Local business leaders met at The Mill Hotel in Sudbury on Thursday 13 March where Judith Blatch, Managing Director of Winch & Blatch, Sudbury’s local independent department store, gave a talk on shopping locally and how this affects the economy.
Holmes & Hills Solicitors in Sudbury host the Sudbury Business Lunch three times a year in association with the team at Barclays Bank (Sudbury) to enable local business people to network and discuss various issues affecting businesses in Sudbury and the surrounding areas.
Judith’s discussion included highlighting some worrying statistics relating to the country’s highstreets. According to the Centre for Retail Research approximately 7000 shops closed in 2012 and 2013 and they predict by 2018 a further 60,000 shops, or 1 in 5, will have closed. This is due to customers being drawn away by out of town retailers, supermarkets and the internet, all of which are thriving as they do not have to pay the high overheads of town centre sites. The sectors most hit are travel agents, banks, health foods and computer games shops. Since 1990 40% of bank branches have closed.
On a more positive note, there has been a net increase in independents in the first half of 2013 of 424 shops (more than Waitrose branches) and over 3,500 in the last 30 months (more than Tesco has opened branches in 94 years!).
Judith went on to explain that if our town centres are to survive we need to rethink how we shop. 5% of your spend with a national chain will filter into the local economy, but this increases to 50% if you shop with a local independent. According to research by the New Economics Foundation, every £10 spent locally is worth £50 to the local economy as the money is recycled from one recipient to the next.
Judith informed us that the growth areas in highstreets are pound shops, betting shops, charity shops, supermarkets and cafes. Recognising the growth in consumers’ demand for experience and the servicing of immediate needs, Winch & Blatch opened a brand new café late in 2013.
Businesses represented at the networking event included retailers, logistics companies, manufacturing companies, property consultants, accountants, commercial bankers, solicitors and financial advisors, all based in Sudbury or the surrounding areas.
This was the first Sudbury Business Lunch organised since the opening of Holmes & Hills Solicitors in Sudbury.
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