Colchester High Street has "lost its lure"

10:48am Tuesday 15th January 2013 in News

COLCHESTER High Street has “lost its lure”, according to the owners of Williams & Griffin.

Hugo Fenwick, group trading director of Fenwick, which owns the High Street department store, believes empty and grotty shopfronts should be replaced by “premium” stores.

Mr Fenwick said the town centre was largely effective and appealed to a range of shoppers.

But he said: “I’m afraid the High Street as it is today is a little disappointing."

See Wednesday's Gazette for a special report.

Comments(27)

skinnr says...
11:02am Tue 15 Jan 13

He is absolutely right. Chelmsford, Ipswich and Norwich leave Colchester for dead now. I would far rather travel to one of those towns than shop in Colchester. It's one thing building 1000's of houses in the area but somehow the town centre has been left to hang.

Colchester is now struggling to keep up with its neighbours.

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co2 says...
11:27am Tue 15 Jan 13

I prefer to go out of townto shop,i try to use out of town banks,the car parking costs are the main factor in driving business from the town centre,2 hours parking for around £5,great work done by colchester borough council in killing off the town centre.

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JCoe1980 says...
11:28am Tue 15 Jan 13

Can not be more right! We moved to Colchester a year ago and travel out of Colchester to shop! Anywhere is better! IF I pop into town it is only Willie Gee's I visit and Waitrose from groceries, otherwise I avoid town at all costs because its just not desirable.

Colchester should approve the plans for the new Willie Gees layout and facade and look at the shops and infrastructure of the town center to lure people in otherwise all independent shops will go the same way as Jessops and HMV (to name a few!)

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romantic says...
11:32am Tue 15 Jan 13

Have to agree specifically regarding the High Street. The "central core" of shopping is in the parts where people do not have to dodge traffic. It seems that the trial to pedestrianise the High St is being delayed again, which is a shame.

The problem is it all has to tie in with park + ride and good bus services, so people do not need to be driving through the High St.

We should give it a trial and see how it goes. If it fails badly, well at least we know. But give it at least 6 months: of course people will be moaning after a week, and some people will not be happy whatever happens because they see the car as king. Take out the traffic, and bars and restaurants can move out more into the street. We can try to get that elusive "Continental feeling".

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Scoot says...
11:57am Tue 15 Jan 13

Bet Hugo would be up in arms if a premium store such as John Lewis wanted to develop a site....... But thats what it needs to put some oomph back into Colchester High St

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HARRY438 says...
1:04pm Tue 15 Jan 13

I like the way the High St. is being managed. In a couple of years there will be grass growing down the middle of the road. How green do you want it?

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JBoswick says...
1:22pm Tue 15 Jan 13

co2 wrote:
I prefer to go out of townto shop,i try to use out of town banks,the car parking costs are the main factor in driving business from the town centre,2 hours parking for around £5,great work done by colchester borough council in killing off the town centre.
It's £2.50 for 4 hours (more than enough time for shopping) at Priory st., St. Botolphs & Vineyard St. and it's 50p for a whole days parking on a Sunday (when most of town is open) - that's much cheaper than using a bus (now there is a massive con)

Both Chelmsford & Ipswich have a Primark, which gives them an advantage. another problem Colchester has is it is missing affordable dining (Non-Fast food) for families. The only option other than fast food is a pub and I really don't like taking my children in to a pub on a Saturday afternoon when it's full of blokes watching football

ALSO, the market needs sorting out properly. it needs a proper site instead of random stalls dotted about. Colchester is supposed to be britains oldest recorded market town but it looks as though the market is a mere token add on instead of one of our best features (which it should be).

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super waluigi says...
1:42pm Tue 15 Jan 13

Yes the high street is lacking, but so is Chelmsford, Ipswich, Norwich and even Oxford street in London.

If anyone prefers shopping in another town, just remember that other town folk like shopping here.

Colchester will remain a quiet sleepy town with big ambitions. So long as there is people happy to see it that way.

I prefer to shop on google!!!!!

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angryman!!! says...
1:49pm Tue 15 Jan 13

Ipswich is poor for shopping! it has a primark well if that's an advantage god help Ipswich

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The Yellow Peril says...
3:04pm Tue 15 Jan 13

When you live in Witham, anything's better!

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TheCaptain says...
3:06pm Tue 15 Jan 13

I don't see much better in the other local towns / cities such as Ipswich and Chelmsford. Some people just like to put Colchester down.

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wellnow says...
6:24pm Tue 15 Jan 13

We are in a resession don't yer know.

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25414nora says...
7:01pm Tue 15 Jan 13

TheCaptain wrote:
I don't see much better in the other local towns / cities such as Ipswich and Chelmsford. Some people just like to put Colchester down.
Inclined to agree captain..Maybe it's a case of the other mans grass is always greener.

local readers forums, Ipswich star. southend echo, Chelmsford chronicle
often depict comments saying how rotten their town centres are: and how wonderful Colchester is..

Believe it or not..There's instances of Ipswich footballers choosing to commute to play in home games, rather than live in the town..

There's allways room for improvement, but for me, Colchester with it's award winning castle park, heritage, and great facilities takes some beating.

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Logo30 says...
9:35pm Tue 15 Jan 13

Whilst I think Colchester still has an awful lot going for it, I do think the future looks somewhat more uncertain - especially relative to centres such as Chelmsford.

A new full blown John Lewis department store is to open in the 'new' city coupled with its broader Bond Development; and one can't help but notice that much of the significant investment in the county seems to be there (such as the £80m cricket ground redevelopment / build of a new train station at Beulieu Park / upgrade of existing town centre train station).

Sadly, the simple economic reality is that if people want a prosperous town centre they have a part to play in that and need to spend money there. Companies will invest where they think a profit is to be made.Without private investment such as that from Fenwick, I suspect town centres will struggle.

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jut1972 says...
9:59pm Tue 15 Jan 13

Always the way Logo30, Chelmsford always gets a bigger share of the pie. Ipswich also has an out of town John Lewis and I heard a second is to open.

Somehow Colchester contrived to miss that boat.

Small independent stores give a town character, like the lanes in Brighton, but I dont think Colchester has the same level of affluence. Without that demographic, small independent shops which major on choice and service rather than price will always struggle.

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G.Speel says...
7:41am Wed 16 Jan 13

Lost it's lure is an understatement. It used to be a great place to be but now it's too tatty for anyone to bother with. I know let's have another coffee shop or fast food venue so that we can see all the grease and rubbish left from them on the pavements around the town! I am not ashamed to say I shop online as much as I can because I get the choice and price I want from shopping.

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TheCaptain says...
9:06am Wed 16 Jan 13

Logo30 wrote:
Whilst I think Colchester still has an awful lot going for it, I do think the future looks somewhat more uncertain - especially relative to centres such as Chelmsford.

A new full blown John Lewis department store is to open in the 'new' city coupled with its broader Bond Development; and one can't help but notice that much of the significant investment in the county seems to be there (such as the £80m cricket ground redevelopment / build of a new train station at Beulieu Park / upgrade of existing town centre train station).

Sadly, the simple economic reality is that if people want a prosperous town centre they have a part to play in that and need to spend money there. Companies will invest where they think a profit is to be made.Without private investment such as that from Fenwick, I suspect town centres will struggle.
We won't have an £80M cricket ground. Most of that money is being spent on massive tower blocks of flats and some of the profit will be spent on the ground.

Whilst I'm glad that the ground will be improved I certainly wouldn't want 4 huge 12 storey tower blocks dumped in Colchester town centre.

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Scoot says...
11:46am Wed 16 Jan 13

Logo 30, I think you'll find CBC turned John Lewis down. Firstly they were rumoured to be looking at the Priory redevelopment and then at the Old Sainsburys site in Stanway but nobody appeared to want them . Ipswich JL is out of town but if I have to go there I also go into central Ipswich for a browse and more often than not buy things. The new one in Chelmsford will be central. So the narrow mindedness of CBC has denied a major retailer coming to Colchester that would have attracted people.

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TheCaptain says...
12:10pm Wed 16 Jan 13

John Lewis has never applied for planning for a store in Colchester. That started from incorrect information from the management at Tollgate. When Tollgate was originally granted permission, restrictions were in place over what could be there. No application for removing these conditions have ever been applied for. This is the refusal by CBC that keeps doing the rounds. A nonsense. Anyone who seriously believes any Council would block John Lewis moving into town is misguided.

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Scoot says...
11:39am Thu 17 Jan 13

Captain, I think you will find they expressed an interest in the priory redevelopment which no doubt they pulled away from when it was made smaller. They also expressed an interest in Tollgate. Yes you are correct no plans were submitted but a company like JL would not go to the expense of developing and submitting plans if they knew it was a fruitless exercise. If restrictions were put in place for Tollgate by no doubt the COUNCIL then surely it is the council who could overturn them if they really wanted JL to come to Colchester.

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romantic says...
1:05pm Thu 17 Jan 13

25414nora wrote:
TheCaptain wrote:
I don't see much better in the other local towns / cities such as Ipswich and Chelmsford. Some people just like to put Colchester down.
Inclined to agree captain..Maybe it's a case of the other mans grass is always greener.

local readers forums, Ipswich star. southend echo, Chelmsford chronicle
often depict comments saying how rotten their town centres are: and how wonderful Colchester is..

Believe it or not..There's instances of Ipswich footballers choosing to commute to play in home games, rather than live in the town..

There's allways room for improvement, but for me, Colchester with it's award winning castle park, heritage, and great facilities takes some beating.
Good point, nora. These forums do sometimes seem to revel in misery, but Colchester does have a good array of shops, and while we apparently go off to Ipswich and Chelmsford, lots of people come into Colchester because it is seen as better than those places!

Not saying it is perfect, but the times I´ve been elsewhere, I´ve not really felt Colchester was somehow lagging behind. The central core has a good range of places, the improvements need to come on the edges of that (High Street, Queen Street, St Botolphs especially).

I have regular visitors to town, and they are always very happy to come here.

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TheCaptain says...
1:47pm Thu 17 Jan 13

Scoot wrote:
Captain, I think you will find they expressed an interest in the priory redevelopment which no doubt they pulled away from when it was made smaller. They also expressed an interest in Tollgate. Yes you are correct no plans were submitted but a company like JL would not go to the expense of developing and submitting plans if they knew it was a fruitless exercise. If restrictions were put in place for Tollgate by no doubt the COUNCIL then surely it is the council who could overturn them if they really wanted JL to come to Colchester.
the Tollgate conditions were from 20 years ago. They could be overturned by a planning application. Just like CUFC training ground.

I doubt Priory / Vineyard will ever be built.

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Goonerboy says...
7:14pm Thu 17 Jan 13

JBoswick wrote:
co2 wrote:
I prefer to go out of townto shop,i try to use out of town banks,the car parking costs are the main factor in driving business from the town centre,2 hours parking for around £5,great work done by colchester borough council in killing off the town centre.
It's £2.50 for 4 hours (more than enough time for shopping) at Priory st., St. Botolphs & Vineyard St. and it's 50p for a whole days parking on a Sunday (when most of town is open) - that's much cheaper than using a bus (now there is a massive con)

Both Chelmsford & Ipswich have a Primark, which gives them an advantage. another problem Colchester has is it is missing affordable dining (Non-Fast food) for families. The only option other than fast food is a pub and I really don't like taking my children in to a pub on a Saturday afternoon when it's full of blokes watching football

ALSO, the market needs sorting out properly. it needs a proper site instead of random stalls dotted about. Colchester is supposed to be britains oldest recorded market town but it looks as though the market is a mere token add on instead of one of our best features (which it should be).
Try the Green Room at the North hill hotel £5.50 for lunch , excellent quality

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romantic says...
12:51pm Fri 18 Jan 13

Goonerboy wrote:
JBoswick wrote:
co2 wrote:
I prefer to go out of townto shop,i try to use out of town banks,the car parking costs are the main factor in driving business from the town centre,2 hours parking for around £5,great work done by colchester borough council in killing off the town centre.
It's £2.50 for 4 hours (more than enough time for shopping) at Priory st., St. Botolphs & Vineyard St. and it's 50p for a whole days parking on a Sunday (when most of town is open) - that's much cheaper than using a bus (now there is a massive con)

Both Chelmsford & Ipswich have a Primark, which gives them an advantage. another problem Colchester has is it is missing affordable dining (Non-Fast food) for families. The only option other than fast food is a pub and I really don't like taking my children in to a pub on a Saturday afternoon when it's full of blokes watching football

ALSO, the market needs sorting out properly. it needs a proper site instead of random stalls dotted about. Colchester is supposed to be britains oldest recorded market town but it looks as though the market is a mere token add on instead of one of our best features (which it should be).
Try the Green Room at the North hill hotel £5.50 for lunch , excellent quality
There are pubs which do decent food without having loads of football watchers. You could try the Foresters on Castle Road. It´s tucked away a bit, but does good food for 5 or 6 pounds. Pizza Express also does some fairly good deals for families, or you could try Mussi´s, which does properly made lunches, although maybe a bit more pricey.

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mirokou says...
11:29am Mon 21 Jan 13

The parts owned by the council ie Kingsway, just look dirty. The High street is in desperate need of upgrading to the 21st Century, new street furniture for a start .Who ever designed and implemented all the grey stone work clearly need avoiding next time. my god it looks drab. But as the man from Fenwicks said we still have a good array of shops.

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O rly? says...
1:50pm Mon 21 Jan 13

The very idea that we should somehow empathise with shop owners who are struggling to compete with other stores, and let's face it...the internet, is a bizarre one.

Frankly, the High Street in the UK is dying, everyone knows it - but why should we care? Online shopping suits the consumer, if businesses can't/don't/won't adapt to change...it'll be their own downfall...and I for one will lose no sleep whatsoever!

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theequaliser1 says...
11:34pm Mon 21 Jan 13

most of the shops see you coming and want to rip you off.. prices have gone up even in TK MAXX whisch used to be really good value... cup of coffee is extortionate which beggars belief... car parking is a joke the council jacked it up to a £1 an hour at the start of november...and by the way i love the way they nick everyone of the parish church attenders in priory street on saturday and sunday evenings in the 6pm masses... quite ironic that the director of this department in the council is a catholic himself what a situation there...this is all about a desperate attempt to money grab and control at every opportunity....bette
r to shop on line at least you know where you stand.. i go to town park on the outskirts, walk and just window shop...apart from the £ shops everything else appears to be a mugs this way attitude...
i dont bother buying quality stuff anymore..i bought a new house fell apart in 6 years NHBC could not give a stuff...i bought a european high quality luxury car from new total rubbish warranty not worth the paper it was written on...i paid for an expensive holiday for 4 in the family utter disaster... the moral os hopping is quite simple buy cheap dont bother with quality if it goes wrong you end up loosing a lot less than if you paid through the nose... as for commerce in town all the big names go to ipswich or chelmsford they see colchester as an also ran a nobody that is why we are loosing all our services to the two county towns...passport office gone probate services gone...driving test centre gone....the best thing that happen to colchester is if they turn tollgate into a factory low price shopping out let...but the grey suits wont allow that to happen will they??????????

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