Sponsored by
Shops send out an SOS
ALMOST a quarter of Wigan’s town centre shops are empty as the economy shrinks even further.
Last month, the Evening Post reported that seven per cent of shops in Standishgate were empty, but new figures from the Local Data Company reveal that the vacancy rate for stores in the whole town centre is 24 per cent, which is five per cent higher than the North West average.
And according to the report, town centres across Greater Manchester have some of the highest shop vacancy rates in the country, with five locations having more than 25 per cent of stores empty.
Stockport was the worst performing large town centre, with a vacancy rate above 30 per cent.
Other town centres with rates above 25 per cent were Oldham (26.3 per cent) and Altrincham (25.7 per cent), Cheetham (28.3 per cent) and Eccles (30.3 per cent).
The North West as a whole had the highest number of shop vacancies in the second half of 2011, with nearly 19 per cent of stores lying empty, according to the Local Data Company.
The best performing centres were mainly in the south and west of England, with less than 10 per cent vacancy rates.
The overall national vacancy level stood at 14.3 per cent.
One initiative to drive shoppers back into Wigan is Wiganplus, which is a loyalty card scheme, offering rewards and incentives.
Mike Riddell, head of partnerships at Wiganplus, which aims to promote Wigan businesses, said: “This report highlights the issue and now we need to address it.
“That is what we have been working on over the last year and a half, through the Wiganplus card.
“We are trying to get people to shop in Wigan, rather than other towns, or going online, which seems to be increasingly popular with some people.
“We have a very good relationship with Wigan Council and landlords of the shopping centres to provide such rewards.
“We have been successful so far and will continue to work with new ideas to give rewards and get people shopping in Wigan.”
Emma Antrobus, Wigan policy manager at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “The issue of empty retail units is one that affects many high streets across the country.
“There are a number of reasons why vacant units exist in our town centres and the problem needs to be tackled in a joined up way.
“Town centres should not simply be viewed as a place to shop and there are a number of initiatives currently under way in Wigan town centre to try and incentivise people to shop locally and make use of businesses there.
“An example of this is the Wigan Plus scheme, which offers rewards and offers to individuals who make use of shops and businesses in the town centre.
“Local authorities need to keep the dialogue open with landlords and shopkeepers to help tackle issues as and when they arise and ensure our high streets grow and thrive again in the years to come.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Wigan
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: East
Comments
There are 37 comments to this article
Page 1 of 3
orbix
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 07:40 PMCan you take Jane Austin out of the reference library? As far as I knew and was always taught that you could not take reference books out for loan. The reference library is located on the second floor in case any one hasn't visited yet. It includes, language books, geography, english and all the rest of the academic subjects. Why place these away from the main library in the reference section on a different floor. As for the picture in this weeks Wigan Observer of a man sitting in a tub chair reading, how on earth can he be comfortable in one of those things? It is impossible. This week I aim to try and find a plain old table to sit and read at I havent seen one in there yet, and why are the walls devoid of bookshelves and books?
orbix
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 08:00 PMa cafe would have been nice and with the library being totally separate from the offices above ah well.
orbix
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 07:52 PMbring back the old library, the one where there was one computer section, not bits of computer sections, all over the place. Where reference library did not include an academic library, so close to the computers you cant browse the books properly if some one is sitting there. where you could browse with out fear of running into the job center, walh, cab, mps, social services and god knows which other government departments. The shelves downstairs are too tall, not labelled properly, you end up going around and around one thin column line of shelves which makes you dizzy you because can't see the tops.
Wigan For Wiganers
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 01:04 PMIt does feel a little disappointing that Mr Riddell is now trying to save the High Street in Wigan?? Perhaps we all need to do a bit of research on him. Wasn’t he the Joint MD of Modus? Didn't they propose and build Grand Arcade? Didn't they then finance the building so much that it went into Administration? Hasn't that ill-conceived building been part of the problem and NOT the solution? What does he think he's doing with WiganPlus? Was this all part of his master plan - ruin the High Street and then try and suggest that he's the best person to save it? hhhhmmm.....
phillykenny
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 07:18 PMwigans got soul? its got plenty of ar#eholes more like
Mistress Ploppy
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 04:22 PMIn my visits to Germany I have found that the majority of towns I have been to have quite vibrant centres, and the out of town malls are a little on the gloomy side. If only we could copy. The main difference in public transport between the two countries is that Germany's is designed to serve the whole of Germany, whereas ours is designed to serve London. We could make more use of our railways in the way that Germany does by having very cheap tickets for weekend leisure use, rather than retain high prices when few people are commuting, but even here those who rule us have the same attitude as they do to car parking. We are constantly being told to 'look outside the box', but it never get put into practice.
sobrasado
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 12:46 PMTrelawney, I will give you my opinion if you are asking me: first of all I have to say that Wigan town centre offers most of the stuff I need. I have, for example, done all my Christmas shopping there last year. I always park in the Galleries where I pay £1.80 - £2.20 or so for 3 hours parking, is that correct? In my opinion that is a fair rate, in Duesseldorf for example this is more expensive. Now the traffic is a different matter. It is indeed a nightmare to drive in Wigan or Leigh. Roads are too small, the layout of roads and junctions sometimes makes me wonder if the people who planned these actually drive themselves. A town centre will never be able to compete with out of town malls such as the Trafford Centre or even with locations like Robin Park, as all parking there is free at any given time. Obviously in Germany, you will find the same problem with exactly the same complaints from shop owners and shoppersalike. We have gone through the same cicle: large malls opening outside the town centres with free parking, most shoppers going there. The left over town centre shops were taken over by the equivalents of Poundland, pawn brokers or similar businesses. Without saying that these shops are no good it keeps people away if these are the majority of businesses around and in Germany too, town centres got deserted when that happened. Now many of them (obviously it is always a questions of funding) have already, or are improving the look of the town centres, offering 2 hours free parking or free parking if you spent a certain amount of money in a store. They have upgraded facilities (free, staffed and supervised toilets), improved the look, planted some trees and attracted a wider variety of brands. I would have to look up the exact statistical figures to prove how good a job all this has done, but speaking from my parents point of view they are now much more likely to go back and spend money in their local town centres rather than going to big malls or to the big cities. The fact that public transport is miles more efficient than it is in Wigan (or the UK in general as latest studies show) obviously helps as well.
Mistress Ploppy
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 11:54 AMPost 28. It's generally known as a vicious circle; one which can only be broken by some positive action. However there are plenty of opportunities to break the circle which are currently not being addressed, hence the general theme of the comments on here.
orbix
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 10:26 AMIt's not worth trading in the high street any more, the business expenses are too high, hence empty units, its not the footfall in most cases you can manage to trade if business rents and rates are low so there you have it. Councils sold off most of their shops in the tc to private companies who are charging extortionate rents, if one business fails there was always another mug, not any more it seems.
Scarecrow
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 07:30 AMFrom some of the comments, it is evident that those who are doing the most moaning about the town centre never actually go there.
diablorojo
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 01:23 AMPosts 19 & 21 have it spot on for me, and all the people who have posts on this web-page generally sing the same tunes, Wigan is Hard to get in and out of, its not inviting to its own folks so how do we expect other local townsfolk to come to Wigan like Wiganers all say on here they go to other local towns because its easier and less stressful generally. If we all can see this, then why cant the council planners. Look at the Grand Arcade, shops just moved over the road so to speak from the galleries, result empty shop, no new businesses really came to wigan to fill and entire shopping centre project, so what was the point, why not make what you have better or up dated, if that wasn't possible then accept the consequences of having businesses move on which basically is what these figures show. I used to send all day Saturday in wigan when it was a vibrant shopping town center with a market, now days easier to get to the Trafford Center than the 3 miles to the town center, until Wigan makes friends again with the motorists, we will all keep away.
MicrowaveMan
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 12:55 AMWhat good will a plus loyalty card be to anyone. A free cup of coffee for every ten swipes of the card does not appeal enough to me. The fact is with more people losing jobs and the council intent on making everyone but a few zero value executives redundant, there will be thousands more people with nothing to spend so things will just go from bad to worse. And still the sheep vote Labour!
JemmyH
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 07:21 PMWhat you mean to say is, you can see potential in Wigan, whereas, in Warrington, you'd be a small fish in a big pond and the Warrington residents are less likely to be fooled by condescension.
Mike Riddell
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 06:29 PM@JemmyH Why do I love Wigan? Good question. Home of the Casino and nothern soul? Amazing sports pedigree? Working class industrial roots? Stands up to inequality? It's spirit? It's soul? I probably love it because of it's soul. Some say it's the soul of the north...I say it's better than that - it's the HEART of the soul of the north. Why don't i live there? I was raised in Lymm where i live with my family and have my mates round me. I love Lymm too. It's got a real community feel to it, just like Wigan, but it's a lot smaller. It's also posher than Wigan. I love both places in all honesty but i am slightly wierd. Anyhow come to Wigan - i want show you round our shop. It's great, and i love it ;)
JemmyH
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 05:00 PMMike Riddell, (post 20) ..... You asked "how can you say I have "no interest in Wigan" [when I love the place] ....... Probably because your company address is listed, by Companies House, as being in Lymm, Cheshire, WA13 9AH and your activities are aimed at businesses via local authorities, nationwide. Why do you (why should you) 'love' Wigan? and, if you do, why don't you live there? ......... The reason I don't 'pop into your shop on Monday next to Clarks, and take a look at your amazing local art and let you make me a brew' is because I try to keep away from Wigan as much as is reasonably practicable. Even if I had the time, it's a damned awkward place to get to, but thanks for the offer. ......... As for 'local art', well, it's just not my scene, man!
Page 1 of 3
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.