A family business that has been operating in the city for decades has warned it could face closure due to the next phase of the Low Emission Zone impacting millions of pounds of revenue.
Non-compliant vehicles are automatically detected, and Penalty Charge Notices are sent to the registered vehicle owner.Patons Accident Repair Centre, which has been operating in Townhead for more than 60 years, repairs vehicles that have been involved in accidents within a wide catchment area that extends beyond the borders of the LEZ.
“And we are different to other businesses in town which rely on footfall or rely on people being the customer, we rely on vehicles.” Mr Paton is currently sitting on thousands of pounds worth of parts that were ordered for existing jobs he can no longer carry out after June 1.Between June 2023 and June 2024, Mr Paton is expecting losses could reach between £1.75 million to £2.25m. The business relies on high turnover with low margins so the losses are set to be catastrophic., we’re probably not going to see out the next two years. And that’s no exaggeration.
It was only then he realised that despite operations being compliant, the new legislation would ‘chop an entire part of the market’ from the shop. His request for an exemption from the council was denied. “There have been two LEZ consultations, in 2020 and 2021 – both of which were publicised across a variety of platforms, with the most recent consultation specifically seeking feedback on the Phase 2 design proposals, with almost 3000 responses received."