Neil Hughes hand-makes luxury treats, but the Sparkbrook business park he operates out of is far from luxurious
The rubbish pile outside Montgomery Street Business Centre on May 20, 2025(Image: Neil Hughes)
A frustrated Birmingham chocolatier fighting to keep his small confectionery company afloat says that the Birmingham City Council-owned business park he operates out of has become a ‘pig sty’ due to poor maintenance.
Neil Hughes is a well-known face at Birmingham’s artisan and farmers’ markets, sharing his skill for hand-crafting bars of luxury chocolate with communities across the city alongside his wife Gaëlle.
He’s been venting his frustration that the council-owned Montgomery Street Business Centre has been poorly maintained by the council, despite maintenance fee hikes, with followers online.
Read more: The one Bullring shop still getting huge queues six months after opening in Birmingham
Subscribe to the Brum Food Club for a weekly food and drink newsletter, in your inbox, every Thursday. It’s free.
Piles of rubbish frequently pile up outside the business according to Neil, who has shared photos of mounting heaps of garbage, some which he says is fly-tipped by people from outside the centre as the security gate is ‘not in operation as it should be’.
“In case you’re wondering why I keep complaining,” Neil wrote on Facebook, sharing a photo of a bin heap. “Birmingham City Council decided that it was fair to increase our service charges by 123%! For this s***! Where is the duty of care?????
“This problem dates back to 2022. Nothing to do with the current situation.”
Neil has worked out of the Sparkbrook business centre since 2011.
The council put the venue up for sale in 2019 and again in 2021. The following year, tenants within the centre said they felt the council was trying to ‘sink’ them.
Four years have gone by since then and the site remains under council control, but Neil says that the quality of maintenance has plummeted since it was put on the market, making him ’embarrassed’ to show anyone the facility he works so hard in.
“I suggested we get a second bin to accommodate the waste but the site manager didn’t seem interested,” says Neil. “We asked for a recycling bin for the cardboard too.
“We’re trying to keep it nice and clean but it’s difficult. The security gate is a laugh. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is using our site to get rid of their rubbish, sometimes we get fridges, cookers, all sorts.
“I can see why the council has got to sell but this is their fault. It’s their incompetence that has left them in a mess.”
Neil said that he found out that the site had been put up for sale after it happened and that while a campaign was set up afterwards by tenants that hoped to take the centre into their ownership, he doesn’t want the burden.
“I don’t want to buy it, I don’t want a mortgage on this site because it’s a pig sty, to put it mildly,” he said.
“The main problems started to arise around the time the property went up on sale. I can’t have the bins in my workshop because it attracts flies.
“Ever since the building went up for sale, it’s like we’ve been forgotten about.
“We don’t feel we’ve been considered. It seems that the council is desperate to get rid of us.”
Neil, who lives in Selly Park says that he’s worried about the future of his business and has withheld his service charge by way of protesting the treatment he feels he has received. He’s now agreed to pay the debt back.
“If I owe it, I owe it, but it’s difficult to make ends meet at the moment so I have asked for a payment plan. Chocolate has gone up another 13% from April 1, so I’ve been really, really careful about how much I make.”
Neil said that he would struggle to afford a move and that he wants business centres that were created to help start-ups to thrive to be treated as important.
“The business centres that are left should be used as a positive asset. They’re helping small businesses to survive,” he says.
“I’m 57 years of age, I don’t know whether I can survive this year. What do I do? Retrain? I’d have to.
“I’m paying £440 a month and that went up again this year. They do eventually come and collect the bins, but by the middle of next week, it’ll be the same again.
“Most of the time the toilets are absolutely disgusting too.”
Neil said that the issue is weighing on him, resulting in sleepless nights.
“This makes me feel physically sick,” he says. “I woke up at 3:30am today thinking, what am I going to do?”
BirminghamLive has approached Birmingham City Council for comment.