We see a lot of doom and gloom in the national press – how is it looking out there on the street?
It’s looking okay, not great. Over the last five to ten years business owners have started to clam up, saving money with less staff and doing more themselves, which is understandable, but things have regressed. I walk past shops that are shut on a Monday and I think to myself, “Really? Why?” Businesses have become very insular and don’t feel that they have the support of the stakeholders, whether that’s the council or business associations and we’re trying to earn that trust. Businesses are their own worst enemy sometimes. I’m not saying everyone should be open 24/7 but it is a real battle to get people to do late night shopping in the run up to Christmas. It’s not just about sales, music in the town or window-dressing competitions. At the end of the day, businesses need to help themselves.
So what do you think is the future for the High Street and towns on the Island?
We want to encourage a vibrant, local personal shopping experience. We want people to live above the shops. We want Newport to be a modern market town and the best way to achieve that is to look at the empty buildings and the spaces above premises. We want to use these empty spaces, with local craftspeople selling their wares, giving them a conduit to sell their work. We want more personalised local markets and to encourage pop-up shops.
Newport is a different case isn’t it? Cowes and Ventnor are quite different in that they’re more of a destination and they don’t have discount stores or chain restaurants.
Those towns are minimarkets within themselves and I think they do a fantastic job. I don’t think Ryde is far off either but Newport definitely needs to up its game. Part of the problem is that there is an assumption that “people need to come to Newport”. I hear it from all of the officers of the council. The truth is that Newport is no longer the economic hub of the Isle of Wight and people don’t really need to come here. Areas like Shanklin, for example, become self-sufficient because they have larger residential catchment areas. They also have things like the Old Village which is an attraction to visitors. What does Newport have to offer? We need to get that market feel back. If we don’t offer it then people won’t come in to town. There also isn’t an incentive for a business to want to come back into the town centre.
So what has gone wrong then? Is the problem the supermarkets, or the internet, or parking – or something else?
It’s easy to point the finger but the council and other stakeholders don’t look at parking or rates as business models. The car parks are getting emptier and emptier so they put the prices up. But hold on! The basic retail model is to make things a bit cheaper, to give people the incentive to come in. It’s better to have a full car park at 75% prices than a car park on full price that is only a third full. That’s basic economics. I’ve written 12 point plans to try and show how the council could really maximise their parking. Node Hill is effectively a village within Newport and putting parking meters in there would’ve been the end of it. We were able to lobby against it.
I do think the problem is a lot of people at County Hall don’t have business acumen. They might have a degree in business studies but they’ve never worked at the coalface. With the empty shops they should give people six months grace on their rates as an incentive to open up a business. Charity shops aren’t the kind of business that we want. They look smart and they don’t degrade the high street but they can only afford to be there because they don’t pay any rates.
Whenever a multi-national brand like Starbucks or Asda comes to town there’s a reaction from business owners. As manager at McDonalds but also the chair of retail organisations, can you see both sides of the argument?
My remit is “get the punters into the town first and then we can fight over them afterwards.” It’s a simple as that. The independent shops are great and Starbucks is to and it means that everyone ups their game. It also tidied the town up because that shops is now in use. Using McDonalds as an example, people often boo and hiss at the golden arches because it appears to be a big American firm. The truth is we are a franchise and a local business with 190 staff, up to 210 in the summer, and we employ local people. That money that stays on the Isle of Wight. Our owners live on the Island. We reinvest and use as many local services as we can. We run our own bank account and we pay our own suppliers. We’re contributing to the town. On Node Hill you have a lot of fantastic independent shops and I know for a fact that lots of people park there to come to McDonald’s. They’re also popping into Dragonfly on the way. Everybody benefits.
With Asda we believe that the approved planning options are far enough out of the town to mean that there are zero fixed links. People simply will not go to Asda and then walk into the town while their ice cream is melting in the back of the car. I wanted Asda located in the town, to increase the footfall within the town centre. It just needed some thinking outside the box. County Hall is half empty anyway – relocating it and using that site as a three storey Asda with underground parking would have increased the likelihood of shoppers spending more money in the town. The Island as a whole will still benefit from Asda because competition is good. The supermarket “big boys” will end up taking lumps out of each other on things like petrol prices. The development should be bespoke to the area though.
Are things getting any better on the high street? Will this Christmas be better than the last one?
I don’t think the battle is won yet but it isn’t all doom and gloom. We have a new bakery that has opened a couple of doors away from us. That’s something different and as the economy starts to revive itself, when people have more confidence, they’re more likely to support the local baker. On Node Hill the fruit and veg shop and the fish shop are heaving. I would always prefer to spend my money there than in a supermarket. I want to see other restaurants thriving in Newport too. I’m passionate about the Island. I want to hear from people and I know who to speak to but it can’t just be me hammering on the door. Let’s put a modern slant on it. Offering free Wi-Fi in Newport town centre is a brilliant idea. Let’s make it happen!
First published in the November 2014 issue of Island Business magazine.
