Festival Place Indian restaurant on brink of closure

Spicy Tadka has traded at Festival Place for more than a decade and won national curry awards, but says scaffolding, noise and dust are driving customers away and putting jobs at risk.

Spicy Tadka owner and father-of-two Gagan Joshi told the Gazette stress was keeping him awake as weekend takings plunged.

“I have been so stressed out, I am losing my sleep nowadays,” he said. “At weekends, we should be making £1,700 per day, but this weekend we only made £400. How do I afford this when there is huge rent and I have to pay my staff salary? It has been going on for months and months now.”

Gagan Joshi, owner of Spicy Tadka (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Joshi said noise and dust from the works were driving customers from his restaurant, which sells authentic Indian fine dining.

“The noise when the digger is on, drilling into the ground, is quite loud, very noisy,” he said. “Dust is getting in through the doors and customers don’t want to eat in that environment, they want it to be cosy and warm, not loud and dusty.

“If I lose this, I have nothing else. This year, we couldn’t even celebrate our anniversary in May. The stress level was so much. We were not feeling like a celebration. We are struggling bad.

Gagan Joshi, owner of Spicy Tadka, in front of the construction work outside his business (Image: Newsquest)

“I have the oldest Indian restaurant in the town centre and we have put so much effort in. These problems mentally torture us. We can’t afford staff on top of these problems. We are losing tens of thousands of pounds on a monthly basis. If it can’t be solved, I will have to shut down.”

Spicy Tadka has won Restaurant of the Year at the Euro Asia Curry Awards and a National Curry Award.

Mr Joshi also accused some Festival Place security staff of speaking rudely to workers and delivery drivers over parking, claiming it was helping drive staff away.

“The security staff – it has been torture – they have been really rude,” he said. “Most are good, but some of them are very, very rude.

A notice in the window at Spicy Tadka warning that jobs are at risk (Image: Spicy Tadka)

We sometimes feel so harassed; they come in and rudely speak to our staff and delivery drivers about parking… They threaten them to move their car out.

“We have lost a couple of staff in the last four weeks because nobody wants to work in an environment where they are not happy.”

He said he had complained “many times” about the treatment of his business, in meetings and in writing, and showed the Gazette emails in which a former senior Festival Place figure apologised in 2023 for the way the restaurant had been treated.

Mr Joshi believes independent traders are being treated differently to larger chain brands and said: “They [Festival Place] don’t want to cooperate… Everywhere else in the town is refurbished, but not this area.”

Ezekiel Osundina, owner of Afrizi (Image: Newsquest)

Nearby African restaurant Afrizi says the same scaffolding, hoarding and dust have hurt its presentation during a tough summer.

Owner Ezekiel Osundina said: “I think the issue is multi-faceted. The scaffolding has been there almost a year, and the work is still going on. Last year, I was very busy.

“The work can offer a distraction. But we also had a very hot, very dry summer for the last eight weeks, which I think means that people don’t want to eat inside on a hot day.

“There is loads of dust from the work, we get it on our lanterns and plants, and the carpet gets dirty from it. So it affects presentation. We sweep every day, but we have to more than usual.”

Mr Munch in Festival Place (Image: Newsquest)

However, not all nearby traders say they have been negatively affected.

Mr Suayip Bozkurt, manager of neighbouring cafe Mr Munch, said: “The work needs to be done, otherwise it will all collapse and we won’t be able to trade. The work hasn’t affected our business.”

The claims follow warnings from independent Church Street cafe Willows Coffee House about the same wall and fencing works hitting its outdoor seating and deliveries.

Manager and content creator Alex Williams, 23, previously said: “We have been told it will last six weeks – it wipes us out over summer.

We are an independent coffee shop, we rely on this season. Who wants to sit out here when there is drilling?

Manager and content creator Alex Williams (Image: Newsquest)

“This has impacted sales and business so much, our jobs are at risk."

Work on a wall at the bottom of Church Street began in October 2025 but was paused, while fencing remained until work resumed this summer.

Festival Place said work was paused because of an “unforeseen issue” requiring “further investigation”, and later said it was “pleased to be working with Willows Coffee House” and had put up signs saying the cafe remains open.

Spicy Tadka hopes Festival Place management will listen and work with it and other traders on a solution.

Ongoing construction work at Festival Place (Image: Newsquest)

“We simply want a fair opportunity to continue trading, serving our customers and protecting the jobs of our team,” Mr Joshi said.

“We are proud of what we have achieved in Basingstoke. We just want to be able to carry on.”

A spokesperson for Festival Place said: "We appreciate the ongoing Church Street retaining wall repairs have been disruptive for businesses and visitors in this part of the town centre, and we would like to thank our tenants and customers for their patience while these essential works are completed.

"The project is currently expected to be completed by the middle of August. As with many major structural repair programmes, the complexity and extent of the work has meant it has taken longer than originally anticipated.

Gagan Joshi, outside Spicy Tadka (Image: Newsquest)

"Festival Place is committed to treating all its tenants fairly and consistently. We take the same approach with all occupiers and are committed to applying that approach equitably across the centre.

"Throughout the works we have continued to provide marketing and digital promotional support to help businesses maintain visibility and encourage customers to continue visiting this part of the centre.

"We remain committed to working positively with all of our tenants and look forward to the completion of these important improvement works.

"We are committed to ensuring all of our tenants, their employees, visitors and members of the public using the shopping centre are treated professionally, courteously and with respect at all times.

"In return, all centre users are expected to observe and comply with the centre's rules, policies and safety requirements to help ensure the safety and wellbeing of all.

"Our priority remains maintaining a positive working relationship with our occupiers as we complete these essential improvement works."

Festival Place said that its new property and asset manager, Estama, is unable to comment on historical events which predate its involvement, and the shopping centre will not comment any further.