‘Big businesses coming to town’
Windsor: Post-COVID proposals to reinvigorate Windsor
Windsor town manager Paul Roach says that ‘a lot of big businesses are coming’ to Windsor as the town looks to fill empty units, including a boutique cinema.
Paul Roach revealed to the Express that the changing shopping environment means town centres are now forced to offer something different to shoppers that they cannot access online.
The food and drink market has been dominating new units across Windsor, with brasserie The Ivy the latest to open opposite Windsor Castle last week.
Meanwhile, bakery favourite Greggs is set to start trading out of the former Laura Ashley unit, and burger chain Five Guys in the Windsor Royal Station.
While the opening of any new unit was good news, Paul said that it was important for towns to move with the times and offer different experiences for residents and visitors.
After a tough two years for the high street, tourism is starting to creep back up again while footfall levels are closer to 2019 figures, he added.
“We have got some big plans for the town this summer which I hope will change the face of it,” Paul said. “We have got some big businesses coming in. There is a lot to look forward to for Windsor.”
The town manager confirmed that Windsor’s vacancy rate of empty units was about 10 per cent, which was ‘better than most town centres’.
“We still need to get people in and that means we have to have a different offer. It is about us speaking to landlords; you can’t just rely on another coffee shop,” Paul said.
He added that Windsor should be ‘dynamic’ and look at other sectors – such as the leisure industry – to boost town centre trade.
“It is about looking at those units and saying: ‘what can we do that is going to be slightly different and add to the overall offer’,” said Paul.
“There are one or two things coming through and I know there are applications for other bits and pieces that people will think: ‘that’s unusual’.”
Paul told a recent Windsor Town Forum that both of Windsor’s shopping centres [Windsor Yards and
Windsor Royal Station] will be seeing ‘at least two to three additional units’ in the next few months.
Whilst he could not confirm what these would be, he added that a ‘major redevelopment’ of Windsor Yards was in the pipeline – with a boutique cinema proposed within the plans.
“We are waiting for that planning application to come forward,” Paul said. “It needs to be something that is unique and special to Windsor.”
On the subject of banks, the closure of high street branches has been in the news a lot - with Windsor losing Metro Bank and Santander, while Natwest will close its doors on July 7.
“That is not just a
Windsor thing – that is probably a world thing,” Paul said. “But what is the opportunity?
“These are very nice units that these banks reside in. The challenge will be what we put in there.”