Erminio Shahmani

“My staff are from all over Italy and the chefs are too. It's a proper, authentic Italian restaurant. Everything is cooked here, you order and it's all cooked fresh, you can see. Every night I have three chefs, a pizza chef and a porter as well as my waiting team. It's a real authentic Italian restaurant.”

“Unfortunately the changes we've seen have been from bad to worse. It used to be a very vibrant road, we had no problems, nothing to worry about. And I'm sorry to say that. You can see now, all the shops are empty, I'm the only one standing and I'll be here as long as I can.”

“If you know you're going to be evicted from your house, you don't want to be in that house any more. But a house and a restaurant are two different things.”

“We're the forgotten one. This part of Birmingham should be the best part of Birmingham but it's the worst part.”

“We've got to remain positive. If you want to move forward you can't let any of those things affect your mindset, but the reality is that the empty shops speak for themselves.”

“Birmingham City Council should do a little bit more to help us in that respect.”

“In other areas, the shops are full but this area is like a warzone.”