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Canal café misses you
• I WOULD like to thank all those who have supported me at this time of need (and the Tribune for last week’s article, Canal bosses threaten to sink the Sandwich Barge) – and send an apology to all my customers for absence of service.
British Waterways is refusing me a trading licence in expectation of a “better” business proposal – it wants my business to wait, in a database, while others wishing to copy my idea, and who are not yet ready, compete for tender to obtain a permanent pitch in the location I have been researching for years.
I presented my first proposal on June 5, 2007. I obtained my business licence in 2008 and completed all documentation and tested my market in 2009. I have been resident in Islington for 25 years and reared four children here. My business promotes community cohesion and encourages environmental awareness by employing a recyclable/reusable approach. I cater for all income brackets and special dietary needs. All food and drinks served are fresh and organic.
If you would like to support what I am doing and oppose British Waterways decision to close my business, feel free to sign the petition on my web page, www.thesandwichbarge.co.uk. Thank you for your support. I am missing the opportunity to serve you all again.
LORRAINE FOX
City Road Basin, N1
• THE popular Caffe Mobile at Highbury and Islington Tube station, which has been providing the best and cheapest coffee in Islington, has been shut down as it does not fit the corporate agenda of National Rail, which owns the site.
This is yet another instance of corporate interests overriding those of a small business which identified a need and has been providing a great service for several years. It is likely it will be replaced by yet another Starbucks or a similar chain. It has approached the council for support or another pitch close by but has been turned down.
Surely, the council should be doing more to protect business, especially in a recession? Coming out of the Tube in the morning on the way to work is much bleaker without those cheerful guys dispensing their great coffee.
S HAWTHORPE
Coppermill Lane, E17
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Your comments:
I WOULD like to meet with the coffee guys to hear their story as I am in a similar situation... My brother used their service, as a local, and feels that I am fighting a losing game as they have been running their business longer than me and still to no avail...communication is a lost word in the world of technology and greed and this needs to be changed for the good of mankind or society remains separate and incompatible!
Love and Peace
L. Fox
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