The family-run French Living business has survived on the street of chain restaurants for decades, yet they feel invisible to the everyday people of Nottingham
Louis Corbett Trainee Reporter
04:00, 07 Aug 2025Updated 12:24, 07 Aug 2025
(L- R) Pierre Luiggi and Anna Picard of French Living, pictured in King Street, Nottingham city centre. The team behind French Living, a restaurant in King Street, Nottingham city centre, have spoken about pedestrianising King Street and Queen Street.(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)
After years of frustration, feeling invisible and constant struggles with noise from traffic, the team behind a much-loved city centre restaurant have decided to say enough is enough, with a campaign to pedestrianise two busy streets. Staff at the family-run French Living feel that, despite being in a prime location for footfall, it is as if they are hidden away from the masses, as buses and delivery trucks constantly block their decades-old family business.
French Living, which began in 1994, have based their campaign for the pedestrianisation of King and Queen Street, located off Upper Parliament Street, on the constant stream of traffic. This is due the six bus stops with 17 different services and several delivery bays across both streets. Staff argue that with this built-up flow of public transport, they are constantly blocked out of view of potential customers.
Their petition to Nottingham City Council lists reasons why they fundamentally disagree with the current street layout. They allude to the daily battle with traffic, noise pollution and a lack of designated waiting areas for delivery drivers, amid their own visibility concerns.
With that, they have prepared a vision for the campaign—to make it a Hockley-esque pedestrian-only area—which will allow them to attract custom, draw attention to the historical buildings, and carve out a space for more independent city centre businesses to thrive.
The campaign has been started by Pierre Luiggi, 27, son of the restaurant owners Stephane and Louise Luiggi, and manager Annabelle Picard, 34. They said: “The first thing is that, even today, when we tell people about us, they don’t know where we are. We don’t have any visibility. We are in the city centre, less than five minutes away from the theatre, Victoria Centre, and the Old Market Square. Luckily, we have a regular clientele.
An example sent in of the constant stream of traffic experienced on Kings and Queens Street(Image: Submitted )
“When you look at it, people are just passing by, the traffic actually blocks people’s view of us. There is a loading bay parked in front of us, and there is a van constantly parked there. It’s chaos a lot of the time, people are trying to eat in the restaurant and all they can hear is beeping.
“People don’t see us, and you can see most of the people who walk here are just walking through to the bus. I think making it pedestrian would be huge progress for us. Nottingham is really trying to be cleaner, and it’s a big goal for the city, this is one of those steps that could help and go towards making it a cleaner city.
The delivery bay found outside of French Living. (Image: submitted )
“No one looks up at these historical buildings. All people are aware of is what bus they are going to catch here. There is a hell of a lot of potential here. We only have a terrace so that people can actually see us.”
This isn’t even the first time that French Living has struggled with its visibility. In 2017, the restaurant almost went out of business due to scaffolding that covered the front of the family business for 15 months.
Over the years, several restaurants on King and Queen Street have closed, such as Red’s True Barbecue, George’s Great British Kitchen, Loch Fyne Seafood & Grill, and many more. Pierre argues that independent businesses struggle to survive on the busy street in spite of the constant stream of by-passers.
“We want to see paved streets, big terraces. They have done such a great job in places like Hockley, and it could be a great opportunity to make the city centre a lot nicer.
“It could be a big opportunity to have big events, markets, and music. It’s mainly chains down here – it’s so expensive. These are big venues, and it’s expensive to have a business here, but it’s not worth it.
“We still make do and survive, but even when independents move here, they end up closing – that’s why we have a lot of chains along here. People just don’t want to take the gamble down here.”
Annabelle and Pierre are currently in the process of putting together an illustration to demonstrate how the street could be transformed in the city centre’s next bustling nightlife spot – a project they wish to work with the city council on. The link to the petition for their campaign can be found here.
Nottingham City Council has been approached for comment on this new campaign, however, at the time of writing, NottinghamshireLive has not yet received a response.
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