Southport councillor John Pugh believes “a whole toolkit of measures” is needed to support the regeneration of Lord Street.
Cllr Pugh said he welcomed the announcement in the Budget of an increase in the threshold for Small Business Rate Relief as “a step in the right direction”.
He believes the famous Victorian boulevard now needs to “reinvent itself around modern businesses and services”.
Read More: Iconic Garrick site in Southport could provide more hotel rooms as fresh plans submitted
There have been lots of positive signs this year.
Wetherspoon is currently in the process of investing £5 million on the creation of the town’s first Wetherspoon Hotel on the corner of Lord Street and Coronation Walk.
The Garrick is due to be redeveloped with 133 hotel rooms as the UK’s first ‘spa theatre hotel’.
New businesses which have opened on Lord Street this year include Digz ‘n Lidz; Coffee King; Drishit Point Yoga; Papa’s Fish & Chips; with Saucy Bird due to open soon.
Cllr Pugh said: “This relief is barely understood. Introduced originally by the coalition government to level the field between small high street retailers and big online firms, it has been extended by successive governments.
“Extending the relief further to properties with a rateable value of £18,000 as happened in the budget could save a few shopkeepers between £5,000- £7,000 which would be welcome, but smaller shops already qualify and are still hard to run or rent.
“Rent and wage costs for most shops dwarf the rates so rate relief doesn’t do the trick by itself unless you have a healthy turnover – loads of customers!
“We need a whole toolkit of measures to restore Lord Street to its former glory.”
Cllr Pugh says that Lord Street in its heyday was all about comparison shopping for high value goods such as jewellery, furs, clothes and shoes.
The retail landscape has changed across the UK in recent years due to the growth of online shopping.
Cllr Pugh said: “Lord Street was never a normal high street. Unfortunately the process where people walked under verandahs window shopping is now done in people’s homes in front of a PC and Lord St needs to reinvent itself around modern businesses and services that benefit from or need customers to be physically present.
“For them Lord Street and the joys of walking to and fro between bespoke, probably independent shops is ideal.
“This requires the council to take a much more proactive retail strategy.
“It’s a question of matching businesses with properties and persuading retailers that Lord Street suits their business.
“The Council needs to market Lord Street far and wide. We cannot rely simply on fiscal measures and the market.”
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