‘They’re happy to shelve bookshops’

A MIDDLE Eastern bookshop could be the next to close in Bloomsbury after its owner claimed Town Hall chiefs don’t care about small businesses.
Mohamed Ben-Madani, who has run Maghreb bookshop in Burton Street for 20 years, says he will not stay after his current lease runs out because he is fed up with “hassle” from Camden Council.
His decision to close comes a week after Don Holder, whose shop Marchmont Books is just doors away, announced he was closing because he was losing hundreds of pounds a month.
Mr Ben-Madani accused the council of driving out small businesses and destroying the atmosphere of Bloomsbury – historically regarded as a booksellers’ heartland – by raising rents and business rates and coming down on traders without mercy if they default on their payments.
In 2002 he won a county court case against council-appointed bailiffs after they ordered him to pay £1,500 in costs after he fell three weeks behind in his rent.
In November last year Mr Ben-Madani paid his rates three weeks late and was charged £150 in court costs. He is currently bringing a county court challenge against Camden for damages, claiming a council contractor caused a leak in the flat above his shop which led to thousands of pounds worth of damage to his stock.
Mr Ben-Madani said: “Because of all this hassle from Camden and the changes in the book trade and having done this for a long time simply for supplying a service and not for profit, I feel I might no longer need a shop.
“I can provide this service from my own flat or a small office rather than having all this hassle.”
The bookshop, which attracts scholars from all over the world, including Middle Eastern and American professors, does not draw in passing trade but ticks over due to repeat custom. Mr Ben-Madani also produces a quarterly journal which has roughly one thousand subscribers across the globe.
“Either Camden don’t have the means to appreciate what I’m doing culturally for the borough – they’re ignorant – or they don’t care about small business,” he added.
His words echoed those of Brian Lake of Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers in Great Russell Street, who warned last week that the number of bookshops in the area had halved from 30 three years ago to seven today.
He too claimed the Town Hall “couldn’t care less” and said traders were either packing up and moving or closing down entirely. Other booksellers have warned that rate increases set to come into force in March are likely to cripple some businesses.
King’s Cross ward councillor Jonathan Simpson said: “Despite their rhetoric and campaign about ‘Love Your High Street’ the hand-wringing Lib Dems seem to actively make life more hard for local shops.”
A Camden Council spokeswoman said: “While the council is not able to offer any particular dispensation for specialist retailers we are providing a wide range of practical support to all local businesses throughout the recession. We have introduced initiatives such as the Love Your Local High Street and Christmas shopping campaigns, in order to promote our town centres and the borough’s unique areas of interest, including Bloomsbury. These initiatives, backed up by training for small independent retailers, aim to get more people to shop locally and visit Camden’s independent and specialist businesses.”
CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS