A couple of people emailed me back in March of this year to say that both Outdoor Traders and Dapper Street would be closing. That prediction has now come to pass.
In July of this year The Vale of White Horse District Council launched “ the Independent Shops Project which will see key partners working with the council to develop initiatives to support independent businesses in the town centre.”
“The scheme will develop a target list of the types of businesses which would complement the independent offering in the town centre. The district council will then work with landlords and agents to identify and overcome issues which may prevent businesses from moving into the town’s empty shops, particularly those in Bath Street, Stert Street and the High Street.”
Iain Nicholson, a town centre specialist who has worked wonders in Wantage, has been brought in to manage the project and is looking for a suitable empty premises for pop-up shops. Iain set up Choose Abingdon almost a decade ago so knows the town well.
Looking for pop up shop premises after ten years in the town, is that the best we can look forward to.
and the BID is producing…….
nice bunting..
So another two independent shops fall to the massive ground rent scandal. When will the town council realise that rent and rent only is what causes these shops to fail?
Independent retail is not a viable proposition.
Business rates and rents generally kill a project stone dead, before you think about employing anyone and paying the host of employment taxes that the man in the street doesn’t even realise fall on employers. Add in the nightmare of parking (though credit to the council for giving two hours free – but why only two hours?) and it’s so much easier to click a mouse or tap a button on your ‘phone.
We as a country have voted for Amazon and eBay. It’s inevitable that the retail store will pass into history, along with the woolen mill, factory and model train shop.
What we really need is a Turkish barber, coffee shop, estate agent or charity store. Watch this space.
pjh64 – all very valid points, especially regarding online retailing. The number of retail commodities that cannot be purchased online is ever shrinking. Perhaps that explains the prevalence of hairdressers and coffee shops in town – you can’t get your haircut on the internet (yet!). Shame about Dapper Street, I used it a lot over the years.
Lyle Lanley – absolutely spot on, what exactly has the BID achieved – if anything. Are those behind it held accountable at all?
Word on the street is Dapper Street shop has been re let but not sure who to? The old Out Door Trader shop has be re let to – wait fir it ? Another charity shop !
Re the BID – the majority of traders ( and I hear councils too) are furious with the under performing bid, apparently those protagonist who campaigned for it, once got it, sub contracted the entire running and finances over to a third party company who I’m reliably informed took over £100k from the fund in expenses! I’m also informed the levy, once collected by council, is paid into the Abingdon BID company and then transferred, every last penny into the sub contracted company who then, because of the way it’s been constructed, don’t even have to produce detailed accounts !
To be fair to the BID people…
As just a ‘punter’ I guess its none of my business what they have/haven’t done/promised.. That’s between them and the people who had to pay into their funding.
They are just an easy target as they are visible, unlike the unelected people who make the real decisions in this town/county.
This VOWH scheme sounds like yet another job creating scheme, producing reports on the bleedin obvious.
Perhaps I can help, and save them some time..
the rents are to high,
the rates are to high,
the traffic is rubbish,
the parking isnt much better.
Fix those things, and it might improve..
I love Abingdon, I actively try to shop here whenever I can , even if its not as convenient as other options, and I always try and support local independents.
Sadly at least two of them have gone this year.
It just seems a shame that the only ones left that I actually want to use are the barbers, coffee shops and restaurants.. (ok I only need the 1 barbers )
You’d think with that goodwill, the BID team would have produced something a bit more visible than a bit of bunting by now tho..
Sorry I am slipping.. clearly what the VOWH team need to be considering is a monorail !!
That will get the punters in from the new North Abingdon developments, without traffic jams, and all will be rosy.
Lyle – I’m sure that in time we’ll be told that due to cutbacks the monorail will have to be built with one less rail…
@pjh64 I don’t entirely agree. Tesco is busy. Waitrose is busy and if you can find a Lidl the queues are huge…so physical ‘shopping’ is still very much alive. And, granted, those are big National /Multi National chains…but it does prove that, under the right circumstance, people are still prepared to get away from their screens and travel or go out to buy stuff.
The failure has been to identify the circumstances and encourage them on the high-street. And, it clearly isn’t a magic formula..as it evidently works in many other towns across the country, and indeed county…
If I get to go to the TCs forum meeting this weekend I look forward to hearing the outcomes of the meetings between our town’s representatives and their counterparts in neighbouring thriving towns.
We had a fantastic “chilli fest” locally organised and put on in Abingdon a year or so ago. It is now in Witney (if it s run by the same people). Have they been asked why they have gone to Witney instead? It would be interesting to know why….
Daniel – I think you will find that this year’s Chili Festival was in Abingdon on 19 August! There was also a fantastic Food festival in June (although the weather wasn’t brilliant).
And there are 3 more Saturday Local Excellence Markets tis year – the next one on 30 September.
I am not sure which “neighbouring thriving towns” people are referring to, but if you read the local papers they all seem to have their own problems – we are not alone. Iain Nicholson, mentioned above, was very largely instrumental in improving things in Wantage, but he did it with a lot of help from a core team of local volunteers operating as “Sustainable Wantage” who were willing to get stuck in and help with projects…..
Oops – I stand corrected Hester, thank you! I was out the country for a while; in Europe… I figured I better go see what all the fuss is about before we are never ever, ever able to go there ever again (or be able to afford to). I missed ‘our’ chilli fest – I hope it was a good one!
The “thriving town’s” was just an observation that at 2pm on a Saturday afternoon there is a very good vibe in some places that I’ve been – Witney, Henley, Didcot… As I couldn’t be in two places at once, maybe it was the same in Abingdon? It *does* have it’s moments. As I’ve said before…the new play area at the meadow is, sincerely, brilliant!
The new play area was overwhelmingly voted for by the townsfolk of Abingdon. If I remember correctly, the town council favoured building a café/restraint in the meadow.
All the town council need to do is listen to those who pay the bill, and act accordingly.
As always, we need to be clear about which Council is responsible for what – there is a useful summary on the TC website under the Community led Plan section at http://www.abingdon.gov.uk/town-council/abingdon-for-all