Oh, my bloody knee injection has worn off.

And the other one's rough.

Oh my god.

Right, anyway.

So, we've moved the bulk of it out of Blackwood.

As you can see.

Tomorrow, it's all going to be a pattern.

Whatever's left, because I don't think we can lift any more.

I think I won't sign a contract again until I've got everything I want in write-in.

Because, you know, the cafe tables, the green rails were all supposed to be outside to get people in because the drums are in interest.

You know, when people are walking past.

And they were going to be for a pound clause, you know, and they were going to move the pound clause quicker.

Oh, that's my £2,000 picture over with.

So, I don't think I would ever sign a contract again.

Yes, I'm naive.

I've never signed contracts for shops before.

The other thing is, I don't think I'd ever sign a contract where I'm locked in and I've got to be out by a plus five.

I don't think I'd do that again.

I need 24 hours access, you know.

When we first came here, it was good.

We felt safe and what have you.

But we found out quite a few things going on up here.

And it put me off.

Anyway, it was here for three years.

So I said, we might as well wait for three years until one comes up on the high street for the right price.

And the one we want.

So, we've asked.

We've put the offers in and nobody's biting yet.

But six months down the line, you're going to be crying out for us, I'm telling you now.

And then, then I'll drop my price lower because you need us.

And then we had the security guard ringing health and safety all the time.

And, you know, we know he's done it.

Yeah, because I've got the subject access.

So I know he's done it.

You know, because he says on their security guard have rung up, you know.

So I've seen that.

Having put all of their subject access online.

You know, if you don't like us, you need to just walk on by to the next shop that you like.

You know, and stay out of our business.

We were warned after we moved in about him, unfortunately.

Viv come down.

There was loads of people come down.

Viv from the top shop come down and, you know, loads of people warned us about him.

And we were like, great, here we go.

And I had to stop him from coming in the shop and complaining about stuff all the time and bothering the staff, you know.

So good luck to anybody who takes this shop on because we then had a landlord change.

I contacted the first landlord to say I'm looking for a shop on the high street.

I need you to be aware that if one comes up, I will be taking one on the high street.

And then he obviously decided to sell because he knew he wasn't going to get anybody else in there other than us.

And I voiced my concerns to the landlord at the time, you know, and to Princeton's.

They just sold us a load of false promises to get us in here, and they shouldn't have.

But that was all verbal, so that was my fault.

Anyway, I woke up this morning and was absolutely over the moon that we were going.

I was like, I'm so happy that I'm out from here.

And like I said, we had to change the landlord.

They were a bit like, oh, we were going to rent, you were going to rent a shop.

I've been here for a few years, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And we were like, what shop are we going to rent off them?

And then when we remembered, it was like a postage stamp, like smaller than this, right?

Like smaller, smaller than that, for 500 pound a month.

Because I can remember saying to Daniel, we get two chairs, a table, and Vivenia, and that's about it.

I said, there's no way we're going to get... I said, forget that, 500 quid, they're off the red.

And this landlord is the one that I've split the old taxi plates into two at the top.

So they've got two corridors for 500 pound a month.

Anyway, he wants to split this one into three.

So we think he was edging his bets to see if I would pay more at the end of my lease, which I wouldn't.

I said, no, you need to bring it down, if I'm honest.

You know, if you want us to stay, you need to bring it down.

So anyway...

Anyway...

So I think it was November.

I thought it was around Christmas time, but it was probably November.

I said to him, we are definitely actively looking for a shop now, to leave this one.

Because the fall has fallen as well, and there's other stuff going on.

And they were not happy about it.

And then that's when they started trying to blackmail us to stay.

And then I was having all sorts of messages of all sorts of people that were related to him.

Threatening to put us all over Facebook.

What put us all over Facebook?

Saying that we were leaving them in the lurch and they had, you know, they'd remortgage their house to buy the shop.

Well, who the hell remortgages a house to buy a shop in 2025?

Right, you must be nuts, right?

And really laying it on sick, like, trying to make me feel bad.

I probably stayed longer than I should have, if I'm honest.

I should have gone earlier.

But obviously then this messaging just increased and increased and increased.

And then he said he would drop the rent from £1,000 a month to £1,000 a month.

Then he added VAT on and we were like, well, that's £1,002.

It's the same boat, you fool.

Right, so we were like, oh, we're just going to go because this one's a nuisance.

Wouldn't fix the lighting and it was an electrical fault.

And we couldn't touch it because the electrical boxes and everything are all sealed in here.

Which it should be anyway.

They should be sealed up.

You don't want volunteers and things fiddling in electric cupboards.

So they're all sealed.

So we couldn't do anything.

And it wouldn't be valid if Daniel did the electrics anyway, right?

You know, it's got to be an electrician.

It's got to be done and it's got to be tested.

So we were without lighting for ages.

We had to have temporary lighting.

Then he reported us to environmental health, the caretaker or whatever he is, right?

To say that we wired in stuff.

We hadn't.

We took lead lamps and plugged them in.

You buy them with plugs on, right?

So then the landlord wanted a survey done and tried to palm the £800 bill off on us.

And we were like, we're not paying £800 for you to get your electric sorted.

Back off.

Then he wanted to hit us with window insurance, window tax.

We were like, you know.

And then the brother-in-law was contacting me and saying things like, Oh, we're going to put it all over social media.

Put me all over social media.

I'm paid to be on social media.

It's a task some days to get up and actually make a status.

You know, some days I think, oh, I just want to be anonymous today.

I'm like, oh, I can't because I need to get paid on Facebook.

Right?

It's hard work some days for me to get up and start blogging.

Do you know where my ankle is hurting now?

I'm a mess.

I've got nothing going for me, am I?

So he was like, oh, you're never going to get that window size.

That window selling space again for that price.

The brother-in-law now might know on Facebook this was.

So I was like, yeah, but I'm never going to get the dickhead landlords that I got with you pay.

And the lack of footfall.

And the dickhead caretaker, am I?

If I move on the ice street.

So, you know, I'll be honest with you.

I don't suffer foolish men well.

And if you're losing a tenant in this day and age because they don't like you.

Not because we can't afford it.

You know, the cheaper the shop, the better it is for the food bank and the nappies and everything else, right?

That's the way it works.

The cheaper the shop, the more we can put back into the community.

We knew we were paying more because we were at Blackwood.

But I've just signed a contract for half the rent here, for half the size shop, half the rent in Caerphilly, which has a bigger footfall in Blackwood, right?

So wakey-wakey landlords in Blackwood because you're going to start losing a lot of tenants, especially if Caerphilly landlords are going to be dropping their rents.

You can't justify that amount of rent when there's lack of footfall.

I mean, how long have I been sat up here now and how many people have we seen?

One that come out of the bush and one that won't pass, won't they?

You know, on a Sunday.

You know, Blackwood used to be eating every day of the week, day and night, didn't it, guys?

And it's not, you know, it's not.

And like I said, there's too many...

I've got too many nice landlords, right?

I've got landlords bent over backwards for me, right?

I've got landlords working together, one from Merthyr, one from London, working together to make sure I get my planning permission because I've knocked through two shops.

You know, not costing me a fortune.

Working together, they've built up a friendship, so now it's going to, because all the buildings are connected, they're now going to work together to get cheaper prices on any building work that they've got half done.

You know, and then we've got a lovely one in Ryska, we've got a lovely one now in Caerphilly, and Caerphilly dropped his rent price twice for me.

He was like, it's £500 with VAT.

I said, I can't do the VAT.

Too much.

And he said, OK, I'll lower it.

Why am I paying £1,000 a month to be managed by, micromanaged by idiots?

You know, and not have the footfall.

If I had the footfall, then fair enough, I'd put up with it, like I did for the first year.

But I haven't got the footfall no more.

So, and like I said, we've also got that other issue with the guy that's been released from prison for burgling the shop in the first place, right?

That's where the aid ambulance went.

Plus they wanted to charge him £2,000 a month in market charges up here.

You know, to be micromanaged.

So, I've learnt a lot because originally I wanted to go into Cwmbran.

I wouldn't go into Cwmbran now knowing that there's a micromanaged team in Cwmbran as well.

So I've learnt a lot, you know.

I've learnt a lot.

If I'm going to get a shop, it's going to be with one landlord.

And I ain't going to be going through an agency.

You know.

Because we've had agencies as well.

So, oh my god, is that my white horse coming to save me?

This is it now.

This is the last one.

This lot's going to Pontypool now.

Here they come.

My knight.

My white horse and my van and my knight.

Here they come to save me.

And I'm off down the donation centre then because I've left the girls down the donation centre trying to get all the bits in.

So I think tomorrow we'll be up here, set it all off for a pound what's left.

Pick up a few things because there's a couple of bits of rails and stuff we couldn't get out by four.

We're on a time limit here, you see.

All the time.

So I can't just come up and have an easy day up here.

I feel like I'm rushing every time I'm up here because I can't just go in and just have an easy day.

Because I've got to work at double speed in here.

So...

We'll get a nice shop now on the ice street.

24 hours access.

Happy days.

Happy days.

Here comes my lift.

