge drivers up to £4.80 an hour night time parking instead of free on yellow lines during evenings and much of the weekends, as at present.

The key findings are:

  • £800 million fall in customer demand in the West End per year for theatres, pubs, restaurants, casinos and hotels, leading to £714 million lost profits per year, much of which would have gone to Treasury as tax later
  • 5,100 jobs lost as businesses try to cut costs to recoup lost profits

Meanwhile, the cost to smaller businesses of paying workers would also increase as labour becomes scarcer after much of the workforce decides to seek jobs elsewhere, where parking charges do not swallow hourly pay rates.

That additional labour cost would be some £125 million annually and would typically lead either to higher costs to customers or, in some cases, closure.

Oliver Hogan, CEBR's Head of Microeconomics said: "These proposed charges have caused inevitable controversy because of fears that they would disrupt the bustling night life and attendant healthy trade of the UK's capital city.

"We warned several weeks ago, in advance of our detailed work for this report, that there would be serious economic consequences of such a move.

"But it was only once the economic modelling and calculations had been completed that we realised the true extent of the potential damage to the London economy.

"These are serious figures and one needs to be very wary of changing the parameters for businesses at the heart of our tourism and entertainments offering.

"If you dim the lights of the West End economically you may well dim the attractions of one of the world's top tourist destinations and turn off a vital revenue stream for the UK during increasingly hard times for the business community."

Simon Thomas, a leader of the West Ending Campaign against the parking charges and owner of Leicester Square's Hippodrome Casino said: "The Mayor of London was quite right to be wary of these proposals.

"Boris Johnson shares with us the worry that the West End will suffer intolerable damage if this goes ahead and these figures now bear out all our fears.

"If doors start closing in the West End through lack of customers unable to park free at night then there will be less to attract people into the centre, then more places will close etc etc.....it's a downward spiral.

"It doesn't take a genius to work out that if you make it £25 more expensive to have a night out in one place, prospective customers might just choose somewhere else to go."

Photographs of the announcement of the research are available, and include a group image comprising nightclub owner Peter Stringfellow with Salvation Army Major Ray Brown, chefs Michel Roux Jnr and Angela Hartnett, Covent Garden, Chairman of Restaurant Association The Earl of Bradford, Hippodrome Casino owner Simon Thomas and Rachel Johnson, editor of The Lady magazine and sister of Boris Johnson.

For further information and a full copy of the research please contact Ian Haworth at Haworth Associates PR Ltd on 07971 560540 or ian@theassociatespr.com

ENDS