Letter: Lower Rents and Rates to Encourage Independent Businesses

Published on: 18 Dec, 2018
Updated on: 18 Dec, 2018

From Keith Parkins

In response to: Edinburgh Wool Mill Puts Pressure On Landlords in Lease Negotiations

We see increasingly deserted town centres, but greedy landlords and developers refuse to drop their extortionate rents. They would rather see empty boarded-up units than charge realistic rents.

And for new businesses, there is an additional hurdle of six months deposit up front. This is dead money.

I do not believe footfall only fell by 9% last Saturday: Farnham was deserted.

High Street chains blame on-line. But how should they compete? Not by offering worsening service as some do. People do not shop online only because of price, they shop online partly because of the poor service in high street chains.

To relocate the Post Office to WHSmith is a bad move. The service will be dreadful.

North Street is only busy on market days, Fridays and Saturdays.

When I walk through Jeffries Passage, many shops are empty. I have never seen more than two people in the coffee shop, often no one. The one exception is Bamboo Shoots. Why? because the food and service are excellent.

Tunsgate Quarter still has unlet units and chains in the High Street selling overpriced tat. I am not surprised that it seems almost deserted every time I use as a shortcut.

On the other hand, Ben’s Records is busy, as is Krema Coffee next door. Why? Quality, service and customer care. Something we do not get in high street chains, be they retail or coffee shops.

Anyway, online retail is also, it is being reported, seeing a collapse in sales.

We should actually welcome that people are, at long last, waking up to pointless consumerism which is destroying the planet.

If we wish to revive our town centres we should:

– lower rents
– change business rates
– encourage independent business

North Laine in Brighton is always busy. It has independent businesses, not a chain in sight.