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Regular - Rachel Parkin

Rachel Parkin

Whos Accountable?
Strangely within this whole debate on the high street theres no word about accountability, the true cost of cheap and the manipulation of the British public in the pursuit of power and prot.
quote Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Our high streets arent simply a place to shop, they are the heartbeat of our local communities, they are a source of civic pride. Each small shop that closes means less money circulating in our local economy, less real choice, fewer routes to market for smaller producers, less control over the food we can buy and a decline in the places where we live and work. This relentless drive for profit has caused many to lose sight of the value of the high street. Progress surely shouldnt be simply about homogenisation, surely progress is also about making informed choices? It seems to me that as we progress along this inexorable path, were going to develop into a nation of two halves the city centres will have their big box retailers while the market towns will have their niche retailers, independent coffee shops and restaurants, therell be a transference from the city to the town where rents are lower, but there are other independent retailers for support, value and community. Its time that we started to place a value on our independent retailers who are battling on so many fronts. By supporting your local stores were supporting our local area too. For every 1 spent in an independent store, over 70p of it remains in the local area and it circulates three to four times in the local economy. This simply isnt true of large multiple stores, where the money is despatched to their head office and doesnt circulate in the local economy in anywhere near the same manner. I think it is time for a national campaign to educate shoppers on the choices they are making Making choices depends on having the relevant information, and whilst many people may not care, or they may be more focused on economic imperatives, this wont be the case for everyone. For a significant proportion of the population, quality, choice, community, individuality and accountability can be, will be and are aspirational values. Mary Portas did some great work when she wrote the Portas review for David Cameron. She put Indie retail back in the spotlight, but now its up to us, the indie retailers, to make some noise. From a history of being individual, separate and fairly isolated its time to start to come together so that we have more leverage. Leverage with the local media, who love an underdog story. Leverage with local consumers who may not yet understand the issues in question and finally leverage with our local councils and governments who are making decisions and creating policy that are yet more body blows to our retail trade. The retail landscape is changing in front of our eyes. It is time for a cultural shift Independents need to come together and work together to create momentum for change, education & promotion. The time is now!

The high street and its fate, demise or otherwise, is in the news once again. I think that we all understand that were long past the stage of the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker but are there really only two stark options idyllic high street of yesteryear or big brand, big name retailers? Sir Terry Leahy the ex boss of Tesco and a well respected business thinker recently said that the closure of small shops on the high street was progress.

aybe Im missing out on the big picture here, but I fail to see how cloning our high streets with big brands is deemed progress or the basis of a successful high street? Supporters of the big box approach epouse choice, value and convenience When what theyre really talking about is simply profit! Strangely within this whole debate on the high street theres no word about accountability, the true cost of cheap and the manipulation of the British public in the pursuit of power and profit. The sad fact is that there is no one person, body or group to point the finger at for the state of the high street Our councils have allowed out of town shopping centres to dilute the footfall within the city centre until it makes little economic sense to be situated there. The business rates are out of line with the commercial realities of high street retailing, car parking charges are astronomical and a deterrent to most shoppers, landlords take advantage of upward only rent reviews and pre recession based prices for commercial properties & of course theres the rise in the internet and the general malaise of a recession economy to add to the mix! Recent scandals such as #horsegate have put the supermarkets supply chain in the public eye. The relentless drive for cheap prices have on this occasion resulted in a far reaching scandal that spans most of Europe so far. But there are other values that our high streets represent, that seem to have been given short shrift in the race for homogenised cheapness and maximum return on investment. It seems to me that Oscar Wilde said it best in his famous

Rachel Parkin is managing director of jewellery wholesaler Balagan. She also runs independent gift shop Reba in Peterborough and contemporary jeweler Pandoras box in Cambridge. Email: rachel@balagan.co.uk Rachel suggests that you might like to look at the following Retail Rehab website as its a free resource for retailers! Web: www.retailrehab.co.uk
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