Secret shoppers see who’s top of the shops 3 Surrey Chambers upgrades growth forecasts 4 Funding pays for TorqBak add-ons 5 Spotlight on business incubation centre 6
June 2014
getsurrey.co.uk/business in association with
MORE EMPTY SHOPS IN town Surrey Chambers says landlords must ‘think outside the box’ as the number of vacant units increases in Guildford town centre and pressure is put on the government to take action By Nick Edmondson
nick.edmondson@trinitymirror.com
A ‘wholesale review’ of business rates has been requested as the number of empty units in Guildford rises.
THE number of empty shops in Guildford is increasing as other areas of the county see fewer stores being boarded up. Figures released by the Department for Communities and Local Government revealed a small increase in unused non-domestic properties in Guildford borough between 2011/12 and 2012/13. At the time the figures were compiled, the borough had 623 properties standing unused – the equivalent of 14.2% of the authority’s non-domestic properties. This is equivalent to a 0.9% increase on the previous year. Although a small rise, the increase becomes more notable when compared to the surrounding boroughs of Mole Valley and Waverley, both of which have experienced fewer empty sites. Mole Valley has 372 empty units, the equivalent of 11.8% of properties – a decrease of 2.9%. During the same period, Waverley saw the number of empty sites drop by 7.3% to 450 – the equivalent of 11.7% of properties. The business community has been increasing pressure on central government for it to change its approach to the way it supports companies. In March, the business committee called for a ‘wholesale review’ of business rates, while concerns have been made in the borough that
fledgling companies struggle to survive when facing high rents and strong online competition. Louise Punter, CEO of the Surrey Chambers of Commerce, said local authorities and private landlords could both ‘think outside the box’ regarding rent. “The important thing is that Surrey needs to be a place that people want to visit and see a real mixture of shops.
‘Perhaps landlords could look at a rent holiday or different prices at different times in order to reward success’ Louise Punter, Surrey Chambers “I would encourage the borough council to look at its rents with any sites it can’t fit, as getting a company in there is a community investment for the future. “Perhaps landlords could look at things like a rent holiday or offering different prices at different times in order to reward success.” She added: “We have to accept that the shops that will do the best are the ones with the best following and some of those are the independents but they need all of the support they can get.” Guildford’s increase in empty shops is worsened by a mixture of high rents, business rates and expensive
parking, causing businesses to lose necessary custom, says Kate Fernandes, president of the Cranleigh Chamber of Trade and Commerce. “The parking and rates are the key points,” she said. “It can turn into a real problem for Guildford. The council can’t have it all ways. “They can’t have the rents and the rates of car parking high as people are not going to come into the borough as much to shop and that means that you have companies that can’t keep up with their costs.” She said Cranleigh was performing well, despite the recent loss of a battle to stop Betfred placing a shop in the centre of the village. “The village has a strong identity and people are aware of that, so they don’t want to see empty shops and they want to see the right ones. “We have a community that is starting to say ‘no’ to these things and that has to be positive, moving forward.” Dorking Chamber of Commerce’s Caroline Salmon said the area’s low number of empty shops did not mean they were making money. “We have affordable sites but that is not a guarantee of footfall, ours has not been great,” she said. “It comes down to how a company advertises and promotes itself. “We need people to look locally first and support these businesses – not look locally first, then buy it cheaper on the internet later.”
LOCAL BUSINESS ON TAP part of the
e-edition out now for iPad® and Android™ devices
FR 4 WEEE TRIAEK L