Plans for a city centre power cut that businesses described as 'very poorly timed' have been revised following opposition from those who feared it would hit their vital Christmas trading.
Last week, some 41 properties near Princess Street were told that an outage would occur from 8pm on 11 December.
SP Electricity North West called the work essential, stating that power would be interrupted for roughly seven hours, with restoration expected at 3am the following morning.
Jon and Sara Saunby, who have operated the Salut Wine Shop on Cooper Street since 2014, argued that the interruption would occur at the 'worst possible time' for their business, coinciding with the crucial pre-Christmas trading period.
Sara : "Like many establishments in the area, we're usually open throughout the week until late - so the works would take out the last three trading hours during the busiest period of the year for us.
"There's no generators provided, and, realistically, it's going to affect us more than just three hours too. We will have to close up before then, prepare the stock, and then you don't know what you're coming back to in the morning because our cold store won't have been working."
Following representations from the Salut owners to Sacha Lord and local MP Lucy Powell, SP Electricity North West has now rescheduled the planned power cut. However, before this decision was reached, Sara said she had contacted the energy firm to outline the situation facing her business and others in the area, and to enquire whether the date could potentially be changed.
The provider has since informed the M. E.N it has taken the 'time to take individual businesses' views into account'.
"I asked if they could push it back a few hours, as they would be working overnight anyway," she explained. "That would have made all the difference to us because we're going to lose a lot of money if we have to close."
Sara estimated that the power cut alone would likely cost the business approximately £6,000.
"I just don't understand the logic of having to do it on a December evening in the middle of week," Sara added. "We are banking on December to see us through the leaner part of January.
"It just feels like very poor timing for the businesses that don't fit into the usual 9 to 5 routine. If they said they wanted to move it to a Monday in January, it still wouldn't be great but we understand these things need to happen and we could suck it up then."
After discussions with the utility provider, Sara said she contacted Manchester MP Lucy Powell and Sacha Lord, who serves as Chair for the Night Time Industries Association, requesting their intervention and support.
On Friday (November 14), Mr Lord expressed his dismay on X about the situation, stating: "This is appalling...Electricity North West have decided to cut off power to some venues/bars in Manchester on Thursday 11th Dec...one of the busiest days in the run up to Xmas. No compensation. No help with generators. Why not do it in January when it's quiet?"
On Monday (November 17), Electricity North West confirmed that the planned works for December 11 have now been cancelled and will be rescheduled. The company stated that the owner of the intended site had initially agreed to the timeslot, but after receiving concerns about the potential impact on the wider area, they have accommodated the requests.
A spokesperson for SP Electricity North West commented: "We consulted with the owner of the building, which houses our equipment and several businesses, before agreeing the original time and date to minimise impact.
"We then provided all affected businesses with four weeks' notice, which allows us time to take individual businesses' views into account, and we're happy to reschedule the work for an alternative date in the new year."
