Café and studio to close amid roadworks chaos

A café and art studio owner says he feels he had no choice but to "abandon ship" and close his business due to the impact of nearby roadworks.

Artist Nathan Slate opened SL-ATE on Clare Street in Bridgwater, Somerset, in 2024, but said he had been heavily impacted by the £9m Celebration Mile regeneration scheme.

Slate said he picked the location because he thought the scheme would help him, but instead it caused problems, including reduced footfall and cancelled events.

A spokesperson for Somerset Council said they recognised concerns had been raised about the roadworks, adding that the scheme would be reviewed over the next four months.

"My first year was incredible, but the second year was a 50% drop - that's in footfall and in profit," said Slate, who added that he had stopped paying himself from the business.

The Celebration Mile is a government-funded project that has created one-way systems around the town, widened pavements and added new street furniture.

It is part of an effort to make it more pedestrian-friendly, but some have said it has come at the cost of vehicles being able to reach businesses.

"I've had times when the roadworks were happening and I had workshops on - the artists would arrive and they wouldn't be able to get their stuff out of the car to my space because of all the roadworks, so they had to cancel with people waiting inside," said Slate.

"So, it came to the New Year and I had to make the difficult decision to abandon ship before it sinks."

It is not the end of Slate's studio space however- he has been offered a new space in the Great Western Hotel in Taunton.

Hannah, a local historian, said she was really disappointed when she heard the café was closing.

"It's alternative, it's creative, it's something different and it's what Bridgwater needs," she said.

"You have to find the people and look for those opportunities and support them, because there are a lot of things that are against small businesses, and what we have here is something special," she added.

The Somerset Council spokesperson said they recognised it was a challenging time for businesses due to a range of issues which were not specific to Bridgwater.

The council added it was committed to supporting businesses in the town and the roadworks were designed to make the Eastover area "more pedestrian and cyclist friendly".

Earlier this month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves responded to criticism of changes to business rates and said she wanted to support high streets.

"That's why we made the change to the rates. But I recognise that many paths are still struggling and we're working with them," she added.

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