Letter: More Large Retail Stores Would Be A Nonsense For Guildford

Published on: 10 Aug, 2018
Updated on: 10 Aug, 2018

From Howard Smith

former Labour parliamentary candidate for Guildford

It’s a great shame to hear of the ongoing problems at House of Fraser. Our store in Guildford is an iconic feature of the town centre, placed in the middle of our historic high street.

Indeed it’s hard to imagine the high street without it. As a young lad in short trousers, I can remember my mother taking me there in the days when it was called Harvey’s, to see the fish in the ponds in the roof garden and it was incredibly exciting.

We hear that there is the possibility of a last-minute rescue attempt. Hopefully, there are some more twists and turns in this story and it can be turned around while remaining much as it is. We fear that the rescue attempt or takeover currently being spoken of will leave it to wither, asset-stripped and under-invested. Let’s hope that is not the case.

But it can be no surprise that, like much of town centre retail, it has been having problems as it has to cope with competition from online. Shops everywhere big and small have been closing.

We at Guildford Labour feel there are two conclusions to draw from this. Firstly, it is making a nonsense of the obsession at Guildford Borough Council of trying to attract more large retail into Guildford town centre. Any efforts must surely be for small units made available for micro-businesses fulfilling the needs of consumers not currently being met.

Secondly, the government need to urgently do something to level the playing field that exists for competing online and bricks and mortar businesses. Town centre retail cannot have a sustainable future when it faces so many costs that its competitors do not have.

Ultimately, we would like to think that this moment will prove to be a tipping point and we can start to see some positive, constructive action both locally and nationally that will offer hope for our town centre and that it will happen before we lose too many more of our stores.