Portas joins 2,000 locals in fight to save furniture firm from Crossrail bulldozers

Queen of shops: Mary Portas backs Big Table in Paddington

Supporters of an independent shop are taking on Crossrail in an attempt to stop the bulldozers.

The Paddington showroom and workshops of Big Table Furniture Co-Op, which has produced and sold traditional beds for 30 years, are due to be knocked down to make way for an electricity substation.

But more than 2,000 people, including small shops champion Mary Portas, have signed a petition demanding that the popular business, housed in a 1901 former Temperance Society building, stays open. Portas, who lives nearby, joined a 50-strong protest last week.

The Mary Queen Of Shops star told Big Table bosses she believes it is important local people do all they can to protect small British manufacturers. Crossrail's unique powers mean it needs little government consultation in order to go ahead with such plans.

Stephen Bond, manager of the co-operative, said that because they have had no demolition date, plans to offer two apprenticeships are on hold.
"The Government goes on about how they want to encourage localism, empower independent business, get young people into jobs and preserve sites of historic interest. We tick all the boxes under one roof," he said.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, MP for Kensington and Chelsea has asked Crossrail if an alternative location can be found for the substation.

Residents call the store a "beacon of community life". Campaigner Julie Bundy, 52, said: "The lights are on all night, so it keeps the area safe."

A spokesman for Crossrail said: "We recently advised Big Table that they will be able to stay in their existing premises until 2013 and are assisting them to identify a suitable alternative location."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in