Chiswick Councillor Calls for Continuation of Cheap Pavement Licences

Scheme introduced during Covid encouraged al fresco dining

Outside tables are vital for many Chiswick businesses. Picture: Google Streetview

July 9, 2023

A Chiswick councillor has written to the leader of Hounslow Council urging him to consider the extension of a scheme which reduces the cost of licensing tables outside cafes and restaurants.

Joanna Biddolph, who represents Chiswick Gunnersbury ward, told Cllr Shantanu Rajawat that the council should continue to offer local businesses the opportunity to pay just £100 for a pavement licence up until September 2024.

The Fast Track Pavement Licence was introduced by the government during the pandemic to enable people to eat out and support businesses while reducing the spread of Covid-19. The £100 fee covered the fee for having outside tables, chairs, counters, stalls, umbrellas and other items that support eating and drinking outdoors.

The government extended the scheme until September 2023, but Cllr Biddolph argues that hospitality businesses across the borough will continue to need support to recover from the impact of lockdown beyond that point.

She say that prior to the introduction of the scheme, one Chiswick café was paying £1,100 a year for permission to use a relatively small space outside its premises and larger cafés and restaurants will have been paying considerably more.

One Chiswick cafe/restaurant owner said, "We still have many fewer customers than before the pandemic and need to attract them back. There is much more competition now and having outdoor seating to attract customers is crucial. It increases the chances that customers will stop to eat here, rather than walk on to find outdoor seating somewhere else. I hope the council will agree to keep the £100 fee for another year to help us rebuild our business and contribute to the Chiswick outdoor dining culture".

"Eating and drinking outside is part of our local culture," said Cllr Biddolph, who founded the Chiswick Shops Task Force specifically to support local businesses and is the Conservative group's retail spokesman. "Yet the cost to businesses wanting to provide residents and visitors with outside tables and chairs will be prohibitively high with fewer people shopping and eating out. The government recognised this and brought in the £100 licence to encourage outdoor dining during the pandemic. The government then extended it for another year; it ends this September. I know that continuing with the £100 fee for another year will be very warmly welcomed by owners of cafes, bars, pubs and restaurants as they try to balance rising costs with keeping their prices affordable."

The same day that Cllr Biddolph sent her letter, Le Pain Quotidien, a café chain that formerly had a branch on Chiswick High Road, announced it would be restructuring its business having closed all but one of its cafes. Its CEO, restructuring advisor Kroll, and the managing director of the parent company have all emphasised the very tricky hospitality climate in London.

CEO Annick Van Overstraeten told MailOnline, "London has become a very difficult market: fewer people on the streets, higher wage costs, and a very rigid rental market, whereby rent takes up to 30 per cent of our budget. That is not sustainable, especially with the growth opportunities we see elsewhere."

Sarah Rayment, global co-head of restructuring at Kroll, said, "London has suffered from reduced revenues as a result of decreased footfall in the capital, high rents and increased wage costs."

Managing Director of insolvency specialists, Forbes Burton, Rick Smith, told MailOnline, "Unfortunately, Le Pain Quotidien are another victim of the perfect storm of a drop in customers on the high street as footfall has decreased significantly and high rents and wage increases to keep pace with rocketing inflation have increased too".

The council says that it is waiting to hear from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities as to whether or not the current temporary pavement licensing measures will be extended beyond September 2023.