How we can win the retailing war

TRADERS are being urged to check out the new Bishop’s Stortford Retail Association and ensure tills across the town keep ringing despite the recession.

Bishop’s Stortford traders at last November’s Uniquely Stortford launch event

In little more than a week, 40 firms have already signed up, ranging from independents like Karen’s Cakes to national chains like Waitrose, and including businesses from beauty salons to banks, and estate agents to eateries.

Coopers of Stortford boss Neil Cooper is driving the organisation forward, building on the success of the Uniquely Stortford Christmas promotion, which brought retailers together to promote the town as a festive season shopping destination. 

He said: “The Bishop’s Stortford Retail Association wants to make sure that Bishop’s Stortford stays ahead of the game and keeps our high street at the heart of our town.

“Bishop’s Stortford is a fantastic town and has a very good high street full of great shops and independents, but we want to make it an even better place to visit. Retail is by far the biggest employer in Bishop’s Stortford and it is very important to the local economy that we have an excellent high street.”

The initiative has been informed by a raft of recent doom-ridden data:

 In the UK, the number of town centre stores fell by almost 15,000 between 2000 and 2009, with an estimated further 10,000 losses over the past couple of years;

Nearly one in six shops in the UK now stands empty; and excluding central London, high street footfall has fallen by around 10 per cent in the past three years.

However, Mr Cooper and his colleagues, who will be meeting once a month at Host in Market Square, are full of optimism about tackling the challenges through co-operation.

“The retail market is changing fast. With the onset of the internet, retailers over the next few years will need fewer shops and less actual retail space,” he said. “The customer is increasingly changing their buying habits and the way that they shop – high streets need to keep up.

“We need to give the customer a good reason to visit our high street as opposed to shopping somewhere else. Shopping is increasingly becoming a major leisure activity rather than just the necessity shopping of years ago.”

Key to future plans is liaising with East Herts District Council. Mr Cooper said: “We want to work with people – there’s no point in being negative about things. It’s much more proactive to work with people and to have a common goal.”

He added: “The recession has highlighted a disconnection between property owners – the landlords, retailers and local councils.

“To survive, the high street needs to compete with the large shopping centres and out-of-town supermarkets for customer attention. The customer increasingly wants free and/or competitive, uncomplicated car parking where they can stay for as long as they want with good, quick and easy access, a good balance of shops, restaurants, cafes and increasingly other leisure activities and services as well.”

Mr Cooper said that a recent survey by the town council, canvassing shoppers, had been encouraging. “They think that over the past five years the town centre has improved and the range of shops in Bishop’s Stortford has improved. This is a good starting point for any town centre,” he said.

Retailers interested in joining the association should contact Sam Nurse on (01279) 756343 or email s.nurse@coopersofstortford.co.uk.