A MAJOR campaign to encourage people to use Barnsley's independent town centre businesses has been launched - just as one of the world's largest property firms declared Barnsley needed almost five times more out of town fashion retail space.
Barnsley's famous fashionista Rita Britton was in the town centre last Tuesday to launch the town's Independents Day and to sign a Declaration Of Independents in support of independent shops, boutiques and market stalls. She said it was important to support small local independent businesses in the town centre but said she didn't fear further development of out of town shopping sites.
"Our two biggest assets in this town are the people, and our proximity to the M1," she said. "We need to stop seeing the M1 as something that's going to take people out of Barnsley, and see it as something that's going to bring people in."
New research from international real estate advisor Savills has revealed the UK locations with greatest potential for what it calls 'uplift' in out of town retail space in a number of sectors. The firm claims Barnsley has just 15,000 sq ft of out of town fashion space but would need 85,835 sq ft to meet the national average of 0.7 sq ft per shopper - almost five times as much.
That puts Barnsley in second place nationally according to the figures - only Manchester has a greater shortage of out of town retail space, with Newcastle behind Barnsley in third place.
"I don't fear it," said Rita. "We need to encourage people to use the M1 as an artery to come into Barnsley. Even if it's out of town as if we bring people to Barnsley they will start spending money in Barnsley.
"Some of our fashion businesses really are world class, we've got some great eateries now, and we've got venues like the Civic bringing people in, and we've even had the Picasso exhibition at the Cooper Gallery.
"We had a time when we were losing independent businesses, but we've got so many fine ones now. The problem with the big chains is they have so much money at their disposal, but we can't do without them. We do need a balance."
The event also included the launch of ShopAppy, a social enterprise scheme allowing people to buy online on a click-and-collect basis from a number of market stalls and local independent shops. "It means Barnsley Market and its independent shops are now effectively open 24 hours a day," said founder of the service Jackie Mulligan.
"Barnsley is only our seventh town. It's our biggest town, and it's the first time we've worked with a council and a market like this.
The council is spending £125m on the ambitious Better Barnsley scheme to extend and refurbish the Metropolitan Centre and markets complex. Coun Roy Miller, responding to the research by Savills, said supporting the market and the wider town centre remained the main priority.
Dominic Rodbourne, head of out of town retail at Savills, said: "Though retailer confidence across the board is currently mixed, robust footfall on out of town schemes means they remain attractive for both retailers and landlords.
"Our analysis breaks out of town retail down by sector to highlight where the key opportunities around creating new space lie for landlords and developers."
