A CAFÉ owner has raised fears over the survival of businesses in Oldham town centre which remains a “ghost town”, as residents continue to choose home working over the office.

Collette Hall, the owner of Clean Plate Kitchen Oldham on Silver Street, Oldham, located opposite Spindles car park, has mounting concerns over the viability of town centre businesses hit hard by the pandemic which has seen footfall plummet.

On one particularly slow day the café, which serves homemade meals using fresh high-quality ingredients, opened at 8:30 am but did not get a single customer through the door until 12pm.

Collette described the footfall as “terrible”, adding: “Town’s really quiet at the moment so I think a lot of businesses are feeling the pinch.

“We were doing well before Covid with our prep meals and traditional café meals, including pies, and we make our own cakes from scratch, and it was always quite popular.

“We serve a lot of office workers, but loads are still working from home and it’s so quiet, it’s difficult.”

The redevelopment of Spindles shopping centre, as part of the council’s Creating a Better Place regeneration strategy, is hoped to boost the borough’s recovery from the pandemic and drive visitors back into the town centre.

Collette however fears that more food outlets may cost her customers.

She said: “I have mixed emotions, it’s a nerve-racking time but you’ve got to hope things will get better, especially as I’m on a 20-year lease. We’ve had five really good years but with the pandemic it’s a really difficult time, Oldham is like a ghost town.

“ I was speaking to a gentleman with a stall on the market which is £30 a day and he made £40 for the full day.You really feel for people it’s a hard time.

She added:“We wouldn’t be able to keep going if it wasn’t for the loyal customers, some of them are working from home and they still drive up and get lunch for their families.”

A delivery service is not a viable option for the business due to sky-high insurance prices and the cost of hiring more staff.

Collette said: “For Just Eat to deliver your food they charge 36 per cent. We’re priced for where we are in Oldham centre so if you’ve got a pie meal that’s £5, I can’t afford to pay 36 per cent. We wouldn’t make anything at all, we probably wouldn’t cover our costs. Without really hiking our prices up."