First Minister Looks To Landlords To Help Breathe New Life Into Town Centres

A combination of residential, offices and creativity of landlords in encouraging new tenants are some of the ways to increase footfall and new businesses into town centres.

That is the view of the First Minister Carwyn Jones, who spoke of the changing face of town centres to Wrexham.com after a Welsh Government news conference on the first 100 days in office.

Wrexham town centre has been of particular concern to residents and local businesses in recent years, with a number of high profile shops closing or relocating elsewhere in Wrexham.

These fears have been further escalated in 2016 with a number of well-known high street retailers and independent traders leaving the area.

While some of the store closures, such as BHS have been due to national problems, one factor often cited as a major concern to traders in the town centre is business rates, which was last week described by one trader as a ‘killer’ to local businesses.

Details released about the first 100 days of the Welsh Government stated a new business rates relief scheme will be announced next month to ‘ensure Wales’ small business continue to receive essential support’.

However speaking to Wrexham.com First Minster of Wales Carwyn Jones noted that business rates ‘cannot be the answer by themselves’ and that he would urge landlords to be ‘creative’ to attract new tenants.

He added: “There will be announcement next month on business rates. We already provide a huge amount of support for small businesses. We’re looking to see how we can target that support more effectively in the future.

“But businesses rates themselves cannot be the answer by themselves. I’d urge landlords to be more creative to encourage more pop-up shops. The days where people enter into a five or ten year lease are gone, so landlords need to start thinking more short term to encourage more businesses to come forward.”

The Henblas Square development has been seen as a particular eyesore and problem over the past few years, with all but a YMCA charity shop either closing or choosing to relocate elsewhere in town.

One suggestion raised in recent weeks is the creation of more residential space in the town centre – a proposal floated separately by perennial Conservative candidate Andrew Atkinson and Wrexham’s MP Ian Lucas.

However a recent poll carried out by Wrexham.com found that just over 4% of the 1115 people who took part in the 24 hour period wanted Henblas Square to be converted into residential.

Speaking about the changing face of town centres, the First Minister told us: “We need to make sure there are more offices in town centres because they provide the footfall during the day. People come out at lunchtime, they go shop and they go and buy things in the town centre.

“We also need to make sure more people living in town centres are they provide footfall in the night.”

The First Minister also suggested that changes to people’s lifestyles have had an impact on how town centres operate, adding: “The days when people came in during the week to shop, I think there are fewer and fewer people doing that. They haven’t got the time, they are working, they’ve got no chance of getting into a town centre until perhaps on a Saturday.

“That means you have got to bring people to a town centre. Make sure people have the chance to work in the town centre, live in the town centre and then you’ve got the customers.

“We can provide a lot of support through business rate relief and that’s hugely important for businesses, but they need people to come through the doors, so the two things go together.”