A businessman who claims to be owed over £10,000 by the owner of Hull’s former House of Fraser building has protested in the city centre.
Gary McMaster, owner of Hull Cleaning Supplies, said the company was instructed to complete stripping out work inside the flagship Paragon Street building in January, as part of its redevelopment.
While payment was received for that work, Mr McMaster claimed while HCS was working in the building, it was asked to complete other jobs.
The businessman now claims to be owed over £10,000 by Redefine Paragon Hull Ltd, and has allegedly instructed lawyers to pursue the money.
Mr McMaster also staged a peaceful protest outside Hull’s DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel yesterday evening, ahead of a construction conference during which businesses were told how they can get involved with the Hammonds of Hull project.
He told Hull Live: “It reached the point where we were about six months overdue payment.
“I had asked for the money I was owed on several occasions, and was promised it would come, but that the money had to come from outside of the country and that was the cause for the delay.
“Eventually I told them I would not do any more work until I was paid, and that’s when it went cold.”
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Mr McMaster claimed after he stopped hearing from the representative of the company, he instructed a legal team to help him get the money owed.
Redefine Paragon Hull Ltd was approached for a comment.
A spokeswoman said: “We have fantastic working relationships with all of our contractors, the majority of who are Hull-based businesses that we’ve chosen to work with as part of our commitment to support the local economy.
“Regrettably, in this instance a dispute has occurred, which is now in the hands of our lawyers.”
Mr McMaster protested outside of Hull’s DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, as a representative of Redefine Paragon Hull outlined future plans for the building and how other businesses can get involved.
He said ahead of the event: “It will be a peaceful protest with banners and I will be handing leaflets out to people.
“I just feel it is my duty as a small business owner to warn other businesses of what has happened to me.
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“I am not in a position where I can let this money slide. The company lost money when Hall Construction went into liquidation a few years ago, and I cannot afford to lose money again.”
The former House of Fraser building in Hull city centre is currently going through a period of redevelopment.
Since the department store chain moved out of Hull, the building was renamed ‘Hammonds of Hull.’
Recently, it was announced a food hall will be opening in the building in early 2020, and will allow customers to “dine, shop and taste all the very best that Hull’s farmers, producers and chefs have to offer.”
There will be more than 20 boutique stalls, and planning permission has been applied for to provide outside seating and to open up all three storeys of the building.
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