'Tramworks are turning shoppers off Edinburgh' – John Lewis

Published on Friday 6 March 2009 21:02

ONE of Britain's biggest retailers yesterday claimed Edinburgh's stalled tramworks were putting off shoppers from visiting the city centre – as it looked increasingly likely the German firm at the centre of a cash row will be ditched from the project.

John Lewis chiefs have blamed the closure of Princes Street and a host of city centre diversions for a dramatic sales slump last week at its store in the capital – which was among the worst in the UK.

Business leaders and politicians have demanded an end to the impasse, which appeared further than ever from resolution last night after a senior city council figure admitted the lucrative contract to carry out infrastructure work may have to be retendered.

The Scotsman has learned shoppers face the prospect of Princes Street being closed for up to three months without work to lay tracks getting under way while a solution is sought. German firm Bilfinger Berger, which is in charge of the 240 million infrastructure contract, has demanded tens of millions of pounds to help pay for delays caused by work to move underground utilities.

Yesterday, claims emerged that tram works on Princes Street and Leith Walk could be shelved while work is carried out on a link between the airport and Haymarket.

John Lewis is the first major retailer to openly criticise the impact of the botched tram works, which were meant to start on 21 February. Princes Street has since been closed to traffic.

Trade at the Edinburgh store was down 17.9 per cent in the following week, compared with the same period last year. Business was down 13.1 per cent at its Glasgow branch and 6.8 per cent in Aberdeen.

John Lewis was at loggerheads with the council several years ago when it led protests from retailers about the planned introduction of road tolls in the city.

Hazel Tierney, operations director for John Lewis Edinburgh, said: "When you look at the retail landscape, it is much more challenging with the tramworks. The closure of Princes Street is more than likely to have had an impact on footfall coming into the store. People are just staying away from that end of Princes Street."

Rob Winter, head of the Princes Street Traders' Association and manager of the Princes Mall centre, said it was "too early to say" whether diversions were to blame for any slump in trade.

He said: "You have to take the wider economic situation into account when you look at the city centre. It's too easy to blame tramworks. We've not had any complaints about the impact of the diversions. But if it looks like this is going to drag on for months we need to look at reversing the (closure and diversion] measures put in place."

Lothians SNP MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville called for "decisive action" and demanded greater clarity over the latest costs and an estimated timescale. She said: "The public deserves better than this."

Meanwhile, council officials have admitted publicly for the first time that Bilfinger Berger may have to be ditched from the project and another firm brought in.

Dave Anderson, director of city development, said he was confident that if TIE was forced to go out to tender on the project again companies would be keen to get involved under the current economic climate.

Jenny Dawe, the council leader, said yesterday: "No effort is being spared in seeking to reach a sensible and proper settlement of the dispute."