WAKE UP CHESHIRE EAST

It`s time for Cheshire East planning officers and councillors in favour of the proposed town centre redevelopment scheme to wake up and smell the coffee!

The devastating effects of the downturn saw major retailers close 20 stores every day in England over the past year, ten times as many as in 2011.

A survey by PricewaterhouseCooper and Local Data Company revealed 7,337 store closures while there were 5,558 openings, meaning 1,779 stores shut for good with jewellers, health food shops, travel agents, and sports goods shops among the hardest hit.

Businesses to buck the trend included payday loan companies, pound shops, pawnbrokers, and betting shops, as well as supermarkets, charity shops and coffee shops.

Cheque cashing and payday loan companies – which have come in for heavy criticism for lending money to desperate borrowers at extortionate rates of interest above 4,000 per cent APR – fared the best, opening 121 units overall.

Drawn from studies of 500 town centres across the country, it said computer games and clothing stores, and also banks, were badly hit too. The past few months have been particularly tough, with high-profile names including Blockbuster, Comet, Jessops and HMV all collapsing.

It is a grim picture, after just 174 shops shut in 2011 – but the number of closures is predicted to rise to 28 a day between December and February, mainly through companies falling into administration.

The South East, West Midlands and North West have been worst hit, with 376, 265 and 215 more closures than openings respectively.

Matthew Hopkinson, director of The Local Data Company, said: `The end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 has seen the most dramatic period on record as companies controlling more than 1,400 shops went into administration.

`It equates to more than 7million sq ft of space – the equivalent of 131 football pitches, or just over four Westfield London`s.

`We can expect to see this trend continue as more leases come up for renewal.`

Christine Cross, chief retail adviser to PwC said: `Although the figures are more disappointing than many had hoped, we have to acknowledge that several of the companies with closures had anticipated these for some time.

`What is surprising is the speed at which stores have been picked up by value and grocery retailers in particular. Good businesses with good operating models and good people don`t fail.`

Card and poster shops performed worst, with 188 unit closures.

As well as economic hardships because of the frail economy, the High Street is also suffering due to the encroaching effects of the internet, with online shopping pulling ever-more punters off the pavements.

Hopkinson added: `[There are] increasing demands from consumers for a shop that delivers an experience good enough to pull them away from their technology devices. Town centres will have to adapt faster than ever before to maintain their attraction to consumers.`

Dan Wagner, CEO of mobile payment company mPowa, says that as the way we shop changes the only way for the High Street to survive will be to embrace electronic or `e-commerce`.

`We are about to see a major shift in the way we shop,` he said.
`Completing a transaction online in store and having items delivered home, or starting the transaction in store then finishing at home, may be the way to go.`

Surely no one still believes that constructing a `70`s style retail centre in Macclesfield is the answer to its problems?