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Empty shop report damned by chiefs
Empty shops in and around Blackpool town centre
FIGURES which suggest Blackpool has one of the highest rates of empty shops in the North West have once again been dismissed as inaccurate by town centre chiefs.
The survey by The Local Data Company (LDC) suggests more than a quarter of shops – 26.6 per cent – are now vacant, a drop of 0.9 percent in the past six months.
The figure puts Blackpool as having one of the highest levels in the North West below Eccles and Stockport which have more then 30 per cent of stores unoccupied.
The LDC said weak consumer confidence, rising unemployment and growing online sales is to blame for businesses closing.
But Les Ball, town centre Bid business support manager, has questioned the methodology used by LDC.
He said: “We conduct our own survey every month and in January, of Blackpool’s 668 town centre businesses, just 64 or 9.6 per cent were empty.
“This is a slight rise but we don’t believe it’s a major concern.
“I believe the LCD use an outdated definition of what constitutes a town centre so count buildings outside the core area.
“Lots of good work is going on in Blackpool to support and encourage new businesses in what is a very tough financial climate.
“We have the new Sainsbury’s development to look forward to and the new council building which is bringing hundreds of workers into the town centre.
“As a town Blackpool is not standing still.”
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Blackpool has 370 ground floor retail premises, even with 64 of these empty, the figure for vacant shops remains at 17 per cent according to Blackpool Bid figures.
And individual stores say they have no cause for concern.
John Holt (pictured), manager of Houndshill said: “Empty shops are a problem nationally but Houndshill is certainly not doing too badly.
“We have about 10 per cent of units vacant because we lost Barratts and Jane Norman, but we have agents actively speaking to new clients so we are aren’t too worried.
“The rest of the town is a concern but we would love to see the vacancy rate come down, I’m hoping this will happen when all the development work is complete.”
In Lytham five per cent of the shops are empty according to the report.
Nationally, UK vacant figures have remain stable in the past six months at 14.3 per cent.
A number of high street chains have experienced difficulties during 2011 including Focus DIY, Barratts, Hawkin’s Bazaar, Best Buy, Comet, Thorntons, HMV, Habitat, Jane Norman and TJ Hughes.
But Gordon Marsden, MP for Blackpool South and Labour’s shadow minister for Regional Growth, said he found the figures a cause for concern.
He said: “The latest statistics spell out the bleak reality for many towns and shopping centres across the region.
“The collapse in confidence in the Government’s economic approach is rippling out to empty shopfronts especially in smaller towns and cities in the area.”
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Wednesday 30 May 2012
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Comments
There are 68 comments to this article
Page 1 of 5
The Anti Fascist
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 01:55 PMIt is a game of monopoloy and Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's etc are winning. They are winning because they are Large Corporate Brands and our spineless Town Centre Management, our Clowncil and the closet LEP communists are clueless as to how we are being shafted. Welcome to the brave new world.
mikeriley
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 06:54 PMElectric trains are not about tourism but about a normal way of powering locomotives. There seems to be a great lack of investment (electrification) in the railways which are an investment for the future, There seems to be no problem about building and incresing the size of motorways, and in the main they give on revenue.It seems absurd that even large cities and intersections (Preston to Liverpool, Manchester to Preston. Preston to Leeds, Manchester to Liverpool are not even electrified, never mind Preston to Blackpool. Electrification would create meaningful jobs, save on fossil fuel, bring Britain into the norm of European nations, Electrify not just because tourists would perhaps appreciate an electric train.
Sheepdog
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 08:46 AMUsage of the Blackpool South line is up , what stops more sue is the fact that the line can only support one tain per hour, as Northen have plans to double the frequency with the introduction of a passing loop at Ansdell. The South line has the potential to be the big money earner once again when , its that due to the stupidity of closing Central station & the managed decline that British Rail undertook to cut costs - closure by stealth, the line has no real terminus. South station is to far from the town. The lines Sunday service will resume in March , Northern are under the impression that people only use the line in summer , they would run a Sunday service in winter but they say they need a subsidy to do it. But given that if the line was properly marketed , had timetables to the South line up at Liverpool, Piccadilly, Victoria & York stations then people might actulay know it exists. The connections at Preston are woeful, as the South train arrives at Preston the service to Birmingham New Street leaves meaning a one hour wait for a train , might as well drive than sit at Preston for 60 mins. The South line does very well given the closure by stealth approach & the lack of any real investment in the line , stations & rolling stock. When Central station closed it ripped the main means of geting here out. The trans form London, Scotalnd , The midlands & South Yorkshire all got axed over the years as Blackpool paid the price for not being electricfied , the line being just a stand alone entity for 2 trains to Manchester, 1 to Liverpool & 1 to York , with dire rolling stock ill suited to the task of attracting people from further afield , chuck in all the masive fare hikes over the years , the towns lack of investment in facilites , then it all makes for where we are now. Blackpool needs its railways , the railways are what made Blackpool in the first place, mass transit of the masses in a affordable & speedy manner is what gave Blackpool the means to become what it did, its that over the past 50 years weve done our best to vandalise it all, replaced Europes second busiest station on Summer Saturday with what? A 16 ft plastic parrot & miles of tarmac. Self inflicted stupidy has been the order of the day here & it will continue to be so unless some serious work is undertaken & the instigators of it all removed & people bringing in with passion & ambition for the town. Dont have to be born & bred here to see the potential of the place & what it could & should be all about instead of the third rate seedy doss hole its been allowed to evolve into.
Lord Rupert Astor St Clair
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 12:32 AMHeritage, service, quality,logistics and investment are the key principles to changing the fortunes of Blackpool. Sadly the sands of time still lean towards demise and the holistic business model still causes a Haemorrhage of wealth. It would be frightfully nice if we could attract foundation funding to relaunch a 21st century seaside concept in Blackpool as a beacon to the world. I will have a chat to my dear friend Evelyn he is quite a one for beacons.
Removed
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 02:57 PMTo 55 i was just stating a fact.
VOR
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 10:38 AMBlackpool is poorly served by trains for one simple reason, as pointed out be many, no demand. In general the lack of trains does not stop visitors neither does trains increase visitors. Centre Parcs is over five miles from Penrith station, no problem get a taxi. When I travel to Windsor I still need to cross London and catch a second train, no problem. The Blackpool south line, hardly used, has a direct connection with Colne a town which provided Blackpool with 1000;s of visitors yet when these people wish to visit on their only free day, Sunday, there are no trains and why, because there is no demand. For the past 50 years the link with Preston has been no barrier even when we had a direct London link the rich, famous and important would travel to Preston by train then continue here by limo or taxi and that still continues. If Blackpool is worth a visit then people will come, and if the trains are packed on an hourly basis then there will be extra services. The best use for a railway line in this area is Yeadon Way, it carries thousands of commuters and visitors at a maximum convenience and minimal cost.
VOR
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 09:52 AM#61 Stephen first as to the loss of conference this was due to many factors. When delegates travelled with family and friends Blackpool was an ideal place for a party. From the early 70's conference facilities were failing and Blackpool stood still whilst other towns and cities moved ahead with purpose built centres. Then delegates ceased to bring their families with them and the sprawl of Blackpool was neither needed nor desired. As to tourists there is a trail in the UK which takes in the capital Chester ,York, Edinburgh etc. Visit these places and you will see foreign tourists. A present there is a direct train link to York where are the tourists. A few years ago when we had good services we were still unable to get on the heritage trail. Stand in London with a map of the UK and see a wealth of places to visit. Blackpool sadly is way down the average visitors list. As to shops only in a dream would Blackpool's shops ever rival those of London or Glasgow. Merlin could be part of the miracle Blackpool needs
Stephen Pierre
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 01:35 AM#60 VOR how do you know that there will be no increased services to and from London if the line between Blackpool and Preston is ever electrified? Are you in a position to make those decisions? Tourists who visit the Capital could visit Blackpool on a fast direct service. Merlin Entertainments could work in association with its London tourist partners and attract a large number of international visitors. One of the reasons towards Blackpool losing the political conferences was due to a non direct rail service to London.
VOR
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 08:01 PM#59 Stephen you are wrong and #58 duh is right. Even if the line is electrified there will be no increase in services to and from London. The benefits of a direct connection is for Fylde residents the inhabitants of London couldn't care less. And why the fixation on London there are 50 cities in England why not direct connection to all of them. It is time to accept that currently Blackpool is in managed decline. In the last 20 years are hopes have been pinned on a failed casino, a prom pavement and road, and the recent addition of a supermarket. We can slow the decay and hope for a miracle but electrification of the line is not the miracle.
Stephen Pierre
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 06:13 PMpost # 58 'duh' your comment is a very short sighted view. Many of the trains from London to Preston also stop at Crew, Warrington and Wigan. Any direct service to Blackpool will be a bonus to those traveling not just from London. If Virgin can run an excellent 3 trains an hour service from London to Manchester surely with electrification they could run 3 trains a day to Blackpool. What is not financially viable is the change of locomotive over to diesel from Preston. A direct train service will enhance business opportunities and tourism.
duh
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 05:22 PMpeople keep going on about the electrification of the railway line and direct access to London, we have direct access to London via Preston the main line from Glasgow to London, even if and they wont, Virgin will not run direct lines from Blackpool THERE ISN'T ENOUGH BUSINESS, and the train would have to stop at Preston ,I
Who Cares
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 03:50 PMExcellent post Sheepdog.
Sheepdog
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 10:17 AMJohn Lewis & Wairose are working people shops simply because they are a partnership between the staff & management They would add so much & attract people to come. Are they to expensive , maybe , but Tescos etc use a business model to get you to buy more than you originaly intended hence the move into clothing, CD's, DVD's etc , so they get you to spend more, whereas John Lewis , Waitrose & Booths are only fractionaly dearer, but because they only sell what you need , they do work out cheaper. The big four have peddled the myth that they are cheaper that long , that they've made it the truth. In Oldham they put a large Sainsburys in the town centre. The result, the town centre is losing shops , people just drive to the Sainsburys, get what they need & go home even though its a 5min walk to the nearby shopping mall. Large supermarkets of the big 4 variety do not add trade to clapped out town centres as they have very little real competition & so just squeeze the other retail outlets as they charge for parking wherby parking at the supermarket is free, so why drive from a fee car park to fee charging ones when the shopping mall doesnt have that much more than the supermarket? This town is surrounded by some of the most affluent parts of Lancashire. The town doesnt get this business because its become a byword for tat & catering to the lowest common denominator. There is a place for the budget end , but it should not take precedence over getting the big boys in town. By getting the class shops in & squeezing out the tat, then standards can be raised in the poorer areas.To get people to drive \ take the train here then the infrastructure has got to be totaly re thought, the rail stations are good at taking you out of Blackpool, the road network is slow, wasteful & totaly infuriating. Its only attracting the hi - end shops & totaly remodeling the town so that it functions for the 21st century can it hope to compete, otherwise its just managed decline. Ambition is everything, showing you mean business will get the investment on board. The maxim of Less = More has to be Blackpools motto , less retail area , but more quality in a smaller space, aided by a inner retail park that boasts the likes of IKEA , B&Q , Currys PC World etc that are now the norm in retail parks & so making the town centre the ideal place to get people in , with a new large mall playing host to the fashion etc & the inner retail park playing host to the bulk retailers, with a road & rail system getting people here with the minimum of fuss & expense. The council has the ace card of owning just about all the land & buildings, all pretty much underused. By offering all this for free to the developers & Network Rail , this would entice them to invest as land is the primary source of costs. The council would get ist money back by having more people coming , more business better housing & the whole town would have a serious spring in its step. Or we do nothing except bemoan the decline, bury our heads in the sand under the gusie that nothing can be done to turn fortunes around & see the town become an even bigger shanty town , while all the whie the money is being spent elsewhere in towns & cities that have had the ambition to tear up what they had & start afresh. All Blackpools woes are self inflicted & therefore theres no real desire to make change as that would mean the council accepting they where wrong. If Balckpool is to shake off its seedy, tacky, cheap & nasty hell hole tag , then it strats by weeding out the vested interests, the coruption thats taken place & by getting people in the door who want to take the town forward on the express train , instead of the plodding ride to the abyss that we are currently on driven by no hopers of the lowest order. One could only marvel at the town centre with its gleaming Foster designed central station bringing in tourists etc from London in a mere 2hrs 30 , with the nearby Hadid designed shopping mall full to the brim , the streets busy, the car parks overflowing as people visit IKEA , John Lewis etc , with the victorian magnificance of the Tower providing the backdrop to a fully revitalised town that caters to the new era of tourism & lesuire that the town is at the forefront in providing
Who Cares
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 07:44 AMStop looking to pick-a-fight larsson.
Bill Lewtas
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 11:31 PMStephen Pierre’s comment (#46) is absolutely correct in my opinion. When the last labour Government refused us the Super Casino there was much sympathy for Blackpool from the then Government and I am sure that we could have persuaded them to fund a purpose built conference centre and the electrification of the rail-line from Preston to Blackpool North. Obviously we couldn’t expect these and £120m on trams plus the infrastructure that goes with it. Instead we are spending huge sums of money on trams which are only really used for 7 months a year. These trams are more silent than the old ones were and I am not convinced that they will be safe on what is effectively shared space. What will the Rail Regulator say if pedestrians are being killed and injured more frequently than before? Sorry to digress – I realise that the subject matter is the number of closed shops!
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