Council defends £200k Wendy's grant after backlash

Hull City Council has defended its decision to award £200,000 to the franchise behind a Wendy's burger outlet in the city centre.

The new branch of the US fast-food chain opened earlier this month with the support of a grant from the government's Levelling Up Fund, which is allocated by the council.

More than 2,100 people have signed a petition, external questioning the move and asking for emergency support for Hull's existing independent businesses.

Councillor Mike Ross, the leader of Hull City Council, said local Levelling Up funding had been "really good for the city", with 92% going to small and medium-sized businesses,

Mr Ross told BBC Look North that the funding had "helped create nearly 1,000 jobs in the city, has seen £25m of additional private sector funding come in... and has brought back into use a large amount of empty properties".

He added: "Many of these projects wouldn’t have been able to go ahead without this funding from the council."

Wendy's had benefited from a fund designed to help new businesses open in the city centre, Mr Ross said.

He encouraged existing businesses to contact the council to find out what support might be available to them.

The petition of independent businesses was set up by Nick Cobley, who runs Dive Bar in Princes Avenue. He said the money awarded to the Wendy's franchise could have "saved 20 of the businesses in Hull that have been grafting for years".

Mr Cobley called on the council to do more for businesses that were "putting their heart and soul into this, their own personal money, just to keep their doors open".

He said he knew of at least five local businesses at risk of closure in the next six months.

In an open letter to the council, accompanying the petition, the independent businesses stated that "nobody visits Hull to sit in a big restaurant chain" and "what makes this city unique is its independent traders and culture".

"We ask to preserve what we have left before it's too late," the letter added.

The franchise behind the new Wendy's is owned by Square Burgers Ltd, based in Nottingham, and has previously opened branches in Kingswood and Bilton.

Directors of Square Burgers also run the Papa's Fish & Chips chain, which has restaurants in Willerby, Cleethorpes and elsewhere.

On announcing the opening of the new Wendy's in Hull city centre, Councillor Paul Drake-Davis, the council’s portfolio holder for regeneration, said Levelling Up funding was "all about filling empty units in our city centre and creating new jobs, and this is exactly what this latest grant award does".

Mr Drake-Davis added: “Wendy’s has already invested heavily into Hull with its other restaurants and it’s great that this Levelling Up funding can support it doing likewise in the city centre.”

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