Two weeks ‘of hell’ for Alnwick businesses after power cut

Several properties around the town’s Market Place spent around 24 hours without electricity following the fault, earlier this month.

And while engineers from Northern Powergrid were able to restore supplies within a day thanks to emergency generators, several firms have been left feeling the impact of repair works.

“It’s caused 12 to 13 days of hell,” said Northumberland county councillor Gordon Castle. “The generators caused constant noise while Northern Powergrid dug up the pavements to find the fault.

“This is the height of summer, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. It’s no one’s fault and I’m not overly critical, but it’s most unfortunate for these firms and we’re hoping it won’t happen again because it’s had quite an impact on several businesses.”

One of those affected was the Pig in Muck pub, which has already endured a difficult start to life after opening in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

Owner Jake Castleman predicted he could be down £4,000 just from the loss of a day’s trading caused by the initial power outage, before the additional impact of customers deterred by the noise of emergency generators and repair works are factored in.

“It’s been pretty rubbish to say the least, really frustrating,” he said. “When we looked at compensation they offered us £150 to cover loss of earnings and stock [while the electricity was off], but on a busy sunny day or a market day [like the day the power was off] we could lose thousands of pounds.

“All our fridges and freezers were no good to us, so it’s very frustrating to be offered pennies back on it.”

Engineers had to bring specialist excavation equipment into the square after discovering the problem was stuck underneath reinforced concrete.

While Castleman had to contend with the noise of generators, which have now been removed, his neighbours across the square also had to contend with the impact of repairs.

Dean Jones, of Melvyn’s Coffee House, had to bin stock worth about £1,000 following the August 5 power cut and also estimates he lost about £200 in sales – £50 less than the compensation on offer.

But the bigger effect on trade came from works which encroached right up to his front door.

“No one wants to be sat next to that, it just looked like an eyesore,” he said. “August is our best time of year, it’s when you make the most money, so it’s been pretty bad luck. Hopefully, we will be able to salvage some trade, but it’s not good.

“I’ve been affected more than that by the loss of trade and the fact I can’t get as many tables outside.”

His next door neighbour, Michelle Simpson, of T W Willcox Jewellers, also felt the pinch, claiming the first Saturday after the electricity returned was one of her ‘quietest days ever’.

Like Jones, she also attributed missed sales to excavations to fix the power fault taking place on her doorstep, a big issue for firms trying to recover after successive Covid lockdowns.

She said: “A lot of my business is footfall-driven, people just walking in off the street on impulse to buy something – this is the time to get your stock in and make money.

“We’re a market town and there’s tourists here all the time, but last year and this summer [with more people holidaying in the UK] there’s been a lot more business, people have got money in their pockets and they want a treat to buck their spirits up.”

Even companies not reliant on custom by footfall claim to have been affected. Justin Mathews, owner of Hotspur Residential, a lettings agency, said it had prevented meetings with contractors, landlords and tenants which his town centre location had previously been useful for.

And Carole Kim, who manages several properties in the market place with her husband Keith, estimated the power outage had cost her £800 in compensation, cancelled or rearranged bookings at her holiday lets.

Leonie Airlie, who owns the Powder Room beauty salon, said: “100% of out treatments need electricity and lighting, so obviously the power cut for over 24 hours caused major disruption to our business and we lost full revenue for the day.

“With being fully booked, the majority of our clients were unable to reschedule. We had a lot of clients who had booked well in advance, most from out of the area. We felt awful that we couldn’t accommodate them.

"Northern Powergrid gave us false hope of opening at 3pm that day. This caused us a lot of unnecessary stress and extra admin work when the time kept altering and we ended up on a generator in the early hours of the next morning.”

A spokeswoman for Northern Powergrid, said: “Our teams successfully located the fault however while digging they discovered the ground contained reinforced concrete making it very difficult to access the cable, meaning it took longer than usual to restore power supplies for our customers.

“A permanent repair has now been completed and reinstatement works are under way and should be completed by early tomorrow.

“We’ve been in contact with local businesses and residents keeping them updated throughout and tried to carry out work, where possible, at the least disruptive times. I’d like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding during this time.”

“We have contacted customers directly who we believe were without power for more than 12 hours, in line with industry guaranteed standards, offering them a payment to apologise and recognise the duration of the disruption.

“Anyone who has any queries can call 105 to speak to our 24/7 contact centre, who will be more than happy to help.”

James Harrison, Local Democracy Reporting Service