Following a number of worrying incidents in recent years, it has become an area of Birmingham city center known for violent crime.
Dale End is a hotspot for lawlessness and anti-social behaviour. A gun was fired outside a coffee shop earlier this year and store managers are still talking about two teenagers stabbed in the street in 2018. And unfortunately, there are many more chilling incidents.
According to the latest crime figures from the police ADT, 268 violent crimes have been reported in the area in and around Dale End in the last 12 months. There have also been 54 incidents of anti-social behavior reported and 98 public order offences.
The area was once known for its McDonald’s restaurant, which became a center for gang violence with reports of mass brawls and stabbings. But this Maccie D’s has since been demolished and will be demolished in 2022 amid the city’s ongoing development.
But while the fast food chain was a source of crime in Dale End, there are some business owners in the area who lament its loss and say it has also helped attract customers to the area.
The demolition of the old Dale End McDonalds has made way for the Birmingham Eastside Metro extension, but the area still looks neglected. Some shops in the city center street have also closed in recent months, but a few businesses remain open in Dale End.
On Monday afternoon (November 20), I took to the streets to talk to business owners about life in one of the city center’s crime hotspots.
The city center was lively when I arrived on Monday, with the German Market once again bringing more business to the centre. But as I left the bustling High Street and turned into Dale End, you immediately noticed that this is one of the more subdued shopping areas of central Birmingham. The area, which is located almost underneath The Square shopping center, certainly looks run down, and I suspected that the fact that the street is not very pleasant to look at did not benefit the businesses in the area.
A little further away is the popular Forum music venue and the large HMV store, which replaced the old Ikea in 2019. But it is the several independent businesses on the left side of the street, opposite the High Street car park, that have recently seen the anti-social behavior and violence.
The Peaky Blinder pub, later renamed The Garrison, opened in Dale End almost a decade ago, but the venue was closed and eerily empty on Monday. After walking through the street, which includes Ocean Fish Bar, DFC Chicken and Long Nails, I immediately notice the closed shops, including the old Street UK store that is still deserted.
I then entered the Phone Giant Exchange phone store, where the owners told me that violence is still a major problem in the area, and expressed concern about the lack of police presence.
Shop owner Mohammed Faisal, who runs the shop with his brother, explains BirminghamWorld: “We’ve been here for five years and there used to be a lot of police presence in the area, but not so much anymore. Before Covid there was a large police presence, but now they only come here when a major incident happens.”
Mohammed says the McDonald’s closure has also had a damaging impact on businesses in the area. “A lot of people said McDonald’s brought violence to the area, but it also brought a lot of customers to us. Since it closed, things haven’t gone so well.”
He says the business community has also struggled post-Covid. “We get a lot of visitors towards Christmas,” Mohammed said. “But since Covid it has definitely gone down. People’s priorities have changed as the cost of living rises. We used to do very well, but Covid changed the nature of business.”
I then went to the only cafe in Dale End, Ngopi Coffee. The manager of the Indonesian coffeehouse just a few doors down from Phone Giant Exchange had a particularly terrifying experience after violence poured into the store in July. A gun was fired outside the cafe before an off-duty police officer heroically began to struggle with the gunman in the Ngopi.
The officer courageously ran out of the store, tackled the shooter and managed to confiscate the firearm. CCTV footage even showed him restraining the man and keeping the gun out of reach on the coffee shop counter until armed officers arrived minutes later.
Liam, one of the cafe’s managers, was working in the store when there were no customers in the store. He told me: “A shot was fired outside. At the time I thought it was some construction because it sounded like a metal machine falling, and then an off-duty officer came in. As the guy was walking by, he grabbed He and they ended up here and basically fought over the gun.”
Despite the terrifying ordeal, Liam says people in the area still feel safe thanks to security outside the cafe. “There are a few unwanted animals in the area, but we have security in the area,” he said. “There have been a few dodgy things happening outside. There are also a lot of homeless people using the car park on the other side of the road. But there is security at all times and also security from the Square Shopping Centre. I don’t think customers notice it’s too much. They come to town and this happens to be the more dodgy side of town.”
Scruffy Murphy’s rock bar is located on the corner of Dale End, a short distance from the street side shops. The Independent rock bar has been around for 20 years and has welcomed the likes of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Noddy Holder and Lemy of Motorhead as customers over the years.
Ollie Hunt, manager of the bar, said they are more than aware of the area’s reputation, but the impact of the pandemic has been the biggest problem for the business. “It’s not as good as it was before Covid, but we’re still here,” he told me. “The weekends aren’t quite what they were pre-Covid because everyone is a bit more aware, but we’ll be playing live music again in February.”
He says crime in the area is also not something that has affected them greatly. He said: “We see it, but generally it was businesses just down the street that are no longer there where some of the issues have happened. This corner gets a bit of a bad rap because it’s technically Dale End, but all the issues (crime) are never too close.”
Ollie said he has also noticed a decrease in anti-social behavior since McDonald’s closed its doors. “It was a bit too far away to get any business out of it, but it was a source of a lot of problems in this area.”
There’s no denying that the area has been ravaged by crime in recent years, but there are still a number of hardworking businesses in Dale End doing their best to survive. The closure of McDonald’s in Dale End appears to have reduced some of the violence in the area, but anti-social behavior and crime remain a concern for retailers. It remains one of the most prominently depressed parts of the city centre, and more needs to be done to tackle crime in the area.
West Midlands Police have been contacted for comment.