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The last branch of the last bank has recently vanished but never mind.
asserted
branch → publish → bank
There are numerous places on this high street which say ‘Money Transfer’ on their signs.
asserted
which → be → signs
Along the main half-mile stretch, I jot down 11 of them.
asserted
I → jot → them
If this is peculiar, what I find even stranger is that I do not – in the course of several hours – see a single person actually using any of them.
asserted
person → find → them
I drop into one of them and ask how I might buy a few euros but the man at the desk looks blankly and says: ‘No understand’.
uncertain
man → drop → desk
At Juba Express Money Transfer, I go through the door and there is nobody on the premises.
asserted
I → go → premises
I shout ‘hello’ but no luck.
asserted
I → shout → ?
Nor when I drop by a few hours later.
asserted
I → drop → ?
The lights are on and the sign on the front says: ‘Service Beyond The Ordinary’.
asserted
sign → say → Ordinary
In one sense, I suppose, that is true.
asserted
that → suppose → sense
According to the latest accounts at Companies House, this business is solvent and employs ten people.
uncertain
business → accord → people
One can but wonder what they do all day.
asserted
they → wonder → what
If there are ample opportunities to send money, sending a letter is rather trickier.
asserted
sending → be → letter
I find one convenience store which doubles up as the Post Office, though there is a sign on the door saying, ‘Closed for lunch’.
asserted
which → find → lunch
It’s a rather quaint reminder of an age when many businesses did indeed shut in the middle of the day.
asserted
businesses → ’ → day
Andy Burnham is not the only one hankering for the slow pace of life back in the blissful 1970s.
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Burnham → hanker → 1970s
When it comes to finding lunch, however, the options are almost endless here on the Uxbridge Road, the beating heart of Shepherd’s Bush in west London.
asserted
options → come → London
This may be the only road in the entire UK without a Greggs but I count no fewer than 32 fast food outlets on the same stretch of road (33 if you include Nando’s).
uncertain
you → count → Nando
Many – if not most – offer fried chicken.
asserted
Many → offer → chicken
Uxbridge Road in Shepherd's Bush, west London, has no fewer than 33 takeaways and 11 barbers
And if you need a haircut, then you really have come to the right place.
asserted
you → have → place
I count 11 barbers along the same stretch and just two customers in all of them this afternoon (I return at 7pm to find a few more people having a trim but most chairs up and down the strip sit empty).
asserted
chairs → count → strip
More interesting are certain cafes which, while busy, are occupied solely by men.
asserted
which → occupy → men
‘I’m afraid that we have a number of what I call “men-only” places which would be very intimidating if I went in – which I won’t,’ says Jenny (not her real name) pointing to a brightly-lit cafe serving Somali food.
asserted
Jenny → ’m → food
While vocal media campaigns have ensured that women are now welcome in erstwhile bastions of ‘sexism’, from the Garrick Club to the home of cricket, the Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC), the commentariat has yet to turn its attention to the fast food outlets of the Uxbridge Road.
asserted
commentariat → ensure → Road
We hear a lot about the decline of the High Street, about the disappearance of independent retailers, the problems with soaring business rates and the prevalence of the ‘wrong’ sort of shops – notably bookies, vape kiosks and takeaways.
asserted
We → hear → shops
If there are two indicators of a troubled town centre, they are shuttered shop fronts and pop-up charity shops.
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they → be → centre
Successive governments have promised to revitalise these places.
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governments → promise → places
That has usually meant appointing a ‘tsar’, commissioning a report and mumbling something about having a look at business rates.
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That → mean → rates
The latest offering is a £210million package from Andy Burnham to help councils rebuild derelict town centre hubs like old cinemas and pubs.
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councils → help → cinemas
‘The truth is that too many high streets have been left to hollow out, leaving town centres a shell of what they once were,’ the Prime Minister said the other day.
asserted
Minister → leave → shell
‘People don’t measure growth by looking at a spreadsheet.
asserted
People → measure → spreadsheet
They measure it by looking at their local high street.
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They → measure → street
Are shops opening or are the shutters down?
asserted
shutters → open → ?
Does the place feel like it’s moving forward or being left behind?’
Robert Hardman heard from locals how the high street has steadily gone into decline, with independent stores being replaced by vape shops, bookies and takeaways
Brothers Jaspir and Sukhvinder Bhachu own the much-loved local institution Greenford Timber on Uxbridge Road - but they fear once they retire it will suffer the same fate as many of the street's shops
asserted
it → feel → shops
A few places are boarded up but many of those are being refurbished and, interestingly, there are no charity shops.
asserted
many → board → those
One would-be retailer here tells me that when he expressed an interest in subletting a small, empty shop, the existing tenant demanded a £90,000 added premium on top of a £40,000 annual rent.
asserted
tenant → tell → rent
How would that make business sense?
asserted
that → make → sense
‘It wouldn’t – unless you were laundering more than dry cleaning,’ he laughs.
asserted
he → launder → cleaning
What increasingly concerns residents is simply the rundown tone of the place which, in turn, leads to a decline in other things.
asserted
which → concern → things
What makes this an interesting case study, however, is that, instead of simply posting grumbles on social media, they have formed a pressure group which is actually starting to make some headway.
asserted
which → make → headway
…and 57 more, not listed.
The Aporia
