Listen To Your (Former) Customers

While Hamptons does at times look busy, it’s clear from talking to members that it’s just a shell of what it once was. We remain highly critical of the owners (the Chelmsford Muslim Society), who have a different agenda and plans for the venue.

The bars

While one of the Hamptons directors dismisses the concerns of former members and customers, who “just want to drink at the bar with their mates”, it is obvious that nearly all of the venue`s primary venue streams were linked to the bars.

Hamptons still advertises itself as “Sports & Leisure Club with function rooms available for hire: wedding receptions, parties, dinner dances, conferences, stage performances and shows. But on most weekends the venue is shut to the general public before the evening and late prayers.

And the reason for that is simple; potential customers do not want to hold wedding receptions, parties, dinner dances, stage performances and shows, in a venue that does not permit alcohol on the premises.

Despite claims that the owners closed the bars to focus on “health and fitness”, it is clear that the real reason was "“For muslims alcohol is something we find difficult to compromise on and no matter how I've tried to look at the situation from a religious aspect we cannot do it. We recognise the detriment it might have on revenue but we are also determined in our resolve to make the centre a success. We have debts to pay and want the centre to succeed- Ayman Syed, Chairman of CMS, 28/02/20.

Could There Have Been A compromise ?

With such a large venue, it would have always been possible to reconfigure the rooms to create a prayer facility, and possibly keep one of the bars open.

In all the hundreds of pages of documents we obtained under the Freedom Of Information Act, a compromise was never even discussed by the owners and the city council.

However, speaking to former members of staff, it was clear that CMS and their worshippers had no desire to do this, regardless of the financial consequences. The venue was simply purchased to create the biggest mosque in Essex.

And It is A Mosque

Despite the claims of the owners, Hamptons isn’t really a community facility or community centre, it’s principally a rapidly expanding mosque, with some private hire use, and squash/tennis. The once popular leisure uses have all but gone.

If the owners could attract enough worshippers to pay the enormous running costs of the venue, and get planning permission, does anyone think that the owners would keep the non religious activities ?

Healing Divisions

Seeing some of the aggressive and rude responses from the Chairman of CMS on social media, they aren’t building bridges here, or “healing divisions”. If you disagree with what’s happening at Hamptons, you are a racist or a drunk !

The whole way that the owners have introduced Friday prayers, daily prayers, late night prayers during Ramadan, the installation of the Wudhu facilities, and now the CLOPUD application, has hardly been open and transparent, with not even a courtesy warning to nearby residents The Open day promised in 2020, still hasn’t happened.

Cynical publicity stunts like the Ifthar gathering for councillors and local dignitaries (just before the CLOPUD application was submitted), do the owners no favours. The owners need to win over the public (the customers), not the councillors !

The CLOPUD application isn’t about “Chelmsford Muslims allowing its mosque to be used for a variety of leisure activities such as indoor sport”, it’s about adding further mosque facilities, and paving the way for more and more CLOPUD applications in the future, bypassing the planning process.

Is This Really What Customers Want ?

What about more dance classes, a gym, bingo and things like lunch clubs for the older residents ? The largest single group of residents by age in the ward is above 60 years.

The truth is that Hamptons can’t afford to run these activities, and there isn’t a huge queue of new private hirers waiting to step in to do it for them.

Without the bar revenue, Hamptons needs to go well above and beyond the levels of activity pre-2020, and they are nowhere near that. And losing the terrace bar, members bar and dance studio, further reduces the rental space available to increase bookings.

Will locals forgive and forget ?

Not in a hurry, The animosity towards the owners of Hamptons, isn’t about who they are, it’s about what they’ve done to the centre, and how they’ve gone about it.

While locals are angry at the owners, they are not likely to set foot in the venue, let alone spend any money there. And while CMS continues to try and expand the mosque facilities via the back door, this is unlikely to change any time soon.

Locals have also told us that they feel uncomfortable in the centre, as they feel they may be intruding at prayer times, which is a deeply personal time.

Even though Hamptons has the support of the Lib Dems councillors, who need the Muslim vote to stay in control of the city council in 2023, that won’t bring the paying customers flocking back.

It’s not the mosque that the Muslim community were promised, and it’s not the sports and leisure club that the area needs.

A radical rethink is needed by the owners !

KBO