Forum Topic

Butterfly Girl Closed.

I thought they were refurbishing but they have had to close. The rent went up by 40%!!! Excuse me if anyone has posted on this before but I see this as a watershed moment. Brentford High Street has an oppurtunity to have an independant shop with character and forces them out. We do have others such as the Art shop and gift shop. Mostly we are getting betting shops. It was a great place to go for presents for ladys.

Justin Anderson ● 6072d15 Comments

Philip, Given the appalling state of Hounslow High Street I beg to differ - as I have said many times it's bloody tip. It is dirty, not many decent shops - too many here today gone tomorrow businesses selling tat. Personally I think this council's priority is anything Chiswickian, they even pushed Chiswick School up to the first tranche of schools in the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, citing a higher deprivation measure! High rents kill High Streets, but then the shops stand empty for ages, surely 100% of a lower rent is better than 100% of nothing?

Vanessa Smith ● 6067d

Not sure who put the rent up.But the question over the councils intentions with regard to redevelopment of this area seems to have been answered by the lack of progress. They simply are not interested in Brentford High Street, the future of Brentford's businesses or Brentford in general, they are interested in Hounslow.

Philip Walsh ● 6067d

Good old Hounslow Council.Whacking the rent up 40% and making another black hole in our already dismal high street.

Keith Iddon ● 6070d

If the council are planning on redeveloping (I've lost track - Will they? Won't they? when?!), it sounds like they're trying to get the tenants to surrender their leases rather than having to pay compensation if they do not renew the lease on the ground of redevelopment.

Jojo Finn ● 6071d

I remember the gift shop that was next door to Jeffery's Hairdressers on Market Square closed down for exactly the same issue.  The woman who rented the shop was devastated... she told me she had invested everything into the shop and was forced to shut down due to the 40% rent increase.

Fran Naughton ● 6071d

I spoke to one of the shop owners, the hairdresser, on the high street a few months ago and he complained about exactly the same issue. His rent from Hounslow council going up hugely - easily the 40% mentioned above. He even showed me the last year / this year invoices to prove it.This is a good way for the high street to be emptied of shops and to keep Bretnford looking run down. And it paints a dismal picture for any future high street re-development. It does make one wonder exactly what drives these decisions from the council. Do they hate private enterprise? Do they want empty high streets? I think all of us locals would appreciate an explanation from them...

Alan Clark ● 6071d

I thought there had been a long standing hoo ha with the Council about rents for retailers and that is why Arnolds closed and went off to Ealing?  Has the rent issue been sorted out since then?

Sarah Felstead ● 6071d

Was the shop owned by LBH, if yes it would be interesting to hear the reasonfor the 40% increase.Bought a couple of very nice shirts in the shop.

Neil Chippendale ● 6071d

I bought! Like I say it was great for presents: vintage jewelry, dresses. They did a gift voucher. Glad a few others feel the same. Blooming shame!

Justin Anderson ● 6072d

Here is one which got away ...Click here

Sarah Felstead ● 6072d

I did alot of browsing but I did buy after I had browsed in Butterfly Girl as well.

Fran Naughton ● 6072d

maybe if there had been more buying than browsing they wouldn`t have had to close

Gill Hutchison ● 6072d

Agreed.. that's sad news.  Butterfly Girl always looked a tonic on the High Street. Such enterprises were the type that one fantasized that would fill the South of the High Street lanes and yards.So as Justin indicated..it's bad news.I have hunch that some businesses along didn't have to pay rent..having some sort of concession from the Authorities.!! (no names!)Once upon a time ..back in the 60's and 70's there seemed to be a lot of small independent shops around..junk shops too..but then  I recall business rates going up by some colossal amounts in those years that put so many out of business.Surely we need new businesses..and we want them to grow..although many fail in their early years.  When there are say 10% unemployed in the area..that just means 10% unemployed BY OTHERS. More should be encouraged to become self-employed...there is lots of help around.Excessive employment law and red tape don't help.

Jim Lawes ● 6072d

Such a shame.  Butterfly Girl was a fantasic place to browse.  Such a shame as also TV and film and theatre production companies were also drawn into Brentford just for costume hire from Butterfly Girl... Increasing the rent by 40% and driving shops out of Brentford is not the answer.  This shop most probably will be vacant for a long,long time now.  What was the monthly/annual rent on Butterfly Girl before the increase of 40%

Fran Naughton ● 6072d

agreed very sad. another victory for the brentford dinosaurs

James Dee ● 6072d