This is the moment a busker told shoppers not to visit a cafe "because the owner's an absolute n*b" - after the boss accused the singer of putting people off his sandwiches. Jason Allan was performing with a guitar and two amplifiers in Shrewsbury town centre last month [May 12] when Alan Lancaster confronted him over where he had positioned himself.
Viral footage shows the owner of Philpotts Shrewsbury asking "can you make yourself a bit smaller?" before Jason questions how him being there could be affecting his business. Despite Alan explaining people might "swerve round and miss him" Jason still doesn't understand so the chef tells him he'll call Shropshire County Council to get their opinion.
Jason then turns to his microphone and tells shoppers "everyone don't go to Philpotts, the owner's an absolute n*b" before proclaiming "that's how you stop people from buying sandwiches". Alan explains "you have no idea how tough business is", which instantly provokes Jason to retort that as a musician he's had a tough few years through lockdowns.
When Alan sarcastically tells the busker he'll set his business up in front of him then, Jason simply tells him "your business has nothing to do with me" and to "get a life" before Alan walks away. Jason's two videos of the heated row, which he has trimmed and edited down, have been viewed almost two million times on TikTok and he claims the store owner was "arrogant" to try to "bully him into moving".
However Alan has spoken out to defend himself, explaining he simply wanted Jason to move his equipment. He said he only "lost it" when the singer told prospective customers not to visit his shop.
An image provided by Alan shows Jason's set-up including a microphone stand, two amplifiers, a tour dates poster, a guitar case and a suitcase. TikTok users were split on whose side to take, with some backing the singer "standing up for himself" and others believing Alan was right to complain and that the busker had been quick to turn abusive.
Jason, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, said: "You can't keep everyone happy when you're a busker but nobody's ever asked if I can make myself smaller before. My amplifiers are right next to each other and I'm right next to them and my guitar bag is right in front. I couldn't have made myself much smaller.
"I think he meant, 'can you f**k off?' basically. Fair play if he thinks I'm stopping him selling sandwiches, but if I go I lose 100 per cent of my revenue. It's arrogant for him to believe that because he maybe sold three less sandwiches, I should make nothing today.
"People think they can just bully buskers, but I don't stand for that. I take a real disliking to people who think they can shoo us off like we're a nuisance. That's why I stood up for myself.
"It shocked me because I know him as quite a nice guy. He always says good morning to people.
"I went to that spot because the street opens up and there's four ways to it. There's also plenty of room for people to go around me. The negative of that was that I was next to his sign.
"I've been there before so I don't know why it wasn't an issue for him before. I suspect he was just having a bad day.
"When I told people not to buy sandwiches from him, it was silly. But I thought if he's going to be silly, I'll be silly back.
"If he'd have just given me a sandwich, I'd have been talking about his business all day. I've got a TikTok following of 1.3million and it's free advertising."
Jason, who says he had been at the spot for an hour, was live streaming on TikTok when the incident happened so he edited parts of the confrontation together to post on social media afterwards. He says he deleted the full unedited clip but insists he has been busking on a different part of the street since the incident.
Alan defended his choice to confront the full-time singer by emphasising how shoppers swerving around him can impact sandwich sales on his street, Butcher Row. He believes Shropshire County Council should create designated spots and time slots for performances.
Alan said: "I'm in my shop by 5.30am, so when someone rocks up at 11am on a nice sunny day once in a blue moon and it's going to impact my business, I'm going to say something. If buskers stand on the other side of the road then people won't swerve around them and completely miss Butcher Row. It's no difference to them but to me it's massive.
"I asked if he could make his set-up smaller because he was taking up a lot of room and he started kicking off. I had no idea I was being videoed.
"The whole thing lasted about two minutes but with social media you can make it look like an argument went on all day.
"I am normally quite a nice guy but when he said 'don't buy sandwiches from Philpotts the owner's a n*b' I just lost it. Well, I didn't lose it. I just said I'd speak to the council and walked off.
"I didn't swear, throw anything at him, kick his amp. I didn't ask him to turn it down or move. I just asked him to make his area a little bit more compact.
"He said he wanted to have a civilised conversation but I told him he'd really upset me. Business is business and he'd riled me. The guy's talented but the things that he says over the microphone are going to get him into trouble."
Alan was also concerned about how emergency vehicles would drive down Pride Hill given Jason was there and his and other businesses advertising boards, called a-boards, were next to it. He said: "He'd set up right next to the a-boards and that restricts access to people getting up and down Pride Hill.
"I was worried about the council coming and taking the a-boards away because it was restricting access for people and ambulances. We're fine as a business but I need to keep on it. I need people through the door.
"I get his point but he crossed the line. I wish I'd never gone up to him."
Alan says he gets asked about the video daily since it went viral but he says he's keen not to retaliate. He says that when he reported the incident to the authorities they told him not to take any more action and Jason claims he's not been contacted about the incident.
TikTok users were split on whose side to take, with some backing the singer and others believing Alan was right to complain. One commented: "In fairness to the trader he is paying rates, insurance, tax etc and it is tough enough to make a living without someone putting off customers."
One joked: "I’d rather eat a sandwich in peace than listen to a Coldplay cover. Team sandwich guy."
Others disagreed with one saying: "No one will want to buy anything off him after seeing him do that to him."
A spokesperson for Shropshire County Council said: "After being contacted by the owner of Philpotts, Shropshire Council's licensing team looked into this matter and established that no licensable activities were taking place."
Philpotts the chain no longer have any affiliation with Philpotts in Shrewsbury. The Shrewsbury cafe was retained by the original owner when the business was sold in 2006, before being purchased by Alan in 2017.
