The failure of the High Street is no whodunnit mystery

So, who am I?

I’m a Royal Navy veteran, a former Sellafield fireman, and in 1995, I founded Richardsons of Whitehaven, but there’s so much more in between.

I served nearly 20 years as a magistrate, 18 years organising festivals, and along the way, I wrote six local history books, collected an award from the USA for furthering diplomatic relations, collected an MBE for services to Cumbria, and in 2022, I was appointed as a deputy to the Lord Lieutenant.

Anyway, let’s get into it because if you’re in business, whether big or small, shop or office, and you operate in our local towns, I'm interested in who you are, what you do, and everything in between.

I was going to start off with a piece about Dixons, the oldest family business in Whitehaven, but the sad news about the Flower Baskett changed my plan.

Businesses often close in the first three years, but when one that’s part of the town’s architecture goes, it’s news.

Businesses with decades of trading history tend to have a strong core base of clients, which helps them sail through short-term turbulence, so when shops like the Flower Basket close, it sadly says so much more about the town centre.

Located between my own shop and the Rum Story, the Flower Basket has been a stalwart of the town for several decades, and its closure isn't just hard on the proprietor, who has also become a good friend; it’s also hard on the staff and the town.

I remember the closing sale of Robinsons Hardware on Tangier Street about 25 years ago, and the proprietor casually remarked that if a fraction of the bargain hunters had been regular shoppers, he would still be trading.

Fast forward to today, and it’s worse.

In addition to supermarkets (by the way, have you noticed that planners approved one on each of the main roads into Whitehaven town centre?), retailers also have to compete with online giants like Amazon in addition to rising staff costs and increased regulation.

Did you know that I started my own business in the same year as Jeff Bezos started Amazon, so for a very short while, we were probably level pegging with him.

I love that idea, even if it was only for a few seconds in 1995.

People are always ranting on social media about the state of town centres, and I suspect that’s repeated all over the UK, but the failure of the High Street is no whodunnit mystery, folks, because we dunnit.

We all did it when we gave Amazon, Very, and eBay, among others, the bulk of our money and started visiting the High Streets for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Christmas week.

Shops, like puppies, are not just for Christmas!