Tenants speak out as cabinet votes to close landmark Brighton building

Creative business owners based in a landmark building in Brighton look likely to receive compensation after being asked to leave the building by the end of September.

The decision to “decant” tenants from New England House was made by Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet at a meeting at Hove Town Hall this afternoon (Thursday 20 March).

The Labour deputy leader of the council, Jacob Taylor, spoke about compensation in response to questions from business owners based in the tower block.

Councillor Taylor also said that an internal audit would examine the accumulated problems that led to the building being shut for three days, with no notice, last November over fire safety risks.

Business owner Alexander Claber interrupted the cabinet as councillors were about to vote on closing the building – either to refurbish it or possibly to demolish and replace it.

Mr Claber, 46, who runs Barefaced, a maker of electric guitar and bass equipment, said that his business had operated for more than 10 years in a building where he and his staff were unwittingly at risk.

He said that the council had received £1 million a year in rents from businesses that would struggle to find other premises.

He said: “I appreciate your kind words. I appreciate your apologies. But apologies do not pay the bills.

“Hundreds of people work at New England House for many unique businesses and you have put us in an intolerable position – not because of a newly intolerable fire risk but because New England House has been a substantial fire risk for years and years.

“I moved into that building in 2014. I’ve had numerous staff move through there. We’re a very successful small business making money from the world of guitar and bass.

“At the end of the day, by kicking the can down the road, by people not reading the reports they should have read in previous administrations, council officers not doing the job they should have done, we have ended up in this position.

“This is not a surprise. This is either incompetence or it is corruption or it is a mix of things.”

Mr Claber reminded cabinet members that New England House had been a “substantial fire risk” for years and the council had reports stating the fact.

He added: “You have had reports warning that people at the council could be going to prison if a fire happened and someone died. That was five years ago. That was seven years ago. This is nothing new.”

Mr Claber was applauded by fellow New England House tenants.

Issues with the eight-storey building include inadequate fire protection of the floor slabs, compromised compartmentation and no fire protection on external staircases.

There is also no method to evacuate disabled people, insufficient fire detection and the electricity supply was a fire risk as it was beyond its useful lifespan.

Artist Rea Stavropoulos was also applauded. She said that one of the businesses that was based in the building and helping to drive the local economy offered affordable life drawing classes, with 200 attendees a week.

The classes provided employment worth £156,000 a year to freelance tutors and models, as well as work for artists and performers with units in the building.

A day-long drawing circus event held at New England House attracted 130 people.

She said: “People were dressed as circus animals and performers. At the end of that day, I left the building with two women. One said: ‘Oh, this would never happen in my country.’ And she came from Switzerland.

“The other woman had come straight from a night shift at Asda to come and draw all day on Sunday.

“When you do your cost analysis, what price do you put on the hope and energy. When we talk about mental health, this is the health of society.”

Councillor Taylor said that he valued hearing from the business owners who brought to life the work carried out in the building.

He said that it was unusual in the south of England to have so many creative and tech businesses in one place.

He also said: “Unfortunately, there is a lack of space in the city for that light industrial creative space which is different to office space above ground floor retail in the city centre. It’s not the same thing.

“We’ve observed that we have a lack of light industrial space in the city and that is something we need to and are feeding into our planning considerations in the city.”

During questions from business owners, he said that there was £11 million ring-fenced in the council’s budget for repairs.

Green councillor Ellen McLeay asked if an external investigation would be carried out into the problems and asked whether the old Lloyds Bank building at Preston Circus might provide an alternative space.

Councillor McLeay, who represents West Hill and North Laine ward, also spoke about Toga Creative, which spent £100,000 to fit out its unit in New England House and did not have the money to restart elsewhere.

Councillor Taylor said that a report would go to the Audit, Standards and General Purposes Committee and the issues would not be “brushed under the carpet”.

But the old Lloyds Bank building at Preston Circus would not be available because it was being let out.

Councillor Taylor told the cabinet that the council was trying to be creative with the spaces that it were available and was reviewing council-owned property.

Labour councillor Alan Robins, who represents South Portslade, suggested that the tenants “go west”, saying that Portslade Town Hall would be an ideal location for creative businesses.

The Labour leader of the council, Bella Sankey, apologised and said that she recognised that the situation had resulted in risks to physical health and strain on the tenants’ mental health.

Councillor Sankey said: “We absolutely recognise as a cabinet that you are human beings doing absolutely incredible work at New England House.

“The creativity, the innovation and the clear camaraderie and what you have built at New England House is incredibly special.

“It’s one of the council’s greatest success stories that you have contributed to over so many years.”