One in eight of Huddersfield's shops empty

Jun 18 2009 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

ONE in eight shops in Huddersfield town centre is now lying empty.

A new survey revealed there are 91 vacant retail units – 13% of the 702 in town.

And the study also revealed a drop in the number of shoppers.

The worst affected area is the Packhorse Centre, which has 10 empty shops. New Street has nine, Princess Alexandra Walk has eight and Imperial Arcade has seven.

But the situation is not as bad as the figures suggest, say Kirklees Council officials.

Town centre manager Cathy Burger said: “We need to be aware that the recession has had an impact on all towns and shopping centres.

“I don’t know whether we have seen the end of it yet, but I don’t think it’s as bad as it’s made out to be.

“Some of our retailers are actually saying they are doing better than they were at this time last year.

“Those that are hardest hit tend to be people like jewellers. The main clothing retailers aren’t reflecting as bad a picture.

“We have to keep talking the town up, promoting it and having events that draw people in.”

The survey included the town centre, Shore Head, the top of Chapel Hill and the Ringway estate.

Andrew Jackson, the council’s project manager for regeneration and development, revealed the statistics during a presentation to Huddersfield South Area Committee about the effects of the recession.

He said the figures of empty shops could be misleading.

More than half the empty units are kiosk-sized outlets of less than 500 sq ft.

Mr Jackson said: “It is more appropriate to look at the figures for vacant floor space in the town centre.”

Slightly more than 8% of floor space is currently vacant.

In 2006, 11% of town centre shops were empty – but that amounted to 12% of the total floor space available.

By comparison, Wakefield has 16% of empty retail space. Hull (21%), Rotherham (26%) and Rochdale (29%) are also worse off than Huddersfield.

Mr Jackson said: “To have a vacancy rate of five to 10% is accepted as the norm because it allows a town to move and breathe.”