Owner of Peters’ Cleaners in Stamford refuses to repaint and BBC One’s The Apprentice candidate Marianne Rawlins has another application refused as South Kesteven District Council cracks down on colourful shopfronts

A business owner who was told by council officers that the colours of her shop are unacceptable is refusing to repaint.

Peters’ Cleaners in St Paul’s Street, Stamford was given a new lick of blue and orange paint in October 2022 as part of rebranding plans to uplift the ‘outdated’ appearance.

Planning permission should have been sought before, because of the building’s place in a conservation area, and after a retrospective application was made a conservation officer ruled the chosen colours ‘harm’ the building.

Chief executive of Peters’ Cleaners, Vicky Whiter, says she was unaware of the rules until her brush with planning officers and is asking for flexibility and time to correct the mistake.

“I budget to re-decorate the shop front every four years and will happily adhere to all planning when I plan to re-decorate in the summer of 2026,” she said in a letter to South Kesteven District Council, sent at the end of last week.

“At this time however I cannot put the survival of my business at risk by spending now.

“It would help me and other independent retailers immeasurably if the council worked with us to agree a more flexible timetable with a view of bringing everyone in line by December 2026.

“As the rules haven’t mattered for the last 20 years, I can’t see why another 18 months would be such an issue.”

She added that she is not against repainting and agrees that making Stamford as beautiful as possible is in everyone’s best interest.

Vicky believes the shop, which was painted a plain dark blue, got lost in the street scene so she was keen to make it stand out.

The new blue is similar to the original colour with the orange chosen as its “nature’s natural complement to blue in sunrises and sunsets” while vinyl was also added in the brand colours to protect the staff from the sun which shines into the shop for the majority of the day.

Vicky believes redesigning and redecorating the shop will cost between £4,000 and £5,000 - which she ‘cannot warrant spending at this time’.

She said: “I very much hope the council will take a pragmatic and supportive stance and work with small independent retailers to ensure that by improving the look of the High Street they don’t immeasurably damage it by driving independents out of business.”

A spokesperson for South Kesteven District Council told LincsOnline in February that it was happy to work with the applicant to agree both a new colour scheme and a timescale for the repainting of the shop front. When asked again this week, a spokesman said the council’s position had not changed and did not confirm whether the council is willing to work to the timescale Vicky has suggested.

However, the shop owner says she was given a deadline of the end of September to resubmit a planning application and now believes they may take her to court.

“This bullish attitude is unfathomable,” she said.

“Stamford’s independent shops are the heart and soul of the town and are what makes it special.

“You only have to look at the success of Shop Stamford to see this. There aren’t many High Streets that have a Hambleton Bakery rather than a Greggs.”

When the council was asked by LincsOnline how long she has to repaint and what action, if any, will it take if the business is not repainted, the council did not provide an answer.

According to the Stamford Shopfront Design Guide, a document drawn up by the district council to ensure the heritage is retained, the maximum penalty for breaking the rules is two years in prison and an unlimited fine.

The rules include a recommendation to use white or neutral colours on slender shopfronts, and a single colour for all the major elements of the design. However, there is no prescriptive colour chart dictating which shades are allowed.

Several shops in Stamford do seem to have eye-catching shades, including Oliver Bonas, which stands out in pink in the High Street, and Joules, which sports yellow.

Like Vicky, TV apprentice Marianne Rawlins, who runs Stork of Stamford, has also been ordered to repaint her town shop after council officers decided the colours are ‘harming’ the listed building.

The children’s shop is painted a yellow colour, called cherished gold, from the Dulux heritage range as it was the most similar to Stork’s logo while the black was chosen to match the existing Tudor-style beams.

After receiving the enforcement notice in July, Marianne resubmitted plans for a deeper shade of gold which she believed had the council’s support but these were refused due to not including drawings.

Marianne plans to resubmit her application and hopes it will be approved so she can ‘eventually stop talking about paint’.

Although both Vicky and Marianne recognise they must follow the rules of the shopfront guide, not everyone agrees.

Seventy-four per cent of people who took part in an online poll by LincsOnline believe Vicky shouldn’t have to repaint as the council is being a "little overdramatic".

Readers previously branded Marianne’s brush with council planning officers as ‘appalling’ and ‘utter nonsense’.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.