Market Tonws

With all this talk of Brexit the future of market towns has slipped somewhat down the list of public attention. Its still a big issue economically as this article tells us:

Choices for shoppers in English town centres are shrinking, according to research for the BBC.

A survey of 12 government-funded “Portas Pilot” towns found nearly 1,000 shops had disappeared in five years.

The towns were awarded a share of a £1.2m fund, government support and access to retail guru Mary Portas.

But Ms Portas was critical of the scheme, saying it was a “weighted PR campaign” that hadn’t kick-started growth.

The Department for Communities and Local Government said that following the pilot schemes, it was focused on “sharing the learning from successful areas”.

The government will support people as they try to adapt and make the most of their High Streets, the department added.

Empty shops

The “Portas Pilots” were created to showcase innovative ways of getting people back into local shops.

The pilot areas are Bedford, Croydon, Dartford, Greater Bedminster, Liskeard, Margate, Market Rasen, Nelson, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees and Wolverhampton.

Over five years there’s been a net loss of nearly 1,000 shops in the towns, a drop of 17%.

That equates to the loss of one shop every 22 days.