Accessible Businesses
If you have a disability that creates accessibility problems you will be well aware, wherever you go in the UK, of two simple facts:
- The Equality Act 2010 requires all businesses to make reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of disabled customers
- Not all businesses that should and could make reasonable adjustments have done so.
Wells is currently no different to most other historic market towns:
- Some premises cannot be easily modified for good structural reasons or are prevented from making adjustments due to historic listed building restrictions
- Some shopkeepers trading on a leasehold do not understand it is their legal responsibility to make reasonable adjustments, not that of the freeholder.
There are also wide ranging misconceptions about:
- what reasonable adjustments look like
- how easily they can be implemented
- the very low cost of putting some pragmatic solutions in place.
There is also a significant commercial opportunity for businesses that are accessible. It is not just wheelchair users who may spend money in a business. In many cases they are accompanied by family and friends, who are much less likely to enter a shop without their accompanying wheelchair user.
We estimate that currently 20% of businesses in Wells operate from premises that should and could make reasonable adjustments to ensure they become compliant with their legal obligations. Our ambition is to work collaboratively with those businesses, in hand with Wells City Council and local business organisations. Our target is 100% compliance and we believe that is eminently achievable over the next year.