Swindon has seen a disappointing number of national store closures in recent months. Although it is reflective of many UK high streets as the face of retail continues evolving, Swindon has retained its three key anchor stores, Debenhams, M&S and House of Fraser, alongside other national chains.
The town has a proud and diverse independent retailer offering, a strong professional services sector, a thriving cultural hub and a fantastic mix of night-time entertainment.
Although it is a fact that store closures outweigh new openings, we have welcomed new store openings, expanding business and new initiatives this year. These include:
· March: Snappy Snap (Havelock Square)
· April: Bombay Street Food (Morley Street)
· May: The Wyvern Tavern (Bridge Street)
· July: Women’s Aid Charity Shop (The Parade), Police Community Hub (The Brunel)
· August: Mind (Havelock Street), Traffic (The Parade)
· October: The Works, Enchanted & Ping Pong Parlour (The Brunel), Christmas Shop (Canal Walk)
· November: Vape Shop (Havelock Street), 5* Barbers and One Below (Regent Street) and Grace Jewellers (Fleet Street)
Organisations continue to invest in Swindon as demonstrated by the recent announcement of the new £17m Premier Inn hotel and steakhouse at the old Aspen House site on Regent Street. This will bring in nearly 100 jobs for the town. In the report conducted by AskTraders, Swindon ranked 5th but in the Good Growth for Cities 2019 report conducted by PwC - which shows continued broad improvements across cities in the UK, driven in particular by falling unemployment rates and increases in new businesses - Swindon ranked 8th - a positive outlook for the town.
This weekend we welcomed more than 10,000 thousand people to the town centre for the Festival of Christmas official lights switch on, with people travelling from Birmingham to attend. Swindon Town Centre is a destination that visitors from further afield choose to visit, and as a community we should be encouraging people to support our high streets and shop local in Swindon Town Centre.
Visa couldn’t have said it any better in their latest advertisement - #WhereYouShopMatters.
Di Powell, inSwindon BID Ltd, CEO
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