Ian Byrne Says West Derby Road Has Too Many Barbers and Vape Shops. He Should Take Another Look

If you only read Ian Byrne's description of West Derby Road this week, you could come away thinking the stretch outside his constituency office was little more than mini-marts, vape shops and enough barbers to give the whole constituency a haircut.

That's not West Derby Road.

There are barbers. There are convenience shops. There is a dedicated vape shop. But there is also The Musical Box, a record shop with roots going back to 1947; Tuebrook Market; Bexley's; Your Printer; Chai Makkani; Aladdin's Cave; Tuebrook Post Office; charity shops; garages; food businesses; professional services and other independent traders.

And some of the businesses Byrne's description risks talking down are good businesses in their own right.

I know because I use them.

What Ian Byrne said

Byrne, the Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, posted on X on 11 August:

"Outside my office on West Derby Road in Tuebrook, we have 15 mini-mart/vape shops and enough barbers within a 10-minute walk to service the whole constituency. This must change..."

Byrne's official constituency website lists his office at 545 West Derby Road. So he is talking about the high street directly outside his own workplace.

He is right that West Derby Road needs investment. There are empty units, neglected buildings and stretches that could look and work much better.

But his description misses something important: the businesses that are already open are not automatically the problem.

Start with the barbers he singled out

Take Mersey Barbers at 479 West Derby Road.

I've been there myself. It's a professional local barber. I've been offered a bottle of water while I'm there, there's a fish tank inside, the place is looked after and I've had good service.

That's what the business looks like when you walk through the door: people working, customers being looked after and a commercial unit being used.

Then there's Niko Barber Shop at 571 West Derby Road. Niko has been there for years. I've used him for beard trims and had good service.

A long-standing barber doesn't become a bad business because another barber opens further down the road. Niko has survived because people keep choosing to use him.

Does West Derby Road need an unlimited number of barbers? Of course not. A healthy high street benefits from variety.

But that's an argument about the mix of businesses. It isn't a reason to treat a legitimate, established barber as evidence of failure.

The vape shop has been there for years too

At 575 West Derby Road is E-Cig Vapes.

This one really is a vape shop. I've used it myself, and it has been there for years.

When I had a problem with my vape, the staff knew what they were talking about and fixed it for me without charging. My experience was of a professional specialist retailer with knowledgeable staff who understand the products and the rules around what they can legally sell.

That doesn't mean vaping is harmless, and nobody should pretend otherwise. The NHS says vaping is not risk-free, but it is less harmful than smoking and can help adult smokers quit. NHS guidance also says specialist vape shops can advise people on suitable devices and nicotine strengths.

That matters because there is a clear difference between criticising illegal vape sales and treating the existence of a legitimate specialist vape shop as evidence that a high street has failed.

If a business is selling illegal products, selling to children or breaking trading rules, there is already a route for dealing with that. Liverpool City Council has a Trading Standards reporting service, while government guidance sets out the rules for wholesale and retail vaping products.

If Ian Byrne has evidence or a genuine suspicion that a particular business is involved in illegal trading, surely the proper response as the local MP is to report it to the relevant authorities.

If there isn't evidence of wrongdoing, legitimate businesses shouldn't be left under a cloud simply because vape shops appeared in a wider political discussion about "dodgy businesses".

What exactly is a "mini-mart/vape shop"?

This is where Byrne's figure of 15 becomes interesting.

He didn't say there were 15 dedicated vape shops. His phrase was "15 mini-mart/vape shops".

That's a very broad category.

A newsagent or convenience shop can sell milk, bread, groceries, soft drinks, toiletries, household products, newspapers, sweets and legal vaping products. Selling vapes as one line among many doesn't turn the entire business into a specialist vape shop.

That matters because people hear "15 vape shops" very differently from "a mixture of convenience stores, mini-markets and vape retailers".

L1Local has not independently established that there are 15 dedicated vape shops around Byrne's office, and Byrne's own wording does not claim that there are.

If the figure is going to be used as evidence that West Derby Road needs redefining, the categories should at least be accurate.

Count everything else as well

This is the bigger problem with reducing West Derby Road to a couple of shop types.

If we're counting businesses, count all of them.

At 457 West Derby Road is The Musical Box. This isn't some temporary retail experiment. Liverpool Music City has documented the shop's long history, tracing it back to 1947 and generations of the same family.

Think about what an independent record shop on West Derby Road has had to survive: changing music formats, supermarkets, chain stores, CDs, downloads, Amazon, streaming and the wider decline of record retail.

It's still there.

So count the barbers. Count the vape shop. But count the record shop that's been part of the road for generations as well.

Count the butcher too

Bexley's at 611 West Derby Road deserves more than a passing mention.

It's part of an established Merseyside butcher business with multiple locations. The company behind the business was incorporated in 2005, and the wider Bexley's group has received industry recognition over the years.

A sister branch in Old Swan was named North of England Butcher Shop of the Year in 2018. That award belongs to the wider group rather than this specific Tuebrook counter, but it still matters because it shows the type of established independent business sitting on the same road Byrne reduced to mini-marts, vape shops and barbers.

I use the butcher on this road myself. It's exactly the sort of ordinary, useful local business that disappears from view when a high street is described by the categories somebody thinks it has too many of.

Count Your Printer, Chai Makkani and Aladdin's Cave

At 427 West Derby Road is Your Printer, an independent print and copy business.

It's the sort of practical business high streets need. Local firms need signs and leaflets. Community groups need posters. Residents need documents printed. It occupies a unit and provides a service people use.

Chai Makkani adds food and hospitality to the mix, while Aladdin's Cave is another long-standing independent name on the road. They matter for the same reason as the barber, butcher and record shop: they give people another reason to use West Derby Road rather than simply pass through it.

You don't have to personally want to eat in every restaurant, shop in every mini-market or get your hair cut in every barber. A high street isn't supposed to be a row of businesses individually approved by a politician.

Count Tuebrook Post Office

Further along at 593-597 West Derby Road is Tuebrook Post Office.

A Post Office isn't glamorous regeneration. It's something more important: useful.

High streets are everyday infrastructure as much as they are retail. Postal services, banking, printing, food, repairs and personal services are part of what makes a road useful to the people living around it.

And definitely count Tuebrook Market

Then there's Tuebrook Market and car boot sale at Dorset House on West Derby Road.

This matters because a market isn't one business. It's space for multiple traders.

Liverpool City Council lists Tuebrook Market among the city's markets and describes it as a long-standing market popular with regular visitors. The council currently lists Thursday and Saturday trading.

The council also publishes information for people who want to trade at Liverpool markets.

That's small-scale enterprise happening on the same road being discussed as though its commercial life can be summed up by vape signs and barber poles.

Count the market traders. Count the people setting up early. Count the customers. Count the businesses operating around the market site.

There are charity shops, garages and everyday businesses too

Marie Curie has a charity shop on West Derby Road. There are vehicle and repair businesses. There are takeaways, food retailers, professional services and convenience shops. There are other independents that don't fit neatly into the picture created by Byrne's post.

None of these businesses individually proves West Derby Road is thriving.

Together, however, they show something simpler: the road is considerably more varied than Byrne's post makes it sound.

West Derby Road does need help

This isn't an argument that everything is fine.

There are empty units. There are buildings that need investment. Some shopfronts could be improved. A broader range of independents would make the road stronger.

Byrne is entitled to argue that the balance has shifted too far towards a small number of business types. In fact, that could lead to a useful discussion.

But the useful question isn't why there are barbers.

It's why aren't more different businesses opening?

What are the rents? What condition are vacant units in? What do landlords want? What stops somebody with a good retail idea taking a unit? What support is available? What do local customers want to spend money on? Why do some independents survive for years while other premises remain empty?

Those questions tell us much more about the health of West Derby Road than a count of barber poles.

The powers being discussed are meant to solve real problems

There are government powers aimed at getting persistently vacant commercial premises back into use. High Street Rental Auctions give local authorities a route, where the legal conditions are met, to intervene over qualifying long-term vacant high-street properties.

That's potentially useful.

And it highlights the contradiction in the debate.

The policy is trying to deal with empty shops.

Mersey Barbers isn't empty. Niko isn't empty. E-Cig Vapes isn't empty. The Musical Box isn't empty. Bexley's isn't empty. Your Printer isn't empty. Chai Makkani isn't empty. Aladdin's Cave isn't empty. Tuebrook Post Office isn't empty. Tuebrook Market isn't empty.

Perhaps the first target for regeneration should be the premises where nobody is trading at all.

Liverpool already has support for businesses

Liverpool City Council also operates a Business Support Service for existing businesses and people considering starting one.

That's where this conversation could become much more positive.

Help somebody with a strong idea take an empty shop. Help existing independents invest and grow. Work with landlords. Improve neglected buildings and shopfronts. Promote businesses that are already doing something right. Make it easier for new types of business to test whether West Derby Road works for them.

And where there is actual evidence of illegal trading, enforce the rules properly.

His office is right in the middle of it

This is what makes Byrne's description particularly hard to understand.

His constituency office is at 545 West Derby Road.

He doesn't need a fact-finding trip to understand this particular high street.

Walk out of the office. Turn left. Turn right. Go inside.

Ask Niko what has kept his business going for years. Ask Mersey Barbers what customers want. Ask a convenience-store owner what they actually sell rather than defining the whole shop by one product line. Ask the market traders what would bring more customers. Ask The Musical Box how an independent retailer survives across generations. Ask newer businesses why they chose the road. Ask landlords why some units remain empty.

No consultants required.

Byrne's own website says he holds MP surgeries around the constituency. What isn't clear from the public information is whether there was a recent formal survey of West Derby Road traders behind the figure he posted.

The people running these businesses aren't scenery. They're constituents too.

Byrne is right about change. He's wrong about where to start

I want a better West Derby Road.

More investment. Fewer empty units. Better-maintained buildings. More independents. More variety. More reasons for local people to spend money here.

On that basic point, Ian Byrne and I probably aren't very far apart.

But you don't improve a high street by forgetting what's already working.

A professional barber isn't the enemy of regeneration. Neither is a convenience shop simply because it sells vapes alongside groceries. Nor is a legitimate specialist vape retailer automatically evidence of decline.

Niko has been there for years because customers keep going back. I've had good service from Mersey Barbers. I've had knowledgeable help from E-Cig Vapes. The Musical Box has generations of history behind it. Bexley's, Your Printer, Chai Makkani, Aladdin's Cave, Tuebrook Post Office and the traders at Tuebrook Market all add something different to the road.

If any business is breaking the law, report it and deal with it properly.

If it isn't, don't casually make hard-working businesses sound like the problem we're trying to solve.

Count the barbers. Count the vape shops. Just don't stop counting when you've reached the businesses that make your point.

West Derby Road deserves investment. The legitimate businesses already investing their time and money in it deserve some recognition too.