No.13 Emporium 'forced out' by Hopmarket Charity

Caroline Wickham owns No.13 Emporium at Worcester’s Hopmarket.

This month, the shop on Foregate Street closed for good with Mrs Wickham claiming she was forced out.

Hopmarket Charity said it endeavoured to maintain communication but it reached the stage where it had to issue the breach of lease. 

She said: “I have gone through hell.

“I have been fighting really hard to stay but I just can’t anymore.

“The Hopmarket Charity has forced me out.”

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No.13 Emporium was forced to close (Image: No.13 Emporium)

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Mrs Wickham said she was served with a breach of lease over the summer for use and underletting.

It came after her daughter’s business moved into one of the unit’s rooms.

She says she has proved this is not the case, but the expense of doing so has left her with just £27 in her account and resulted in her having three mini-strokes.

“All these expenses have ruined me, they have basically forced my business into liquidation,” Mrs Wickham said.

“I was one of the biggest independents in Worcester and was doing fine despite the crisis.

“I was an advocate for the Hopmarket and they’ve stabbed me in the back."

As a result of the closure, four members of staff have lost their jobs and Mrs Wickham has been left trying to shift a store full of stock.

She decided to stop paying her rent in the hope the charity would take her to court.

Mrs Wickham added: “I want my day in court.

“They have messed up. If they had sat down and talked to me face to face this could have all been sorted and they could have saved a business.”

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A spokesperson for the Hopmarket Charity apologised for what has happened but says they did all they could to try and address the issues.

“We are sorry that No. 13 Emporium felt that they had to leave their property in the Hopmarket,” said the spokesperson.

“We did endeavour to maintain communication with the owner of No. 13 Emporium through our managing agent, who looks after the properties on behalf of the Hopmarket Charity. 

“However, the situation did reach the stage whereby we were obligated to issue the breach of lease but were prepared to work with the owner to address a number of issues”