Queen of shops gives town £100,000 boost (From Romsey Advertiser)
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Queen of shops gives town £100,000 boost
2:00pm Monday 16th April 2012 in Basingstoke By Simon Moss
Mary Portas
THE centre of Basingstoke is set for a £100,000 cash boost after being selected as a Mary Portas pilot town.
TV retail guru Mary put forward a series of recommendations to the Government on how to rejuvenate the country’s run-down high streets.
In response, ministers will hand out £10m aimed at bringing empty shops back into use. Town centre businesses will now be consulted on how Basingstoke’s allocation can be best spent.
Borough council chief executive Tony Curtis said: “Continuing to improve Basingstoke town centre is essential to economic growth and reinforces the area as a great place to live, work and shop.”
The Portas High Street Review, submitted to the Government in December, outlined the challenges faced by high streets including internet shopping and out-of-town retail centres.
Ms Portas, known as Mary Queen of Shops, said: “I have been thrilled by the response of people, town teams and communities who have seized this opportunity to come together and form their own ideas.”
Housing minister Grant Shapps added: “Mary Portas’ review made crystal clear the stark challenge our high streets face. With internet shopping and out-of-town centres here to stay, they must offer something new if they are to entice visitors back.”
A report on how to spend the funding will be discussed at a borough council Cabinet meeting this summer.
Comments(3)
Craig Killick
says...
6:22pm Mon 16 Apr 12
It's a shame that this seems to have come under the radar. As a local retailer, I wasn't aware that Basingstoke had applied and I am very interested to see how we will be consulted as suggested.
That said, it's for the retailers to embrace this and make the most of it for themselves, each other and, more importantly, the town.
The Top Of Town has some great independent shops who work hard against a number of different challenges, such as WWW as mentioned above, rising rates from B&D, and inflexible private landlords. Despite these challenges, I know that some are doing well... and any encouragement is welcome to see the Top Of Town work alongside Festival Place and The Malls to offer something different - and relevant to the times.
The _right_stuff
says...
9:48pm Mon 16 Apr 12
Keep_Calm_And_Comment says...
4:21pm Mon 16 Apr 12
Retail for small business is a tough gig and I suspect spending your money on a decent online presence will yield bigger returns than a retail unit in a xerox mall, with high rents, high council tax and high running costs.
It would take the uninvention of the world wide web - not the '
Queen of shops' to deal with that 'inconvenient' little problem.