Council meeting 6th Feb – Question to the Leader of the Council on the Acorn Business Centre

The Leader has made much of his recent trip to London at which prospective investors were assured that Oldham is ‘open for business’.

I was therefore very disturbed to hear that the licensees in the Acorn Business Centre in Derker have been given only a month’s notice by the Council to vacate their premises and relocate.

One businessman has told me that he feels badly let down by this Council – he describes what he considers to be (and I quote) “dirty goings on” and feels the situation is “a disgrace”.

In a heartfelt plea, his partner stated:

“We have no other property to locate to and run our company on such a tight shoe string that we would not be able to afford to relocate”.

In a press article yesterday, Cllr Hibbert said that the Acorn Business Centre is let by the Council from the owner, that it has been running at a ‘significant cost’ to the authority and requires investment.

Given this situation the Council must have decided many months ago that the lease would not be renewed, so why were the licensees not informed as soon as the decision was made and offered a package of assistance and support to successfully relocate?

By taking this course of action, this Administration has needlessly jeopardised small businesses and jobs – the very lifeblood of our local economy – and shown that it is in fact far from ‘open for business, which is a great shame.

Howard Sykes
6th Feb 2013

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