Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
We’re going to have to work harder and work smarter to get people to spend time in our city centres..
Pandemic ‘accelerated’ demise of our high streets Long-term fixes key as office closures hit footfall
WITH restrictions easing and many businesses opening their doors again, we’re seeing an influx of people returning to Belfast’s city centre.
As with any city, it would be nothing without the dozens of small and medium retail businesses, hospitality outlets, shopping centres and public spaces which contribute to it being a lively hub.
However, the high street has had numerous challenges throughout the past few years.
From the devastation of the Primark Bank Buildings fire in 2018, to the difficulties faced by multiple businesses due to rates increases, 2020 saw many city centre businesses in a precarious state.
Much of this was then exacerbated by the changes that Covid and lockdowns brought in the past 14 months.
In that time, every business in the city centre has had to adapt to reduced capacity and new safety measures, and all but essential businesses have had to deal with sudden closures and uncertain reopenings due to lockdown.
With the news that one of the city centre’s best loved businesses – the truly unique Wicker Man on High Street – is set to close for good after 27 years, we took a look at what the future might hold for the retail sector, as businesses try to get back to some semblance of normality.
Aodhan Connolly, of the NI Retail Consortium, spoke of the challenges ahead.
He said: “I think what we’re seeing now on Belfast’s high street is an acceleration of change. Covid didn’t start this change, but it has accelerated it beyond belief.
“There are people who are doing click and collect and delivery now who didn’t think they’d be at that stage until perhaps 10 years from now. That’s a real challenge to the high street.
“The fact that there are more people shopping online than ever means that it’s going to be harder and harder to get people back to the high street.
“Add to that the fact that, right now, the whole of the high street isn’t open, and offices in the city centre aren’t fully back to capacity – which means there’s still a massive drop in footfall.
“At the moment, there’s an awful lot of people who were told for a long time that they couldn’t work from home, who have now transitioned to working from home full-time.
“We’ve also seen from the Department of Finance that there’s going to be the implementation of civil service hubs across Northern Ireland that were never there before.
“So I don’t think that, even whenever everything reopens, things will go back to being exactly as they were before. I think we’re going to have to work harder and work smarter to get people to spend their time and their money in our city centre.”
On a more immediate level, the past few weeks saw the chaos created by the confused reopening of hospitality. Does Aodhan think that retail businesses have had sufficient help throughout the pandemic, and have they been able to reopen smoothly?
He said: “There were a couple of questions as to why you could get your body pierced before you could open retail.
“But look, we do understand the Executive are working off medical advice and that this is tough for everyone, including those at the top making big decisions.
“In terms of help, I think there has been a lot of support from the treasury, from Her Majesty’s government, for things like furlough, loans, and grants; and there’s been similar help from Stormont for things like rates relief and other grants.
“Despite that, there have been people who have been excluded, people who have fallen through the cracks, and there are people who feel like they haven’t had enough support.
“Overall though, I think that most businesses are glad to be reopening.
“Our priority in retail is to staff and our customers – and it’s important to stress that that’s always the starting point.
“There’s no way we were going to argue with the medical advice. What we’ve always said is that it’s not what you sell
There’s a lot of worry about whether office workers will be coming back AODHAN CONNOLLY YESTERDAY
GLOOMY PICTURE Belfast shops have been hit hard by Covid
– it’s whether you can sell it safely. On that note, I think the fact that NI retailers spent over £70million on getting Covid-ready – PPE, click & collect, hand sanitisers – is a credit to them, and goes to show how seriously they take their responsibilities to staff and customers.”
The rates increases was a massive issue for city businesses last year. Considering that there’s been several blows for high street traders in recent years, just how difficult are they finding things?
Aodhan said: “We’re coming out of Covid, footfall is coming back, we have a certain amount of spend returning in the city centre, but I think it’s going to be very hard throughout the next few months.
“And look, what people have to realise is that things aren’t going to just go back to normal. I heard someone else from the business community saying that it was people’s ‘civic duty’ to spend the £2billion they’ve had in their pockets due to lockdown, and I was thinking to myself, ‘You need to read the room, fella’.
“In Northern Ireland, we have half the discretionary income as British households anyway, and we’ve the least financial security compared to anywhere else in the UK. A lot of people have also been on furlough, and many have lost 20% of their wages.
“For most people, that 20% is their whole disposable income, so there hasn’t been that saved up money there which they can now just spend.
“So there’s not going to be that ‘V’ shaped bounce that a lot of people have been hoping for. It’s going to be a ‘U’ shaped recovery, and it’s not going to happen just by itself.
“It’s going to require partnership with local councils on things like getting to and through our cities quickly and safely, and it’s also going to need Stormont to support the sector – because there’s a big difference between just opening, and opening profitably.”
In the midst of that, Aodhan believes that now is the time to have a real conversation about how the city centre can be adapted to deal with problems that have been plaguing it for years.
“We need to look at where spaces haven’t been used efficiently,” he said. “We’re also going to have to make the most of outdoor spaces. Pedestrianisation
BUSTLING Shoppers in city centre after Covid rules eased
is one idea of a change that can be made as well.
“But there’s no magic wand that you can wave for all of retail to fix things, because every town and city across Northern Ireland is different.
“You need to learn how to get long-term fixes. Like I said, a lot people will be working from home, there’s going to be a downturn on things like hospitality, on footfall – those impulse buys from people who commute and who stop off at the shop before they get that bus home, that won’t be there for a lot of people.
“So we need to have a longer term conversation on how to revitalise and transform our cities and towns.”
As part of these long-term moves, Aodhan points towards the High Street Task Force, which has been set up to put forward strategies for the future of our high streets.
He said: “The High Street Task Force was launched at the start of this year, and we’re now at the stage where we’re going to get working groups up and ready, so we’re looking forward to that. We’re
DINE TIME People eat outside at restaurant looking at how we can join up and make sure we get the best out of towns and main streets across Northern Ireland.”
Aodhan says that, on the ground, local high street businesses have been voicing their concerns about a number of issues – not simply to do with Covid.
He told us: “There’s a lot of issues that businesses have been talking to me about.
“There’s difficulties because of Brexit, there’s bigger costs because of PPE and Covid, there’s reduced footfall, there’s concerns about what the new normal is going to look like.
“Then there’s a lot of worry about whether or not office staff will be coming back after all this. That’s something that keeps coming up time and time again.”
As Aodhan is keen to stress, most businesses are saying that something needs to change to transform the city for the future.
He said: “The big thing that’s coming through from everyone is that we need to take this opportunity to build back better.”