‘ Support independent retailers’

■ Consumers are urged to back shops in town where jobs crisis hit hardest ■ Small stores face uncertainty over whether to invest in staff and stock

SHOPPERS ARE being urged to support their local independent retailers, especially in Harrogate, where Yorkshire’s job crisis has hit the hardest.

The town is normally a major shopping destination for people in the region, especially in the run- up to Christmas, but the nationwide lockdown has closed all non- essential retailers until at least the start of December.

It comes as figures show Harrogate District had the biggest fall in job vacancies in the region, with a drop of 40 per cent compared with last year, according to research from the Institute for Employment Studies.

Harrogate retailers have struggled to know whether to invest in staff or stock for when they reopen and whether, if they do, they will have sufficient customers.

Sally Hindle, who runs clothing shop Bias, said it was “vastly unfair” that a major store such as Marks & Spencer can still sell womenswear but she has had to close.

She said: “It’s not a level playing field. One of the reasons people come to Harrogate is the independent shops and if the smaller independents have to close, nobody will come to Harrogate.”

While there was legally no issue with big stores selling non- essential items, she said it was “immoral” for them to capitalise on the sales that would otherwise be going to independent retailers.

“We get the pandemic, we understand. But what will be left in Harrogate if the independents are gone?” she added.

Another independent retailer, Georgia Eckert, who runs Imagined Things Bookshop, questioned whether there was good enough evidence that small shops pose a significant enough risk to close them. “WH Smith is allowed to stay open,” she said. “It doesn’t seem like anyone has thought it through.” She took on three new staff before the lockdown was announced and has had to furlough them, adding: “We expected to need people during the Christmas rush but the lockdown has completely ruined those plans.

“I didn’t think there would be a national lockdown and I planned for people to be in the shop, so I stocked the shop hoping that we would have a good Christmas, especially after the first lockdown.”

The bookshop has a new online store but online orders are likely to only make up a fraction of what would have been sold.

“It will be a disaster if we can’t reopen until January,” she added.

Sandra Doherty, chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce said she felt it was “very unfair” that independent shops were forced to close while many multiples could stay open, but acknowledged it would be difficult to administer a system where big stores could only sell certain items. Indeed, the Welsh Government came under criticism last month for forcing supermarkets to close aisles containing items deemed non- essential such as clothing and books.

Ms Doherty said: “Small shops which are only able to let one person in at a time would be arguably safer than big shops.”

She added that the town needed both big and small retailers to survive and the biggest threat to both was the giant online retailer Amazon, which doubled its profit during the last lockdown.

Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate District Council, said: “I’d encourage people to do their Christmas shopping online and take advantage of Harrogate’s independent shops virtually as a great many of them have websites. It’s really difficult for businesses and I hope the community comes together to shop locally and help these businesses.”