This film takes a deep dive into the plight of our struggling high streets, shedding light on the stories of business owners who have weathered storm after storm.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00In the heart of many towns and cities, the High Street once stood as a bustling epicentre
00:13of community life, teeming with shops and the sound of ringing tills. Yet in recent
00:18years this vibrant centre has dimmed. The economic pressures of online shopping, the
00:26devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and shifting consumer habits have all conspired
00:32to turn many High Streets into mere shadows of their former selves. Shops shuttered, footfall
00:40plummeted and the once familiar hum of daily commerce dwindled to a whisper.
00:48This film takes a deep dive into the plight of these struggling High Streets, shedding
00:52light on the stories of business owners who have weathered storm after storm. We meet
00:58the faces behind the shop fronts, those who have seen their lives work teeter on the brink
01:02of collapse. We'll try and get some answers from a closed store owner in Sheffield. We'll
01:08look at the positive impact that can result from a complete rethink, which is exactly
01:12what a once popular market in Blackpool has undertaken. And we'll pop along to a theatre
01:18in South Sea where they've had to get creative to keep the business afloat. But let's first
01:25examine the impact that can be inflicted when a major retailer like Marks and Spencer's
01:30decides to pull out of a once bustling city centre in Sunderland.
01:40Sunderland City Centre is one that has seen the loss of a number of well-known retailers
01:43over recent years. Part of that has been down to the collapse of some of the retail
01:48chains themselves. The big name shops in the Sunderland of 2024 are very much concentrated
01:54in the Bridges Shopping Centre. Among others, you'll still see names there like Boots,
02:00HMV, Waterstones, Next, River Island and a Primark, which also has an entrance on the
02:07city's actual High Street. One well-known name that could still be found on Sunderland's
02:12High Street West until May of 2024 was Marks and Spencer. Confirmation had come in January
02:17that the branch, which had stood on the site for decades, was earmarked for closure. M&S
02:22said at the time, shopping habits are changing, so we're rotating our store estate to make
02:27sure we have the right stores to offer customers a brilliant shopping experience. As part of
02:33that rotation, M&S confirmed that a new store would be opening on the Galleries Retail Park
02:38in Washington. Still part of Sunderland, but close to six miles away from where the
02:43city's centre branch stood. It would also replace an existing M&S food hall at the Galleries.
02:49This was the reaction from the shoppers the Sunderland Echo spoke to following the closure
02:53announcement. Well, Miss Marks and Spencer's Sunderland very much. Been coming for 50 years
03:00and also worked in the shop many years ago in the 70s. And I think it's terrible. I
03:08think it's absolutely terrible what they're doing. And they're bringing Sunderland, Sunderland,
03:14bringing it down. Everybody's, everybody's talking about it. We meet once a week, me
03:19and my family, and we all go upstairs to the restaurant. Big miss. The city centre store
03:24closed for the last time on May the 25th, and the new retail park branch opened on May
03:29the 30th. With the former Debenhams and Wilco buildings still standing empty, fears were
03:35expressed that the same could happen to the former M&S building. A row then erupted in
03:41June after the council's chief executive was quoted in national media on plans to demolish
03:46the building and replace it with offices. It was still hoped that the building's ornate
03:51green and gold clock could be preserved. Sheffield is of course home to the magnificent Meadow
04:00Hall out of town shopping complex, but we caught up with the owner of the alternative
04:05store in the city centre to see if business was booming there. Well, we've been doing
04:12this in this area for 32 years, so I've seen tons of change. And we, at the end of the
04:17day, we just have to get on with it and set ourselves a new lower standard. It's not easy,
04:24but it's about building reputation with customers, I guess. But things that you're asking me
04:28about what can the council do? For me, I think it's getting people back into the city centre
04:34because there's some big changes happening, which is great. Making sure places are linked
04:38up. I'm loving seeing the new developments, but it's making sure it still links into where
04:43we are on Devonshire Street. Parking is an issue. It's expensive. It's limited. Obviously,
04:50a lot of car parks have been built on over the years and now blocks of flats. So making
04:55sure there's enough parking for people or I suppose they want adequate bus services.
05:01But for me, free parking on a Sunday. Let's get Sundays buzzing. It used to be amazing.
05:07So they can have areas where easy access, free parking, come in for a couple of hours.
05:12People have lunch, do a bit of browsing. I think that would be really good for us and
05:17for everybody else. I mean, Sheffield, we've had to deal with Meadowhall for however many
05:22decades it is. It's huge. And it's always had a big influence, especially when it's
05:26bad weather. You can go and park there for free. We all know that. But there's not that
05:31– it's not for me, that place. I prefer independent shopping. And we have really good
05:36independence in Sheffield, where a lot of cities don't have that anymore.
05:40Obviously, I'd like to see lower rates for businesses. Let's support the small businesses.
05:47Let's support the independents as much as we can. Not just make it about big chains
05:52because that takes money out of the city. I think try and develop more independent businesses,
05:58local businesses, keep the money churning internally within Sheffield. It's got to be good.
06:07The night-time economy is a vital boost to any town or city's success.
06:11So we paid a visit to the King's Theatre in South Sea, where the show must and will go on.
06:19It has been a challenge. And I think COVID obviously was a massive part of that with the theatre.
06:25We decided that we wanted to keep panto going and try and get as many things
06:31in the theatre as we could, obviously with social distancing. And we were very lucky
06:35that we could manage to do that. And then obviously the other challenge was financial
06:39challenges for people because they didn't know what they could spend their money on,
06:44because they didn't know if COVID was going to hit again or any other thing that was going to
06:49go on in the world. So that was a real challenge for us. We were always very safe in what we would
06:55put on at the King's. One-nighters, the odd musical. But we've been very fortunate now
07:01that I've had some great contacts with a lot of producers that I've worked with over the years.
07:08And we've turned it around and we've now got a lot of West End musicals coming.
07:13The theatre's thriving with great one-nighters, top comedians, which is brilliant for us.
07:19We also have some great community shows, because our community show now we do every April.
07:25We've actually got one in October, which is a one-off. We're doing two this year. We've just
07:29done Grease and now we're doing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We've also got our Youth
07:34Arm, which is fantastic, and they're doing Spongebob. And the musical is actually the musical of
07:39Spongebob, whatever way it is. So that's really exciting. So things are really picking up and
07:45things are really thriving, which is great for us. And it's, yeah, it's good. It's good times.
07:53Since the pandemic, a number of changes have happened. But the biggest
07:57game changer for this theatre is that we have started to do our own productions,
08:02primarily of the pantomime. So now that we produce the pantomime, we also, at the time of the
08:08pandemic, decided as we were coming out of the pandemic, that there was very little opportunity
08:13for amateur performers. And therefore we decided to put on our own show of the Titanic.
08:18So I think the cost of living situation has meant that it is quite expensive for people to
08:24come out and enjoy activities like the theatre. But part of our mantra is that we're a charity.
08:31So any money that comes into the theatre just gets reinvested. We don't have any
08:36shareholders to be having to pay money out to. So initiatives like this, where we get more people
08:43into the theatre, more cash comes into the theatre, and therefore we can keep our ticket prices
08:48relatively low. We are, as I said, a charity, so therefore we don't have to charge VAT on our
08:54tickets. So I think if you compare the ticket prices here with a lot of theatres in the
08:59country, we would be one of the most affordable.
09:04Finally, a good news story. There's been a market on Abingdon Street in Blackpool since 1928,
09:10but it's now had to move with times, with great success.
09:16I think if you give it 10 years, the average main high street retailer will be struggling
09:23more than an independent. Because I think people can order that stuff online, and the stuff you
09:31can't. It's, you know, it's, I've got to go to the shop, I've got to see the person. The market,
09:35for all intents and purposes, was a traditional market. I know that people enjoyed it, and I know
09:40that it ran its cycle, and when it was time to close, it closed. I think the idea kind of came
09:46around from Little Blackpool Leisure, who are obviously the owners of Abingdon Street Market,
09:54and they've done a load of cool stuff around Blackpool. You know, they've created cool
09:57niche bars, something that you're very similar to seeing in places like Northern Quarter in
10:01Manchester, and they kind of brought it to Blackpool. When you go to an independent, as
10:06opposed to, I don't know, like a big conglomerate in these bigger retail parks, you're not exactly
10:12buying into the items, you're buying into the people. You know, if a person comes into my shop
10:17to look at records, or to look at t-shirts, whatever it may be, it's not necessarily about
10:24the item itself. Because we can get the items anywhere, and there's always a shop that will
10:28do it at a better price, or always a shop that will do it with a quicker service, or a quicker
10:33turnaround. But what you're buying into is the authenticity of it, it's the people that are
10:38serving you, and it means something to the people behind the counter, the same as what it means to
10:42the people who are buying it on the other side of the counter. So it's a little bit like, look,
10:46the fuck's off the gas, enjoy it. And that's what shopping should be, it should be more relaxed, and
10:50it's what food should be, it should be fun, it should be, you know, go and enjoy yourself. And
10:55we do like record fairs every three, four months. The strands, the art supply store,
11:01they do makers markets at the last Sunday of every month. I think people like FOMO is a big thing,
11:06you know, fear of missing out. They're like, I've got this one Sunday at the end of May, June, or
11:10July, or whatever month it is, to get this, because then it's gone. Because they're going to be another
11:15pop-up in another city or another town. So it's like, I better go there on that Sunday at the end
11:19of the month, I better get this, and I better support an independent person who's creating
11:24cool stuff in their bedroom, or their office, whatever it may be. The council and arts council
11:31are getting more and more supportive of this, because they want to see more stuff like this,
11:35because it's unique. If you go in any leading supermarket chain, you know you're going to find
11:40these things in there. With an independent, it's like, I'm going to see that, I'm going to go in
11:45there this week, because I don't know what they've got. I'm going to go in there the week after,
11:47because they might have something new. I think it creates curiosity, and curiosity is exciting.