Market Health Check
Prepared for BOROUGH COUNCIL OF WELLINGBOROUGH
Client Contact: Jennifer Bell
Project Co-ordinator
Planning Policy and Regeneration
Borough Council of Wellingborough
Project: Health Check of the Wellingborough Market
Site Visit: 3 September 2014
Foreword
The National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) provides a number of additional services to its membership including the provision of a basic market health check.
Though the feedback provided is based upon proven business and market operational principles, the scope of the review is limited and is based upon the data and time allocated to the review.
It is submitted subject to such further investigation, legal advice or consultation as the member authority may feel appropriate in this respect.
This review is in response to the request by member authority Wellingborough Borough Council in respect of the Wellingborough Market.
Statement
Wellingborough market is operated by virtue of a contractual agreement with a facilities management service provider, in this instance Wellingborough Norse. The Borough Council of Wellingborough (BCW) is responsible for any strategic changes to the market, including the Market and Street Trading Regulations, fees, the location of the market or market stalls, and the layout of the market. The day to day running of the market falls to Wellingborough Norse (W.Norse).
This type of arrangement is increasingly common given the changes in local government and the need to manage multiple activities alongside reducing resources.
The Borough Council appears to be a strong supporter of its market and its significance to the town is recognised both from an historical and current perspective.
Such markets have no doubt faced adversity many times over their history. It is currently facing the challenges posed by an unprecedented change in patterns of consumption and the impact of the recent recession.
The market operation is a four day per week activity but only a part of the weekly activity for the responsible individuals. The commitment of the council and particularly the joint working of the private and public sector market team toward the market suggest that it is well placed to face any challenges that lay ahead, though it cannot afford to be complacent.
Wellingborough market received a health check by NABMA in 2012. As such the general health-check areas have been well covered. The conclusions and recommendations remain pertinent and a number have yet to be resolved and are again referenced in this document.
Table of Contents
Page
Forward 2
Statement 3
1.0 Background 5
2.0 Current Shopping Provision 5
3.0 Retail Markets 7
4.0 The Value of Markets 9 5.0 Wellingborough Market Health Check 2012 10
6.0 The Issues and Feedback 10
7.0 Conclusion 17
8.0 Recommendations 18
Addendum 21
1.0 Background
Wellingboroughis a market town andborough in Northamptonshire, England.
The town was founded in the early 6th century Saxonperiod and is mentioned in theDomesday Book. The town was granted a royal marketcharter by King John of England on 3 April 1201. The king granted it to the "Abbot of Croyland and the monks serving God there" continuing "they shall have a market at Wendligburg (Wellingborough) for one day each week that is Wednesday".
The town remained relatively small until the 1960/70 when it began to receive overspill from the London area. As of 2011the census states the borough has a population of 75,400, which the town itself accounts for 49,087.
The borough is predicted to grow by around 7,000 additional homes between 2011 and 2031. These will be mainly to the east of the town.
The town has a growing commuter population as it is located on theMidland Main Line railway which has trains to London St Pancras station. The A45 duel carriageway skirting to the south, links the town with theA14 and M1 motorway.
Wellingborough has a diverse and multi-cultural population with black and minority ethnic groups representing around 7% of the population in the Borough rising to 11% within Wellingborough Town. The main minority ethnic groups are Indian and African-Caribbean; other groups include Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Polish and Irish.
2.0 Current Shopping Provision
As with many such towns the retail heart of Wellingborough is now concentrated around the shopping centre and the streets leading from it, notably Market Street, High Street, Silver Street and Midland Road.
As a market town, Wellingborough has a number of multi-national retailers located in the town centre. The only shopping centre, Swansgatepreviously known as theArndale Centre, was built in the 1970s and is beginning to show its age with few units of the size currently demanded by the larger retailers.
Supplementing the town centre shops are several out-of-town retail parks and supermarkets including a Morrisons, Sainsbury’s an Aldi and several Tesco stores of differing formats.
It appears to be a regular destination and general provision base for a significant proportion of the local population and possibly those of outlying villages, though it will no doubt also see increasing consumer deflection to larger retail destinations.
The town and the market are well provided for in terms of car parking and a reasonable bus service connecting other regional locations. Car parking charges are always a contentious area and a major strength of Wellingborough is the free parking currently available.
As with the majority of towns Wellingborough will have has seen some loss in the variety of shops in the last thirty years though it’s actual retail floor space has probably increased over the same period, due in the main to the establishment of supermarkets in the area. The increase in catering outlets and take-away restaurants is also mirrored in virtually every town of a similar position. Shopping is increasingly about an experience or sociable activity once past the supply of basic need. This is exemplified by the expanding coffee house culture in the town. Though there is current evidence of a small number of void shop units it does not appear to be extensive or increasing.
Its retail offer can still be considered weak in certain aspects, noticeably in terms of men’s and women’s clothing, footwear, furniture and household goods. This is unlikely to alter as such retailers concentrate on area representation via main centres.
Wellingborough cannot prevent consumer deflection, particularly by young families and the more affluent consumer to the larger retail destinations of the area such as Northampton and out of centre shopping parks. It has however retained a broad mix of independent retailers with less shop voids than otherwise may have been expected given the recent economic recession.
The future stability and growth of the retail offer in the town will no doubt rest on its ability to continue to provide a wider service provision and an expansion of its independent sector; bolstered by the general engagement of the local demographic.
The advent of new build housing and a possibly a refurbishment of the shopping centre can only bolster the town in terms of local and potentially increased consumer usage and expenditure.
As an experiential offering the market and any associated activity may as a result benefit from and play an increasing role in the future prosperity of the town.
3.0 Retail Markets
There are many markets in the UK, such as Leeds or Bury that are large enough to be retail destinations in their own right and a significant number that are specialist, such as the London Borough market with its fine food offer. Similarly many markets are able to garnish significant tourist activity due to their location or reputation such as Petty-coat Lane in London or Leicester’s new food hall. For the majority of markets in the country while they retain a loyal customer base few are today shopping venues that will attract in their own right large numbers of destination shoppers. The majority of markets therefore while been a natural attraction for a high percentage of actual visitors to a town will increasingly rely upon the initial draw of their host town. Correspondingly many visitors to towns can be influenced regarding a return by the presence of a vibrant market which adds value to the shopping trip, if only due to the impact upon the senses.
The retail decentralisation of towns has been an accepted phenomenon in the UK for over 30 years. The reasons are numerous but include the increase in car ownership, disposable income, and lifestyle choice. The rise of out of town shopping has of course been assisted by the relative low cost of post-industrial land , the move to tactile shopping, consumer demand for increased choice and availability, the increase in shopping as an experiential leisure pursuit and the growth of the supermarkets. The reduction in traditional large local employers has also reduced the use of towns as society increasingly moves from one of production to consumption. These changes of course have happened to different towns at different times.
The current transformation in consumerism in the UK is however likely to happen to all towns at the same time to a varying degree. This is the unprecedented change brought on by the growth of online retailing, the continuing effect of the recent recession, the increasing movement of multi-nationals into scrambled merchandising, the rise of the deep discount stores, the challenge of increased movement into non-food by the supermarkets and the resulting impact of all this upon the supply chain.
None are restricted to a locality and this may be further impacted by a general re-structuring by many multi-nationals, as they move from blanket coverage to reduced representation in major centres and via on-line sales or in-store franchising. It is predicted that retailers will reduce their stall holdings by 30-40% over the next 3-5 years, with a 30 % fall in town centre stores predicted by 2020.
Empty shops have a profound effect upon the physical appearance of many centres and it remains difficult to see how this can be easily reversed given the size, location and the cost of refurbishment of many existing retail premises. This trend will not be reversed better customer service, cheaper parking, or retail makeovers. The story of the recession was a story of the failures of companies: Woolworths, Borders, Zavvi
and more: 173 medium to large retailers with more than 18,500 stores were affected from 2007 to 2011, according to the Centre for Retail Research.
The story of the next few years will be the shrinking town centre presence of healthy and profitable companies, not just the failure of unprofitable ones. Property agents Jones Lang LaSalle predict that 50 per cent of all retail leases will expire by 2015.
As chains ‘right size’ into prime locations, the gaps in our high streets will be likely to increase.
Though contraction to a vibrant central core could be the answer this is not an easy thing to achieve given property ownership and re-location issues. The fact remains that the traditional linear high street is no longer in favour with the modern consumer who prefers retailers and services to be clustered around central spaces.
It is also the case that alternative uses may become apparent for former shops, as with former industrial premises. They may become housing or provide non-retail activity, which then benefits the remaining infrastructure. Certain centres are also likely to survive as they are sufficiently separated from their larger neighbours to benefit from the attraction of accessibility due to lower fuel costs.
This change will significantly alter the perception of our towns but it may also give a new lease of life to the surviving retail and service providers such as markets. People are likely to become accustomed to associating aspects of experiential shopping to larger centres /retail parks or the internet, allowing the independent or franchisee to recapture a proportion of local expenditure or that of a more specialist nature.
Fortunately for many markets they are well positioned to take advantage of any contraction or focused shopping, if they are able to respond to the desires of the new generation of ‘tech savvy’, quality and value receptive consumers.
4.0 The Value of Markets
Markets continue to make a positive contribution to local economies in many ways, from engagement with communities, culture, environment and regeneration, to the general economic impact upon a given region.
It is increasingly recognised that market days create a rhythm and unique dynamic that can become an important part of community life. Markets attract visitors and are places to linger, talk, see and be seen; and all without the direct pressure of the modern High Street consumerism.
Recent years have seen an unrivalled Government interest in the market industry. There has been an All-Party Parliamentary Markets Group and the Communities and Local Government Select Committee on markets published a detailed report in 2009. This report supported the role of markets and made a series of recommendations based on what it considered the two main challenges for local authority markets that of finance and management.
In 2010 a working group formed as a result of the Select Committee produced a ‘Good Practice Tool Kit’ as well as documents on Business Support and Management Models and these documents are available via the communities.gov web site.
Although Government has recently slimmed down its national planning framework it has announced its continuing commitment to its ‘town centre first’ policies.
The recent Government commissioned review of the High Street undertaken by retail expert Mary Portas was considered significant in terms of a public recognition of markets and also suggested that markets can play a crucial role in the future welfare of traditional shopping areas and High Streets.
The National Market Fortnight recently held in 2014 under the banner of ‘Love Your Local Market’ and aimed at promoting indoor or outdoor markets was no doubt a success in raising the awareness of markets and acting as a potential springboard for all markets for the remainder of the year.
5.0 Wellingborough Market Health Check 2012
The work undertaken since the 2012 health check is acknowledged though much of the document remains relevant (see recommendations) notably that:
· traders still tend to make use of the perimeter stalls, creating a ‘doughnut’ effect, with vacant stalls in the centre;