I spoke to one of the managers at the Ipswich branch of BHS today about their parking in Arras Square. He explained that they had discussed the issue with head office who said that it was fine for them to continue to park in the square which they intend to do. They are legally allowed to do so because they own the area immediately outside the store where they park. Indeed they complain if anyone else parks there. As such we can see plenty more of this.
Managers’ cars
More manager’s cars
Neat parking by a BHS manager!
The regional manager’s car
Both managers block the seating today!
BHS vans blocking the seating in the square
Clearly BHS have not used their van for some time!
BHS owned vehicles:
- Audi AV55WDE
- Renault Clio AY10WHH
- BMW EK59ZNV
- VW Passat AX59FZE
- Van KV58NPF
- Another van AD53PFX
I discovered recently that BHS is owned by a certain Philip Green, the 9th richest person in the UK who is unfortunately pretty good at avoiding paying UK tax, £300m by one estimate. This makes it strange that the government has recently appointed him to oversee the goverment’s spending cuts. This may be why some of Philip Greens’s other shops, including TopShop, have recently been targeted by Uncut who argue that if corporations paid tax properly then the need for cuts would be greatly reduced. Philip Green says the accusations are ‘outrageous’.
Pedestrian Liberation 
Have you considered walking your (muddy) bicycles through the BHS shop? It’s only fair.
What makes BHS think they are above the law, it applies to them as well. If their head office will not take any action then who ever is responsible for enforcing the parking here needs a boot up their arse for allowing this to continue.
I have updated the blog post to make it clear that they are not breaking the law by doing this as they own the land in question. It may look like a public square but only a small section is not privately owned. As such they are legally allowed to do this but it does send a very poor message to the community, to their customers and indeed to all the rest of their junior staff who I assume are not allowed to park there. As such drawing the issue to more general attention is the only approach that can be used in this case.
AAH, I was under the impression that this was a publicly owned space. If it’s private then I take back my complaint, it is theirs to do with as they wish and I do not believe that any of us has any right to complain. After all, I will not accept others telling me how I should park on my property so why should I expect the right to tell others what to do on theirs.
It has taken me some time to discover that the square is privately owned in parts even though it is laid out as a public square. Personally I think it is shabby for a retail outlet to allow a really nice square to be used so that a few managers can save a few minutes while getting to work while making it harder for their customers and others. There is an underground car park within 50 meters of the site and very cheap parking not much further away.