CATHEDRAL QUARTER 2

Jewellery shop H L Brown, which has been in Derby for 75 years, has blamed the Westfield shopping centre for its decision to close its Victoria Street store in the Cathedral Quarter and has launched a closing-down sale. The Sheffield-based business claims the Derby shop has suffered a drop in trade since the Westfield Derby centre opened in October, 2007. H L Brown, founded in 1861, has seven outlets, predominantly in Yorkshire. The Derby shop will close on March 18.

In a letter to customers about the sale, managing director James Frampton said, "The advent of the Westfield centre has drawn trade away from us and the Cathedral Quarter is not of the calibre it once was." Michael Hall, who owns Michael Hall Jewellers, in Cheapside, in the Cathedral Quarter, said, "For H L Brown to blame Westfield for the closure of its shop is a pretty tired excuse. The Cathedral Quarter is recovering and is becoming a really interesting place to shop. I'm doing a very good trade and taking some substantial orders."

A report by the Local Data Company claimed the number of vacant shops in Derby city centre had risen. The report said the percentage of Derby's 745 shops currently empty stands at 16.9%, a rise of 3.4% from its last report, in June 2009. But according to Marketing Derby, a separate study showed the number of vacant shops in the city has dropped from 13.6% in June to 12.2%. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Feb/10)

A £1m scheme is planned to boost trade in the city centre by transforming the face of dozens of shops. Grants of up to £25,000 are being offered to stores in the The Strand and Friar Gate areas to restore their original Victorian frontages. Owners will be asked to provide 20% of the cost of fitting windows and doors to match the rest of the building. Restored facades will have solid timber frames, marble plinths and brass door furniture. Up to 40 shops could be restored over the next two years and officials hope it will create a unique shopping area.

Some smaller businesses in Derby have said they are struggling to survive the recession and competition from larger stores. The city council believes getting rid of the more modern facades will create an attractive atmosphere for customers. Harry Hopkinson, built environment team leader at the council, said, "This is not about modern is bad and old is good, it is about high quality over poor quality. Whenever you think about the prestige shopping destinations, it is often the buildings which are part of the appeal. Equally, older and lower quality shop fronts can look tired and give an area a dog-eared feel." The scheme, in partnership with English Heritage, has already secured £770,000 of funding. (Source: BBC News, Nov/09)

Derby City Centre Management organised entertainment, using street entertainers and a jazz band, in an attempt to bring more customers to Derby's Cathedral Quarter and Lanes areas. It was billed as a programme to create a real buzz of activity and stilt-walkers, unicyclists, plate spinners and balloon modellers were among the attractions. However, traders said the move, funded by the City Centre Partnership, which includes Derby City Council and Marketing Derby, was a waste of time and money.

They said it was too little, too late and claimed the event had been organised as a token effort to save face. Mike Ellis, owner of Sadler Gate clothes shop Mondo, said, "They are just trying to show they are doing something but it's a waste of time. A lot of things they are doing might attract six-year-olds down here but we need more teenage and early-20s customers, so it doesn't help us. They should ask us directly what we think would help, but they don't do that."

Karen Bruce, owner of Salamander shoe shop, Sadler Gate, said the money used for the entertainment could have been better spent and said it was "a case of shutting the door after the horse has bolted". Anthony Hughes, owner of House Of Cards, in Green Lane, said the idea might have worked with better communication. He said, "I haven't seen any of the entertainers and I didn't know this was taking place. Why couldn't they have had some of the entertainers under cover near the Debenhams building? That might have drawn people up Green Lane."

Derby City Council leader Chris Williamson said the entertainment was part of plans to enliven the Cathedral Quarter and Lanes area. He said, "We are doing our best to make sure that people come into these areas. But it's up to the businesses to play their part in making what they offer attractive to the people who pass their doors." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Mar/08)

Companies will be able to influence what improvements are made in the Cathedral Quarter after voting in favour of the area becoming a Business Improvement District. Following a month of voting, the majority of businesses in the area have agreed that the Cathedral Quarter should have BID status. The campaign for the Cathedral Quarter to become a BID was launched in March. Several months of consultation followed to formulate a business plan, which was formally unveiled in October.

It highlighted five key objectives, to increase awareness of the Cathedral Quarter, improve access, extend the length of stay by visitors, make visitors feel safe and secure and to increase the amount of external investment. The plan recommends ideas including seasonal marketing campaigns and a visitor loyalty scheme, subsidised or free parking, extension of bus routes and a cleaning "hit squad". Street wardens to meet and greet visitors will be introduced to help them feel welcome and safe.

Business Improvement Districts are part of a Government strategy to encourage local authorities and business communities to work together. Under the scheme, rate-paying businesses have a say on improvements in the area and pay an extra levy to put them in place. To go ahead, the plan needed the backing of 50% of the businesses, which need to hold more than 50% of the rateable value of those which voted.

The new BID proposals will now go ahead as 84.7% of participating businesses voted in favour. They also represented 74% of the rateable value. From March, each business in the Cathedral Quarter will pay a 1.5% levy on their rates, meaning the BID should generate more than £1m for the Cathedral Quarter in its five-year lifetime. All the improvements paid for through the BID will be in addition to those already provided by the council. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Nov/07)

All 380 businesses in the city's Cathedral Quarter Business Improvement District are submitting their details for use on a new-look website. Bars and shops, as well as attractions such as Derby Cathedral and the Assembly Rooms, will have their own profiles on the Cathedral Quarter website. Features on the website - www.derbycathedralquarter.co.uk - will include a search facility for all the businesses in the BID area, which is bounded by the inner ring road, the River Derwent, Albert Street, Victoria Street and Friar Gate. The businesses will also be able to post a link to their own website if they have one.

The public will be able to get information about the latest events in the area from the website, where the nearest car parks are and a detailed map showing the location of the Cathedral Quarter. Visitors to the site will even be able to develop their own profile of favourite destinations in the area so that they can regularly check updates. Martin Langsdale, chairman of the BID management steering group, said the revamped website was an important step forward for the Cathedral Quarter Company, a not-for-profit limited company set up to boost the performance and profitability for businesses in the area.

He said, "We recognised early on that harnessing the power of the internet would be an important step towards raising the profile of individual businesses and the Cathedral Quarter as a whole, enabling visitors to see the diversity and unique nature of what we have to offer in the area at the touch of a button. This is an ideal opportunity for every business and organisation to create and manage their own profile, promote opening hours and special offers and even post pictures of their products or services." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Mar/08)

Traders in the Cathedral Quarter are calling on Arriva, that redirected one of its routes away from the district, to re-consider the decision. Arriva has redirected its No 32 service destination, which runs from Littleover Lane, to Babington Lane instead of Victoria Street. The Cathedral Quarter Company, a non-profit firm set up to boost performance for businesses in the area, said the change was a "real blow" and was encouraging shoppers away from that area to Westfield.

A spokeswoman said, "After all the hard work put in by Cathedral Quarter retailers, by the council and by the Evening Telegraph to revive the district, to have a travel link for shoppers rerouted like this is extremely disappointing. We will definitely be taking this up with Arriva to see if this can be resolved." A spokesman for Arriva buses said there were no plans to restore the service.

He said, "We reviewed route 32 as part of the recent changes that took place to our scheduling. Following consultations with customers and local authorities, the majority decision was that the service run to the Westfield centre instead of to the Cathedral Quarter." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Nov/08)

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