Coventry City Council blamed for Longford store closure

The boss of a popular Coventry discount warehouse which is closing with the loss of about 30 jobs says the council is to blame.


Owner Kashif Latif (left) with other members of staff

Latifs in Blackburn Road, Longford, will shut in November after a long-running wrangle over planning permission.

The council discovered the warehouse hadn’t got approval for retail use and issued Mr Latif with an enforcement notice.

The company appealed against the notice but the decision was upheld.

Owner Kashif Latif said he felt “victimised” and “driven out” over what he described as a minor technicality.

He is now in talks with other West Midlands councils with proposals to open a new store.

“Our plan is to leave Coventry and never look back,” he said.

Latifs opened on the Longford industrial site in June 2007.

But a year later the council informed him the unit was without the relevant permission.

Mr Latif claims the council acknowledged and gave their approval to Latifs after officials were notified of their intention to move onto the site to sell a range of home furniture and items.

He said: “We’re an established family business, here to serve the public to provide household goods at reasonable prices. So many of our customers are disappointed.

“They tell me it’s a little gem of Coventry.”

He has informed staff closure and will try to re-employ them in one of the three other Latifs stores across the region.

Mr Latif said: “The hardest part has been telling the staff because I know each of them by name, they’re not roll numbers or tax codes to me.

“I feel a personal responsibility for them all.

“I lay the blame fully at the council’s door. We were victimised and driven out.

“They put jobs and livelihoods on the line, all for a piece of paper.”

Although the council recommended alternative locations, at Arena Park and Gallagher Retail Park, Mr Latif said it wouldn’t be viable as he owned the existing site.

“It’s got to the point where we couldn’t continue even if we wanted to,” he added.

“We’ve wasted enough money on this site.

“We spent over half a million pounds on refurbishment, fitting out the unit with checkouts, stock and logistics.”

Loyal customer Mike Hancock, of Wyken, who has shopped there regularly since it opened, said: “Coventry stands to lose a very valuable shopping centre. I would urge the council to think again.”

A council spokesman said: “Latifs set up on an industrial unit without permission to use it for retail use. We issued an enforcement notice which was appealed against.

“The planning inspector acknowledged it was an inappropriate site and gave Latifs a temporary two-year permission, from November 11 2009, with restrictions on what could be sold.

“The planning inspector made clear the two years was to allow enough time for an appropriate site to be found.”