Licensee of the SugarBeat Eating House in Swainsthorpe Stevie King, has spent the past 11 years building a solid reputation for the fresh food concept business, serving around 1,300 covers a week.
However, 15% of the pub’s trade was lost overnight when EDF Renewables, a subsidiary of the EDF Group, began roadworks on the A140, its main access road, some five weeks ago.
King claimed the energy supplier did not contact him to provide any warning of the works, which were initially expected to last five weeks but have now been projected to be ongoing for at least five months.
He told The Morning Advertiser (The MA) the situation felt like big business dumping on the small guys: “We’ve seen a massive drop in the numbers of people we’re serving. Our breakfast and lunch services have been really impacted.
“Hospitality venues have very slim margins, we’re not making bucketful’s of money.
“I do this more for the love of the industry than to to get rich and times are hard. This is could potentially be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
Mitigate the impact
The work is being carried out by PowerSystemsUK, a sub-contractor for EDF, and are part of National Grid’s installation of just over a mile of cable route, associated with EDF Renewables’ Bloy’s Grove Solar Farm project.
King added that a nearby car wash had also been affected.
A spokesperson at EDF Renewables UK told The MA it had been liaising with business along the A140 to mitigate the impact of the ongoing cabling works.
They added: “Following feedback, we have put in place measures to ease traffic congestion to make it easier for local people to continue to support the businesses on this route.
“This has included changing the traffic management system to allow cars to pass through the works more quickly. We are also providing clearer signs that the businesses on this route are open as usual.
“To reduce the overall duration of the works and to limit the impact, we have doubled the number of people we have working on the site and increased the working hours by an extra four hours per day.”
However, King asserted the measures did not help the pub: “It’s not money in the bank that’s going to be paying the wages at the end of the month.
“We’re coming into the period of national insurance increases, minimum wage rises, and all of our suppliers are doing exactly the same as we’re having to do, which is up prices.”
No consultation
The operator added a lack of communication and clarity on the situation, despite repeatedly contacting both EDF and Norfolk County Council, had left him feeling aggrieved.
He said: “We’ve got a major energy supplier digging up the roads that we operate from to the point where they’re going to be digging up the entrance and driveway to the pub. And I’ve had no consultation.”
The pub, previously known as the Dun Cow, also recently acquired a wedding and civil ceremony licence and invested in a marquee for the functions, with numerous weddings already booked.
However, noise disruption from the ongoing work has threatened to halt these plans.
A spokesperson for Norfolk County Council told The MA: “Norfolk County Council can’t refuse to give access to the highway network to utilities companies for essential work, which includes permitted development.
“We appreciate having traffic management on the A140 will inevitably be disruptive though so we will continue to closely monitor the situation and work with National Grid’s contractor to take any necessary action to improve the flow of traffic where possible.
“We have already taken such action, including instructing PowerSystemsUK that the traffic lights must be manually controlled from 7am to 7pm to help prevent long queues and only operated when active work is happening as well as that the contractor will work weekends and extended hours to complete the project as quickly as possible.”
