The demise of the High Street

Yet again the TV news people are on about the poor trading experience of shops in our towns and cities. Personally, I think a lot of the blame lies with the local councils, who have treated the motorist as a cash cow for too long, with exorbitant parking charges. I avoid going into any town or city where I know parking is expensive(which means just about every where). Ordering via the Internet is more convenient and cheaper, even with delivery charges. Just my opinion.

Anthony

Parking charges are only one factor. Also stupidly high uniform business rates (set by national government), the trend to bland uniformity in retailers (why bother to visit your city centre when the same shops are in endless retail parks where parking is cheap?). Final nail in the coffin then is when you get the same stuff on the Internet, next day, for less money.

It is not only the council mugging the motorist. They are also mugging the shopkeepers with council tax and business rates. Ordering via the internet is what has conspired to kill off a lot of high street shops. At one time it was a means of reducingbshop prices(internet stacke’em high, sell’em cheap). Seems to have back-fired in some people’s retrospective musings.

Domestic council taxes would be that much higher if the shopkeepers got off more lightly. Can’t win while petty bureaucrats spend our money unwisely.

Councils target cars and they are desperate for money, truly desperate

The end result affects many town centres badly

Edinburgh is very bad with a bad vibe, almost dystopian in the level of prejudice

However if you go down the coast to North Berwick its fantastic, the place is jumping

Parking is free and the choice of shops on offer is amazing, it's a real pleasure to stop and shop

The end result in a town centre is entirely dependent on the Council

Bedford town has been like that for years but the last couple of years they have relented and now give two hours free parking on Saturdays, there is a Park and Ride service running every day which means you can park all day for one hours parking in town, it doesn't help that major retailers have gone belly up which is quiet a few shops in town.

Martin P

Hands up everyone who would rather buy off the internet than haul into town or visit a supermarket instead of go round multiple shops...

I agree by the time you have found somewhere to park and then the prices they charge puts people off going to the shops. Also many of those that do shopping online seem to be the young as they see it as shopping of the future. Yes some of the older generation also use this way of shopping but for different reasons for example those that are unable to walk around to get what they need.

The rent of shop space here has been the downfall of shops as well.

When it comes to specialist shops that is a different matter. For one of my hobbies the nearest shops are 1/2hour drive in three different directions so if I just need a single item it works out cheaper to have it sent by mail unless it is urgently needed. I still however enjoy the drive to anyone of the three shops as I really like to have a good look around to see what is new.

For one of these shops I am even more fortunate in that he is a member of the club I belong to and brings a selection of the most used items with him as well as any special bits that we may need

Ah yes, I've seen the signs on Goldington Road on the way over to visit my mum. Mind you it must be 30+ years since I've been in the centre of Bedford to shop.

I rarely go into Cambridge; just a few times a year. Traffic is a nightmare and parking is very difficult. There is a park and ride but there was a charge for parking and for the bus. And you needed the right change to prepay parking and bus fare in a machine. I think the city council dropped the parking charge a while back, but they found that people didn't return. They'd either found somewhere else to park, or somewhere else to shop. The bus from near me is over £5 return and you have to pay all the way to the city centre even if you get off early.

For me there's no incentive to use the city centre; much simpler, quicker, and often cheaper, to order online and get next day delivery. And of course most of the shops in Cambridge now are of no interest to me.

Andrew

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One recommendation for those in the East that can get to Haverhill - Powerdrive Systems are brilliant for fasteners and a wide selection of tools including some "engineering" tools. Very friendly service as well. And you can park outside.

Did you know that NHS Hospitals have to pay business rates?

I queried this with my MP who obtained confirmation of this from Rishi Sunak MP then Minister for Local Government.

Let's be honest this all started years ago when the supermarkets started building outside the town centres.

We, well lots of us, started shopping there and it was followed by people complaining that their local butcher/baker or greengrocer had shut. Without the staple shop trade the town centres were bound to collapse and yet we still blame everything/everyone else about the state of our local high street.

It's not going to change back so we have to do the best that we can with what's left.

I haven't parked in a big town for a decade (including Cambridge) as I pop the folding bike in the car and cycle the last bit. I have been caught out, like the time I bought a trolley jack or returning by tube from MEX at Wembly in the snow with lots of heavy packages.
My nearest Mall has just opened an extension and the old high street is getting more pedestrialnised and is largely just coffee shops (remember when it was all shoe shops). I mostly only go in to deposit membership cheques as the bank is in the Mall and now Maplin's is gone there's not a lot else to even browse around.

Much the same over here,small town about 1 mile long x 1/2 mile thick,seem to think they,re L.A.

Shop rents/Rates are way out of line,parking is as rare as hens teeth,result is that every time I go into town,another place has closed down. The local shopkeepers fought off Tesco years ago then arrived Lidl and Aldi !

Different story,these guys are not going anywhere any time soon.Good parking,good range of goods,good prices

Local shops ?Goodbye !

Councils need to talk to local shops,both need to sort out proper parking. This is 2019 [almost ],the car is a fact of life,might as well get used to it.

Went to Melton Mowbray.

Couldn't find a car park that took cards or phone to park.

Weather too nasty to park in outskirts and walk in.

Gave up in the end and went to Grantham (2 hours free parking on high street).

Neil

Edited By Neil Wyatt on 03/12/2018 14:07:44

Back in 1993, when we closed our ironmongery business in the town centre, our turnover was £300,000 a year, and our rates alone were £30,000 a year. Taking into account buying the stock, rent, wages and all the other expenses, never mind the shop lifting, it really was not worth the hassle. We still in business, but manufacturing now, low rates and no shop lifting! I seldom go into the town centre these days, and definitely not in the evenings.

To deposit cheques I now use the smart phone banking app for my bank to pay in a cheque I just take a picture of the front and back of the cheque, no need to go to the bank, yet another reason to not go to town. The market towns around me mostly give around 2 hours free parking but Oxford and Reading both operate Dick Turpin car parking schemes. If clothes manufacturers could make clothes a consistent size and and keep a range that didn’t keep changing so I could order a new pair of jeans without the nonsense of visiting a shop and trying things on to make sure they fit I would never need to visit a shop. I am going to see the Von Hertzen Brothers on Thursday at a venue in Oxford but on my last visit I had to park a mile away, there is no bus service and a taxi would cost about £60 so my wife has volunteered to drop me and collect me, two round trips totalling about 40 miles. Oxfords anti car policy is not having a postive impact as my best solution is doubling the miles being travelled and pollution,congestion and CO2. What are they thinking? At least I shall have a few beers intead of Coke😀

Mike

I think its pretty much the same everywhere now, I actually had to go into town (Barnstaple - North Devon) this morning. I had to kill an hour waiting for the wife as she had an appointment so I had a good wander around, first time in about 3 years. I couldnt believe the number of charity shops and coffee shops, they seemed to be every other shop down the high street There was also a good number of empty shops large and small

Barnstaple has an old pannier market and there is a small narrow street next to it which is known as Butchers Row. Its aptly named as it used to be full of butchers shops, there was 7 or 8 butchers, a couple of fishmongers and a bakery. There is now one fishmonger, a bakers but not one butcher they have all gone.

The parking cost in Barnstaple is quite reasonable but having had a good scout round today there is just nothing makes me want to go there. The few specialist shops it once had are all long gone.

Edited By Ron Laden on 03/12/2018 14:56:24

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Niel ,I live in Grantham and don't know where one can park on the High street at all, unless displaying a disabled badge.You must have been lucky ,the traffic wardens must have been having a day off.

Frank