DAY after day we hear of more business failures.
Fashion chain Republic has just gone into administration putting 2,500 jobs at risk including some in Huddersfield. And the town’s HMV store just across the way in Kingsgate will close its doors within weeks.
All the more disheartening then to hear the story of one Huddersfield-born businessman with a successful shop in Bolton and ambitions to open another in his home town.
Ian Hopkinson has a successful business selling electronic cigarettes. He had his eye on a spot in the centre of Huddersfield until he discovered the scale of the rents.
At £70,000 a year, the rent for the shop in New Street was, he says, £20-30,000 a year more than for a similar property in Bolton.
Mr Hopkinson says his business is booming and he hopes to open another shop in three to six months with more to follow. He now doubts that the next one will be in Huddersfield.
In tough times when retail chains are closing shops on an almost daily basis, the independent sector is surely where we have to look for secure and stable businesses.
It is then perhaps time for private landlords, the local authority and any other relevant partners to get together and discuss what kind of packages could be developed in order to make Huddersfield more attractive to businesses.
Innovation has become a buzz word around the town and has helped bring some exciting new projects to the area. It would be good to see all that energy and expertise used to re-examine our high streets to see what more could be done to bring in and support new businesses. The alternative is a bleak one.
