As West Ham football club moves to the Olympic Stadium it will also mark the end for some local traders in Upton Park.
Nathan’s Pie and Eels Shop, which has in the area around 80 years, and Queen’s Fish Bar, which has been near Queen’s Market for more than 60 years, believe it will finish their business.
At the family run pie and mash shop in Barking Road, Richard Nathan, said: “Historically we are so much part of match day that when the club is playing at home we get hundreds of people queuing 50 yards down the road.”
Even Karren Brady, the football club’s vice-chair, sends someone to pick up her meal, he says.
But Mr Nathan said the business will not be moving with the club.
“We won’t be able to survive here and I will probably move the shop to somewhere in Essex.
“It comes after a long and hard battle with Newham Council to keep our rent down. It’s disgusting they are funding a Premier League football club.
“The rates are too high when you’re selling pie and mash for £4.”
At Queen’s Fish Bar in Green Street manager Osman Mustafa, himself a West Ham fan, said: “When the club plays at home we get up to 400 more customers and on a Saturday our profits are up 70 per cent.
“It will be up to the owner, but I think he will have to sell up once the club moves.”
At one of the many newsagents in Barking Road, sales assistant Niru Pathmanathan said: “Our sale of alcohol, soft drinks and cigarettes will go down. But we are open seven days a week and will survive.”
However at Hair Design in Barking Road they believe the move will mean more customers.
Hairdresser Jenny Luong said: “A lot of people avoid booking appointments on Saturdays because of the difficulty in finding a parking space.
“People also want to avoid the crowds so we don’t get a lot of passing trade on Saturdays. Even when the club is not at home people avoid coming out as they are not sure if they are playing.”
At Carpet Matters opposite they also believe the parking issues and crowds are deterring trade.
Sales assistant John Pumfrett, said: “It might actually benefit us. You can’t park in the area on Saturday when most people want to shop and the crowds also put some people off.”
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