Illustrations by Dermot Flynn
I want to put the heart back into the centre of our High Streets, re-imagined as destinations for socialising, culture, health, wellbeing, creativity and learning. Places that will develop and sustain new and existing markets and businesses. The new High Streets won’t just be about selling goods. The mix will include shops but could also include housing, offices, sport, schools or other social, commercial and cultural enterprises and meeting places. They should become places where we go to engage with other people in our communities, where shopping is just one small part of a rich mix of activities.
High Streets must be ready to experiment, try new things, take risks and become destinations again. They need to be spaces and places that people want to be in. High Streets of the future must be a hub of the community that local people are proud of and want to protect.
My goal is to breathe economic and community life back into our High Streets and town centres. I want to see all our High Streets bustling with people, services, and jobs. They should be vibrant places that people choose to visit. They should be destinations. Anything less is a wasted opportunity.
Please read through my full report below, or click here for a summary of my 28 recommendations.
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Comments
I’d love to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment below.
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[...] retail right also has a very direct bearing on other issues including Clone Towns and Mary Portas’ Review of the future of high streets. But what can be [...]
I was inspired by what Mary recommended and having been made redundant I decided to pick up the gauntlet and work for myself in the retail and on-line business. To my dismay, despite living in an area where the High Street of the town is awash with pound shops, I’ve been faced with banks/business link not having the funds to help support the venture whilst it gets off the ground. The Local Authority even required a significant payment for the “change of purpose” of the potential site earmarked. Mary’s recommendations are sound common-sense but i’m sensing there is an awful lot of people paying lip-service to the recommendations…i’m still going to do what I have set out to do, but like many other dreams and goals that actually happen, you have to get on with it yourself.
Great work MP.
I heard someone from Leamington Spa say that they were going to spend some of their £80,000 on public art.
PLEASE don’t let the successful towns spend money on public art. It is rarely money well spent unless Thomas Heatherwick or Margaret O’Rorke have anything to do with it. Let them plant gardens instead and leave a space for well thought put pieces to be commissioned in the future.
Has anyone considered the impact on local shopping of the suggested removal/restriction of pensioners’ free travel?
The elderly comprise a substantial proportion of the custom of local shops: greengrocers, butchers, charity shops etc.
This seems like yet another example of un-joined up thinking, saving through cuts to free travel only to trigger a further substantial fall in local economic activity.
Whitstable, on the North Kent Coast is in clear and present danger of losing a raft of its unique shops. Around a dozen have been offered rent increase of anywhere between 50 and 120%, the argument is that ‘market forces’ generate the hike. Since many are owned by a local charity using a surveyor as agent I find this a little hollow. Even the tiny Fishslab gallery is faced with a 25% increase……. by the Council. Thank you Mary, keep battling.
I’m amazed. Just when you don’t think the govt. can actually make anything worse, they do.
To ‘save’ the highstreet they are going to (old chestnut warning) cut red tape and make it easier for ‘pop up shops’ to appear.
These are profit vampires. Normal shops depend on the extra trade at seasonal peaks to survive the year. Pop-up shops appear at this time and take that extra profit from them. With fewer restrictions it will be easier for them to sell knocked-off tat and vanish without paying their bills.
Pretty much the final nail in the coffin of the high street. And it is being packaged as a plan to save the high street. You couldn’t make this stuff up.
Hi There
I have a query, how can you persuade local government to support local business? Or is there a name & shame area where you can highlight a local governments’ perceived policy of driving out the local family businesses to bring in the big chains? I used to live in Tooting Bec, which was always a lovely mixed area with many family businesses on the high street down to Tooting Broadway; having recently returned there I found that Wandsworth council are charging Chelsea prices for people to park in the local area and as a consequence a lot of the local businesses are losing customers. A lot of the people in the shops there are deeply unhappy about the cost of parking, and the council doesn’t provide many concessions for the staff and owners, and they have tried to fight the prices but to no avail. With the governments new initiative via yourself to revitalise the high street there must be some way of tackling this sort of behaviour.
Thanks
Rebecca
Hi Rebecca
The government are basically not interested i’m afraid. I know the area you write about extremely well. I have a shop and the ONLY way I can get parking vouchers is when I have work going on such as refurbishment etc where I have to provide detailed quotes or pay £1000/yr for a business parking permit. . Otherwise I have to pay normal parking fees on top of £600 monthly rates. The Councils bring in tin pot incentives that have no REAL substance or benefits to small businesses. I have written to MPs, Councillors etc to no avail to review small business rates. The greed of the government and Councils must be broken. Maybe if they were on top of tax avoidance by big corporates then they would be able to show some flexibility on small business development – fat chance of that that because there is no real leadership or backbone.
Not sure if this comment will get to the right person – sorry, but your website is not well designed. Suggest you contact an ergonomist to look at it from the user’s viewpoint.
My comment is about the marketing of kinky knickers (cringe-worthy name!) through M&S. I fancied a pair, got onto the M&S website, but could only see two styles. One was a black pair with white lace (really nice) that I couldn’t actually ‘select’. The only pair that I could select was beige (yuck) and deeply boring. I’m a pensioner, but still a woman and would find putting on beige knickers in the morning very depressing. I’m sure M&S stock more than two styles of your knickers. Please get onto them about their marketing and give them a kick in their (probably beige) knickers.
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Dear Mary.
Nice work but failed miserably on the Small Business Rate Relief. ‘Business rates that work for business section 6, page 26. Rates are set on the Net Internal Area of the building. I have 80 sqm’s of commercial space (not very big) and save £90/year on this ‘relief’. You state this is ‘support’. YET, I am a small business, a slightly extended one man band…….. my business rates are £600/month, plus the recent 5.7% increase they added. If this is supposed to be support then there is only one way high streets are going. This is on top of £1200 rental = £1600 out the door straight away. The Small Business Rate Relief takes no account of TURNOVER just internal area. It should therefore be called ‘Small Square Footage tax relief as it is not applicable to anyone I know in my town…….
Richard – what a vaild point, my husband has a small business and he has quite a bit of storage space but the size of the sq footage doesnt mean he takes any more money.. Could the relief be linked to Customs & Excise and then a fair charge could be made on what they actually turn over? Would be nice to get an idea of how other Sole Traders/Small businesses feel about this – could it work, why wouldnt it?
Hi Kathy. Thanks for replying. Your husband is in a similar situation. The Valuation Agency (VA) do not care what the space is used for just pricing rateable value off net internal area (or zone of shop) . For all they care I could be trading 10 million a day in Gold in a small 10ft by 10ft office with 6 staff – the business rates would be the same. Now the above is unlikely but on the other hand I pay the same rates as Ebay and Pepsi down the road…….suddenly its not so silly as the Govt know the rates are a tiny % of their profits This is a different story for small businesses where it is considerably higher of gross income.
An alternative would be to charge a % of the normal business rates in the first 2 years (say 50% for example) 75% in third year and 100% from year 4 if you are paying rent aswell or link it to net profits. if you own the building and not paying rent then charge full amount from the beginning.
This way you 1. Retain a high street shop/office, 2. Those people buy in the high street daily thereby supporting each other 3. Draw more customers into the high street because services are retained. 4. The high street simply looks nicer as there is not several shops closed. 5. Increase the likelihood of the business surviving in the most vulnerable years.
You can liken it to a puppy. The puppy cannot just be left outside for hours. You gradually increase its time alone. A helping hand. The govt have no real helping hand just a demand for monthly rates. No ethical or moral attachment to help really. Mary Portas review is pretty but does not really get to grips with some very simple maths – reduce rates – stay in business!, I will not even say subsidised rates as the rates are just TOO HIGH anyway. Bloody greed…..
[...] it. I don’t recall seeing any particular reference to this basic element of customer service in The Portas Review. With all the current concern about the future of our High Streets and the considerable amount of [...]
The reason I avoid the high street and shopping centres is that shopers are norrmally referred to as “Footfall” not customers, I was a chairman of a chamber of trade many years ago and all the shops treated their customers with respect which “footfall” treats them like objects from whom they can extract money.
[...] of Communities and Local Government) basically gave a presentation that consisted of “The Portas Review? – ‘heck yeah’ … and we’ve just closed the second round of [...]
[...] has a brilliant little manifesto – a vision statement of sorts. You can read the whole thing here. But here is the bit feeling especially relevant to me at the minute – and very much on my [...]
[...] town teams that have emerged from the Portas Review of the high street have had plenty of stadium-style support: there’s no shortage of people [...]
I was very interested to attend the recent meeting in Margate and was quite impressed with some of the ideas and work that was being done, but please…..
if you want people to take shops in the town, then could you make sure there are actually shops on offer!
Seems a bit pointless if a potential trader like me who wants to start up in Margate cannot find a clean, dry, reasonable shop at an affordable rent.
Start with the basics I suggest. I am ready to take a shop on, so offer me one – please
I have already left my details but I would actually like to be trading before the summer THIS year not at some distant date in the future
Thank you
Hi Mary!
I think that you have a real cool style
and do a great work!
I´m wery artistic and have a personal style
so I love special clothes ,
Kindley Mi
I run a small independent Record Shop in Hanley town centre Stoke-on-Trent. The area was given the grand title of Stoke-on-Trent Cultural Quarter by the local Council. Unfortunately because lack of investment and concentration in the small central part of the town the area is slowly becoming neglected with many shops now closed and empty. My only contact with the council in the six months I have been here is a letter I have received today informing me that the advertising boards we use to attract customers to our premises are to be removed or subject to a licence which I presume means some form of payment. I am also presuming Stoke-on-Trent Council was not nominated for Mary Portas Town Awards.
Hi,
In your list of suggestions, you have not suggested more late night shopping. As a worker, i`m frustrated that shops are all closed by the time I finish work. It makes no sense to me that the shops are only open 9-5, which is the hours most people work, and the poeple with money to spend in the shops, are the people that work 9-5. I don`t wish to go into town at the weekend. This is why people use the out-of-town stores, becuase they are open. 9-5:30 opening hours for shops may have worked in the old days when, dad went to work and mum stayed home did the shopping and the house work, but times have changed. The shop should stay open later one night in the week.
Stephen.
Hi,
In your list of suggestions, you have not suggested more late night shopping. As a worker, i`m frustrated that shops are all closed by the time I finish work. It makes no sense to me that the shops are only open 9-5, which is the hours most people work, and the poeple with money to spend in the shops, are the people that work 9-5. I don`t wish to go into town at the weekend. This is why people use the out-of-town stores, becuase they are open. 9-5:30 opening hours for shops may have worked in the old days when, dad went to work and mum stayed home did the shopping and the house work, but times have changed. The shop should stay open later one night in the week.
Stephen.
Mary you are a superstar. keep flying the flag for Great Briitain. its a disgrace what has happened to this country. please make more clothes in Britain. we all need to support buying and making things in the UK.
[...] Interview with Craig Dalgleish, owner of Hairy Canary and Vanessa Burkitt from Catherine Jones Jewelry share their thoughts and feedback on the opportunities and impacts on the recent Mary Portas report [...]
I am a petite size 4 and have stopped using high street shops as they ALWAYS run out of my size,size 4 or petite size 6 in popular brands like topshop get bought up immediately, not only by customers but by people who know they can make a killing by re-selling them on ebay, one particularly popular item- a kate moss dress for topshop, is being regularly sold on ebay for upto £120, purely because it is considered ‘rare’ because it is a size 4!!!!
If you want to buy a clothes that would absolutely not suit a petite frame, you will have no problem, if however, you wish to buy something that will flatter a petite frame, in a petite size, well, good luck to you!!!
So, shops need to rea there are plenty of size 4, petite ladies out there, especially where i live in London. they also need to realise that certain styles will appeal to certain sizes…Not exactly rocket science but this problem has being going on for years, come on shops, get your act together
Dear Mary
Saw your presentation at Hay which got my creative juices flowing… I was surprised that the financial support from Government towards your work is so small – it potentially sets you up for failure (not a good outcome). There are town centre schemes in existence already with far larger budgets such as Business Improvement Districts and the Future Cities Demonstrator Model to mention two. My thoughts therefore have focussed on how best to deliver some energy back to the High Street on a shoestring. I have a few ideas if it is worth passing them on I will be happy to write in more detail.
Best wishes
Geoff Morris
High streets need to open longer, it’s crazy they close even before most of us get out of work. No wonder we’re all going to the out of town malls or resorting to online shopping. Open late like other countries, mix shops with restaurants and coffee shops and we’ll finally get some vibrancy back into our bland high streets that many become no-go areas after 6pm.
O`h Mary, how I love you,I have not felt this way since Anita Roderick signed my body shop book for me, we need more women like you, and I know there out there, Firstly all the shops on the high street that are lying empty, they should cut their rents until the economy picks up, there lying empty any way, groups of people should make co-operative so that the rent and rates can be split, the British government should really help new British business the taxes are crippling we are taxed and taxed again from both sides, I nearly put in something rude, and don`t get me started about the V.A.T . We can`t get away with no foreign business it is here to stay,but if they want to trade in this country, they need to invest heavily i.e manufacture here and rent sites employ people, not buy rent.I I was thinking of Anita Roderick again, where she rented or maybe brought I can`t remember a factory in Easter house Glasgow, Glasgow is my Home town now I, was a native of Wolverhampton, where the people are just as strong, it was not one of the poshest places,but it helped her company start up, so that the money can be ploughed back into the country.For small businesses try market stalls the start up is low, then once business has blossomed and money has been saved, they can move on. As for customer service, because people text, they have stopped communicating with each other face to face, start communication workshops and show them how its done.
Dear Mary, I really admire what you are trying to do….Can I suggest you visit..BARNOLDSWICK> It is a smashing little town, We moved here ten years ago and LOVE IT> The square is where all the (independent) shops are. Its THriving…all the locals sit there and shop too. You can buy anything you need ,even get your eyes tested if necessary (also independent) look it up on the web…
BUT guess what ..TESCO are making a bid …..the kiss of DEATH methinks. But the locals are up in arms and fighting to keep our town SPECIAL and different. It really is unique and probably give you some food for thought regards saving the high street …WE HAVE !!!
yours sincerely
Marilyn Lamont
There seems to be something forgotten in all of this? do our councils want the town centrers to survive or fail? I ask this because our own home town of Corby has done everything it can to put people off from using the town by car?. we have two main roads either side of the center yet after a major improvemnt one of these roads has been closed to normal traffic while the shops are open?.
This means we like many others have to do a 2 mile detour around the center to access shops on the other side of the center from us, its not worth the trouble and we use out of town retail parks now, plus all parking is charged and wardens patrol areas where it is safe to park without causing any obstructions and ticket any car there? we have been chased put of the center by these messures and do not feel wanted.
Last year we worked out we had spent a total of under £350 in the center and over £15000 out of the center. do the shops not want people to use them? if they do they should be asking the council to repoen both roads to normal traffic.
One last thing, because of the road being closed there is one road open next to the center which is a constant bottle neck and after 4:30pm its not worth going near as it will take 15 mins to do a 2 min trip.
As far as we are concerned the shops do nothing so they deserve to shut down due to lack of trade, if they want us to spend money in them they should insist on the road being opened and remove all parking charges.
Hi Richard as a small cafe owner in a market we suffered a major road closure and suffered hugely with shoppers bypassing us .You mention as shop owners we should ask the council to do something, they do not wish to help small businesses under any circumstances , they are unsympathetic, unhelpful and unsupportive, to them if you are a small business and you close for good you are no loss to the economy i have a letter from wiltshire council to prove it.
Stockton on Tees is one of the twelve. Stockton BC has a poor reputation, amongst many of its residents, for looking after its High Street over many years of decline. One thing Mary should look at, if visiting, is the maintenance of paving where the method of marking defects for remediation leaves a rather unsightly permanent stain. I have made numerous attempts to suggest (including Chief Executive) that marking should be within the defect so that remedial work covers the mark, The method still being used is external ring marking.
I do hope Mary reads these comments………………. My town of Boston in Lincolnshire is again trying to become successful in its bid to win support. However, I do not think Mary knows the full story of the parking situation in our market place and Council car parks. There is no free parking generally and now our Council is to make Blue Badge holders pay to park! The majority of councillors have no sympathy or consideration for the disabled in our town. One of the councillors has said that the disabled have money, let them pay. The Councillors themselves are allowed to park free when on Council duty and the staff who work for the Council get free parking. They cannot see that the disabled, particularly wheelchair users, have no choice but to drive or be driven into town and therefore have to pay to park whereas those able to walk and live near enough of course, could choose so and therefore not have to pay to park. The Into Town bus service is of no use to the wheelchair user as the space is usually taken by shopping trolleys and pushchairs. We have just had the market place refurbished but within this 40 carpark spaces have been lost and it could be said the disabled are paying for this loss of revenue. I doubt Mary has been informed of this situation.
Dear Mary
First does Mary read our comments………….Let me start by saying the Portas Review is a good thing but so much more can be done as I’m sure you will all agree that there could be a few more things we could all add to the review..
Lets start with rent….why o why are landlords so greedy do they not understand that this country is in a recession, I live in a small town called wickford in Essex at present we have 14 empty shops (not many I hear you say) but there is only about 77 in total in the town when I made contact with a letting agent some 3years ago about a shop I wanted to rent I was told the cost and thought ok not bad will go for it, But issues come about so didnt proceed with it, that shop today still remains empty but just 2 months ago I thought I would see what it was on the market to rent for now…would you believe the rent had incresed by £3000 a year..yes it had gone up…
Why dont landlords just use a little bit of common sense and indeed david camron use the powers he has and say if a shop has been empty for a period of 12mths then landlords have to rent it out for a max of 6mths at a 50% discounted rate based on a 12mth aggrement being signed…not only will this help with new business start up costs but the landlords would at least be getting something in the way of rent rather then nothing.
Next thing on my list…the deteriorate of markets thoughout the country these were once the starting place for many a successful companys so why are councils and private owners allowing them just to disappear of the face of the earth.
Again here in Wickford our market was without doubt one of the best even if it was small in size,people would travel from all over Essex to it….now there are no more then 6 stalls on a saturday when it holds 40…And again the problem with most markets in Essex the cost some charging over £180 a week just for 4days trading where as in london (old spitalfields market) trading for 6days will cost £155 aweek and there are each trading day over 100 stalls.
Business rates are an other key issue, why are councils always saying they want new business in their towns but not offer some kind of discount on the business tax just for a 3mth period, rent and tax are the 2 biggest hitters for people wanting to start up a business but it seems no one really takes notice of this I and many of my friends would love to be out there in our own shops or working markets somewhere but with the costs you face its just not possable.
It seems today in this country that to many people wish to close the door in your face rather then open that door wide to let you start your own business,I’ve worked in retail all my life (25 years) for some of the big names in the country but after just losing my job and working hard at business plans etc to get myself back out there and do for myself what I’ve done for others over the years I’m just being laughed at……
Mary Portas I ask you to take 1 hour out of your busy life and meet me for a coffee and talk face to face about the issues that I and many others having with regards to your high streets,Markets and just trying to start a business to get back into making our high streets what they once were.
Many Thanks…
Business rates are an other key issue
SPOT ON. The business rates are in no doubt 100% my BIGGEST hurdle to the growth of my business and taking a small wage. Mary gives 1/4 of a page to the biggest hurdle of a budding entrepreneur. I absolutely detest the £600 a month I give…… it means some months I hardly take a wage at all. I am a start up at year one. The only time the local commerce groups come in is when they want some ££ from me,……
[...] krävs för att skapa en mer levande innerstad. Här kan ni läsa mer om vad hon kom fram till: The_Portas_High Street Review [...]
Hi Mary, Our nearby town of Hadleigh in Essex desparately needs some new life breathed into it with regards to its shops and amenities. It would be great if you could work your creative magic and put Hadleigh back on the map if possible?
You’ve built a great website up by the way
Many thanks
Best wishes
Olive Lee
Hello there, You have performed an incredible job. I’ll definitely digg it and individually suggest to my friends. I am confident they’ll be benefited from this site.
Hi Mary
Is it no wonder the High Street is in trouble, My local butcher has just had a visit by the council health people, they have stopped him selling cold cooked meats unless he employs someone solely to handle these and not touch any raw meat. Also he was making and cooking the most amazing home made pies, but although nobody has caught anything this has also had to stop, so no home made pies, no home made pasties, no cold ham, chicken, turkey, corned beef etc. So now having had 25% of his existing business stopped, he has to try and make a living just selling raw meat. So now we just hope that he can keep the business going as he is an excellent butcher.
Of course he can still sell Ginsters pies, and other named pre-packed ham and tins of corned beef, but it is not the same. Of course we could all go to Tesco/Asda/Sainsburys where they are big enough to have separate staff on different counters.
Whilst the ‘Portas Review’ is worthwhile in so much as it brings a little bit of attention to the struggling high street (though arguably it does more to increase the profile of Mary Portas), I see no recommendations for the high street to give consumers what they want, when they want it, and at the right price.
In my area, you would think that shops simply don’t want business, ‘Oh!, it’s 5pm, time to close…..’ perhaps if we started to move small retailers to a model closer resembling a 24 hour society thinking they would get more business. If circa 33% of the population (the ones with the greatest disposable income) work 9 til 5 (or 9-6+), it beggars belief that so many shops in this country insist on being open the same hours. If office hours are 9-5, retail hours should be 11– 8 where a retailer can only afford staff for a 9 hour day.
Identifying the causes of high street decline is not difficult, and causes will all fall into either choice, convenience, price, or availability.
Tackling the issues of decline would not be difficult, but it would require small retailers adapting, hopefully this is what may come out of the ‘Portas Review’ if nothing else.
[...] of the ‘21st century agora‘ paper the High Street Camp organisers submitted to the Portas Review. It needs to be at the centre of our thinking as we consider the [...]
It might be worth trying to double the rates of empty high street property and halve the rates of working high street property, at least for the next three years. A new business needs at least 3 years to establish itself and it’s a bit disheartening when all your hard work is going to cover the overheads. My Wife and I ran a pub once, doing about 100 hrs a week each, after paying out rent, rates and all the other overheads, we were working for about 50p an hour.
Warm regards and best of luck.
Ian
Morning Mary! great idea to help town Centres, I would like to send a suggestion, In my opion, Supermarkets & Shopping centres gain customers from convenience and easy free car parking! If a perminent area could be allocated for parking and under cover units (like in France and Europe) were local comapnies, like butchers coffee shops, bakers, cafe, green grocers, newsagents, etc are all under one roof. (ideally for Supermarkets, in the condition of planning they should fund it,) then I think that the customer would buy locally, I don’t shop in the high street because It is expensive and not convenient to park. Kind Regards. and Good Luck!
Dear Mary, Love the clothes….I have just purchased Lace Armery and a No brainer crepe dress of the House of Fraser website, it say that there is a free scarf with all orders over £150, I never received the scraf and phoned HoF and they said that the armery is not part of the offer but it says Free scarf when you spend £150 or more on Mary Portas clothing, so feel the armery should be part of this… ?
I had a pair off black kinky knickers size large wore them a couple off times now they are no good they have fallen to bits the cream lace has all come unstitched very unhappy as i have brought quite a few pairs just hope they do not go the same way.
I love high street shopping you can get get fantastic bargains and still remain fashionable however one issue I do have is this……. Tall people don’t seem to exist in the fashionable world of clothing stores, newlook tall range is only available online now which obviously means tall people don’t like shops?? i prefer to try things on to see how they fit, if you are lucky enough to stumble on a shop selling a tall range like next, Dorothy Perkins or long tall Sally ( not very affordable to us on a budget) then you have the grand choice of a small rack of “clothes” most of which aren’t fashion forward, what is wrong with the clothing industry they strut there clothes on tall slender women then hack half off before they put them in stores it drives me insane tall girls like clothes to xx
Mary,
Help highbridge and burnham on sea in Somerset they are meant to be tourist areas but are very run down!! All the money seems to go to Devon and cornwall with Somerset getting forgotten. There are so many local farms/ cider makers about it would be nice to see them become part of the highstreet ( with maybe some better shops aswell!!) it’s seems such a shame that it’s becoming so run down and something needs to be down as the population grows new houses are being built and younger families moving in. xxx
Dear Mary
One of the adjustments needed to the Govt plans for allocating the funding for the Portas Pilots is that at present towns need to have the written support of their Districts, County or Unitary Councils. In some cases that is fine but for others it is stifling their ability to be creative and I hope that you will encourage the Govt in round 2 to consider giving the funding directly to Town Councils (if the application was sent by them) rather than being held/controlled by authorities who could be considered to have a vested interest with their control of paid car parks in town centres. In at least one case the District insisted at the last minute that its support would only be given if funding was earmarked from the £100,000 to reimburse them to offset any free parking initiatives. Those authorities are often responsible for many more communities so fear setting a precedent, but as a Town Council we do not have that problem and can just fight the corner for our own towns.
Thank you for highlighting the plight of our town centres – your report has created an awareness of the problems and we are certainly striving to support ours and drive forward together to address the very difficult challenges, using your report as the kickstart to bring all the key people together. Good luck with your decisions.
I have been trying to buy some Kinky Knickers since the show went out. I want to support the project, but I cannot get hold of any. Asos was suposed to have new stock yesterday, but nothing comes up in a search. I appreciate it is difficult to fulfill demand, but possibly it has grown too fast. It is incredibly frustrating for potential customers and I think people are starting to give up.
Down County Museum in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, the burial-place of St Patrick, is lucky enough to hold an amazing collectionof photographs of the town’s shops going back 120 years, due to a series of photographers clicking away over the decades and giving their images to the Museum. In 2011 the Museum printed a book called ‘Down Town’ with European Union PEACE III funding and gave away 10,000 copies in 6 months. The book included photos taken specially of shopkeepers outside their shops to go with the historic shots of shopkeepers with folded arms outside their premises from Victorian times onwards. We are launching a second book, ‘Down Town 2′, with over 300 new photos that have been brought in, and opening a related exhibition about local shops, here on 24th May, and I think you will find that any town could generate the same amazing interest in this kind of project. Why not come along and join us and see how this could be adopted as a model across the nation for people to take pride in their local shops and their heritage. 7.30pm, Thursday 24th May, Down County Museum, The Mall, English Street, Downpatrick, Co Down, N. Ireland. Tel 028 44615218
Dear Mary
Help please! Newport, Shropshire needs your help and support.
Newport is a wonderful old market town that is just about managing to survive in these hard times. However,its future is not good because of the councils current plans to build two new supermarkets on the outskirts of the town.
Newport already has two supermarkets in the town centre – Waitrose and Co-op. Seven miles away thers is an Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl and less than 12 miles away at Telford Town Centre there is another Asda, Sainsburys and Tesco. The market town of Wellington is also 10.5 miles away where there is also a large Morrisons.
Despite public uproar and a big campaign by the people of Newport against current plans, local councillors have given the go-ahead for the building of both a Sainsburys and a Morrisons on the outskirts of the town. Why?
They keep saying it will create jobs but it will also result in the loss of jobs and businesses (something they never seem to consider). I feel maddened that the council seems to have their own agenda. How can there be the need for any more supermarkets when there is no more cash to be spent & all it is doing is destroying our town. I believe the Co-op have said they will probably have to leave Newport.
We really don’t need any more supermarkets.
– If people want the choice, surely we have enough supermarkets in an 11 mile radious for them to choose from.
– If people can’t get to the exisiting supermarkets, why can’t the supermarkets provide buses for people (which will create jobs), thus maximising the use of current supermarkets (this too will create jobs as the supermarkets will be busier) or offer assistance with on-line shopping?
– Why build more supermarkets, which is obviously costly, and ruin more towns and green areas when we already know towns are suffering and in danger of dying out? All it does is add to road congestion and pollution and takes the heart out of our towns.
These plans seem to be going against the Government’s desire to retain our towns and your campaign. Please can you help.
Kind regards
Caroline
I completely agree with Caroline, Mary please add your support to the campaign to save Newport, Shropshire from development!
Newport is one of the few places left that does have some independent shops and a wonderful sense of community. Sure it has some empty shops and there is always room for improvement, but building a massive supermarket on greenfield land at the entrance to the town is not going to help!
Instead of helping small businesses it appears that Telford & Wrekin council have their own (financial) agenda at odds with the residents and Town councillors of Newport.
What is happening here is the complete opposite of the recommendations of the Portas Report – it’s so frustrating!
Any support would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards
Nicola
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