Shutdown shock at Tenby garage (From Western Telegraph)

Shutdown shock at Tenby garage

11:20am Saturday 12th January 2013 in News

A leading Tenby businessman caused shock waves in the town last Friday when he shut down the shop and garage he has owned for the past 32 years.

David Thompson made the decision to close Fiveways Garage at The Green to enable him to ‘restructure’ the business.

“I will be remaining as the owner of the site, but the business will be under new management,” Mr Thompson told the Western Telegraph on Monday.

“I will be 70 next year and I feel that it’s time for me to step back.

“In common with other local traders, we found the end of the season was terrible for trade; autumn not any better and Christmas just dire.

“The business has become more of a burden, and I felt I needed to cease trading to look at the situation with a clear head.”

Land at the rear of the prominent Fiveways site at the main entrance to Tenby has been up for sale for some time.

Mr Thompson said: “I fully expect that this land, together with Fiveways, will eventually be sold for redevelopment, and in the past we have had expressions of interest from Lidl, Tesco and others, but at the moment nothing is coming to fruition.

“It could have been an easier option to remain closed and wait for the economic situation to pick up and get a sale, but I didn’t want Fiveways to become another Royal Gatehouse Hotel.

“So I have chosen the way forward as re-opening with restructured management – purely for the sake of Tenby.”

“I seriously feel that the town is in a meltdown condition at the moment – and will not lift itself out of the gloom until Pembrokeshire County Council takes some action to encourage people to set up businesses and park their cars in Tenby.

“Current business rates are just too expensive – ours increased by 500% last year – and the car parking system just does not encourage people to stop in the town.”