SHOPPING

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Clowes Developments wants to redevelop a section of land called St James' Yard into a retail complex, linking Sadler Gate with the Strand and St James' Street. The company was granted planning permission in 2002 to turn the land into a leisure and retail area but director Andrew Bock said the scheme had moved away from nightlife because it was felt that shops would be better for that part of the city.

Mr Bock hoped work could start in the autumn ready for an opening in the summer of 2007, coinciding with the completion of the Eagle Centre extension. The scheme would involve the creation of a thoroughfare lined with boutiques linking the alley at the entrance to Vines Wine Bar, in Sadler Gate, to the archway leading to the back of Jimmy's nightclub, in St James' Street. A former tram shed in St James's Yard would be converted into a courtyard, with balconies looking into the piazza of restaurants and designer shops.

Ian Ferguson, chief executive of Derby Chamber of Trade, welcomed the plans. He said, "It's just what this area needs. It's already got some good-quality specialist shops and this development will add to the offering and make use of old buildings." Cityscape chief executive John Cadwallader said of the piazza scheme, "It's exactly the sort of thing we're looking for." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Apr/06)

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service carried out safety checks and found that 80% of shops were putting their staff and customers at risk by not obeying basic safety laws. Fire officers found shops either had blocked emergency exits, obscured signs or in some cases broken or locked emergency fire doors. Fire officers said they were extremely concerned, especially at a time of year when shops were packed with Christmas shoppers. Shops in the city centre were found to be the worst offenders, including some big high-street names. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

Derby's appeal as a shopping destination is on the slide, according to the latest 2004 Experian Retail Ranking report. The annual survey places Derby 43rd in a list of the UK's most attractive shopping centres, down two from its 41st position in 2003. The survey looks at a number of key performance indicators such as the size of retail centres by floorspace, the number of major national stores and quality independent retailers. Retail centres are also assessed on negative factors, such as the amount of vacant floorspace. Derby is placed below cities and towns such as Peterborough, Lincoln, Hull, York and Bromley. Nottingham is 5th, while Leicester is placed 15th. Both have slipped one ranking.

Martin Davies, director of retail planning at Experian, explained why he thought Derby had fallen two places in the survey. "The fact that Derby has slipped rankings could be a combination of other centres improving their retail offer rather than Derby going backwards. In the long-term, centres can move back up the rankings." Birmingham has jumped ten places in the year's survey to reach third on the back of developments at the new Bull Ring shopping centre. Glasgow is second and London's West End is first. Mr Davies continued, "Historically, when a centre undergoes redevelopment it tends to increase its attractiveness. Any sort of investment and retail-led regeneration will change the picture in the longer term."

The City Centre Management Team is controlled by the council's development and cultural services department despite also being overseen by a 19-strong team from the public and private sectors. But since the last council-employed city centre manager left, there is just one secretary and the CCMT's proactive role of marketing the city has all but ground to a halt.

But a new proposal will move its transition towards independence and a stronger link with Derby City Partnership, which co- ordinates links between 230 public, private and voluntary organisations across the city. The move follows a number of differences between the CCMT and the council in its eight-year history. Council leader Maurice Burgess blames the CCMT's problems on "weak management".

But until the council agrees to the new proposals, the CCMT board is unable to advertise or conduct interviews for a city centre manager and city centre ranger. Chairman Mike Matthews said that greater independence would simplify the decision-making process and that the council would continue to fund the service.

Roomes of Sadler Gate, a fishmonger in Derby for 106 years, has closed. Owner Sam Roome believes Derby City Council's introduction of parking meters near Sadler Gate and changes to the one-way system in the area led to the decline of the business, which had seen takings drop by £2,000 a week.

Mr Roome said, "We couldn't carry on. The city council destroyed everything when they put in the parking meters and changed the one-way system. People were allowed to go down Sadler Gate before 10am and after 4pm but then it was changed to just loading and unloading."

Philip Hickson, Derby City Council's deputy leader said, "The experience shared by Roomes about the on-street parking and one-way system is not shared by the other traders. It's sad that a long-established business like this has disappeared but it is to do with changing trends in society rather than the parking and one-way system."

It will be interesting to see how many other traders are forced to close down in the not too distant future due to 'changing trends in society'.

The arrival of Marks & Spencer Foods at Kingsway has produced a Saturday traffic queue that can reach the Markeaton island. A prime cause of the delay is that inbound cars cannot turn right into Currys. If homebound cars could pause for a few seconds to let them across, the queue would be much shorter. Donald Armstrong

(Note: Having only one entrance/exit to a complex such as this is ridiculous. However, an immediate improvement could be made if inbound traffic continued to the island and then returned and turned left into Currys. But of course, there are no signs advocating this and many drivers would never figure out this solution for themselves.)

At one time, I was a regular customer of Roomes of Sadler Gate for haggis, seafood and fresh fish and used to just pop into town for the same and to various other shops. But now I keep well clear of the city and its parking charges, preferring to shop in Allenton, Long Eaton, Spondon, Allestree and other places where I can park without paying exorbitant charges. I am quite surprised that drivers do not boycott Derby completely. Parking charges in Burton and Mansfield, for example, are far cheaper, not to mention the lack of congestion chaos and one-way systems. Anon

The New Economics Foundation (NEF) said local stores are being driven out of towns as chain stores across the country are "spring up like weeds" and turning the UK into a series of "clone towns". Regeneration and planning decisions have created a retail environment hostile to small, independent businesses, the NEF argued.

In its report, Clone Town Britain, the NEF says that once distinctive towns are now losing their character. Research by the NEF suggests that between 1997 and 2002, specialist stores like butchers, bakers and fishmongers shut at the rate of 50 a week. Also, nearly a thousand communities were left without access to a local bank and 20 traditional pubs were closing every month.

It claims that the result is a loss of choice for consumers, with identikit stores popping up in town centres. The think tank's policy director Andrew Simms said that chain stores have "the marketing budgets, political contacts and resources" that gives them an advantage over local shops.