Independent business owners left counting cost after shopfronts vandalised on Edinburgh street
Independent business owners on Edinburgh’s most photographed street have been left counting the cost after their shopfronts were vandalised.
Scores of businesses on Victoria Street had graffiti spray painted over their doors, windows and brick work on Saturday, July 12.
The curved street famously has bright coloured buildings with traditional shop fronts, lined by a cobbled road which makes it popular with tourists and influencers filling the streets to take pictures.
Despite its popular location, many of the businesses are independent, family-run shops, which means any repair or clean-up work is coming directly out of their profits.
Angelina Bowman, whose father owns Cuttea Sark, said: “My parents opened up on the Saturday morning and they noticed both doors had been right down to the bottom covered in black paint.
“A lot of these businesses are small family-run independent shops, they're not like big companies that can afford to hire people to come out and fix it. A lot of these places will try and fix it themselves which means buying paint and materials.”
Since the shop is all the same colour of blue, Angelina said it's also likely the owners will have to repaint the entire front of the shop again so that the colour matches.
She said: “It's all time and money, we could've done without this. One of us is going to have to stay behind one night to paint this as I've tried to clean it off but it will not move.”
Andrew Hood, manager at Not Just Another Whiskey Shop, said the vandalism was “not ideal” but added that it's not a regular occurrence.
He said: ”We’re just going to paint over it. We don't get vandalism very often and I’m surprised we don't get it more often to be honest but it's not ideal and it's bad that it's been on all the shops around here.”
Also targeted in the same night of vandalism was St Giles Cathedral and some monuments and stone buildings in the Old Town which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
St Giles Cathedral is 900 years old and requires special cleaning to protect the delicate exterior from damage.
Sarah Phemister, manager at St Giles Cathedral said: “It's the nature of being in the centre of town but for its hidden cost. I don't think anyone would believe how much money it costs to clean it up. It costs thousands of pounds because we have to get special permissions, we have to use special equipment. We can't just powerwash it or scrub it with a broom.
“Arts and heritage are having a really difficult time at the moment and it costs thousands of pounds every day to keep the building open, so wee things like this which can happen in a split second can have a really big impact.
Councillor Stephen Jenkinson, Transport and Environment Convener, said: "First and foremost, defacing any building with graffiti is a criminal offence and I’d encourage anyone with any information on the culprits to contact the police. This type of mindless behaviour damages the local environment for everyone, whether they be residents or visitors, and wastes time and money on removing it.
“We’ve invested in a dedicated graffiti team who will be happy to offer advice to private owners on how best to deal with it and, if requested, to remove it - on a cost recovery basis.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said they received a report of vandalism on Victoria Street and "enquiries are ongoing”.