This week Kent Live reported on a recent spate of shop closures in Tunbridge Wells.
Favourites such as H&M Kids, Strada and Gandys have closed or are set to close by the end of the month.
While our poll showed nearly a third of shops in the Royal Victoria Place (RVP) shopping centre are standing empty.
Despite this, Karen Pengelly town centre manager for Royal Tunbridge Wells Together which was formed in 2016 to reinforce the town's brand and enhance its economy, insists it is not all doom and gloom.
She said the next few years will be an “enormously exciting time for Tunbridge Wells.”
Q: Are high business rates to blame for the recent store closures?
"I think the revaluation was done early 2017; and a lot of businesses have actually remained the same. An awful lot of businesses have actually seen their business rates fall enormously because the threshold was raised, and there’s a lot more businesses now that are zero rated. There have been increases in places, but I don’t think it's necessarily a bar to doing business. Apart from anything else if a business if looking at a premises they're looking more primarily at the location."
Q: Do you think fewer shops is a reason businesses don't want to open here?
"I don’t think it’s a case that businesses don’t want to come here. If you walk down Camden Road for example, there are three businesses opening in the next three weeks. There’s a new restaurant, there’s a new beauty spa and there are lots of start-ups at all times. The shops here (Ely Court) are empty intentionally because of the redevelopment - you can’t redevelop when there are still people operating."
"Businesses have always closed but that’s an organic process, the pet shop on Camden Road closed because the lady retired. It’s not all bad news though, Fromage and French traded 30 per cent up this Christmas and that is outstanding and they’re not alone. I think it’s fair to say that online shopping has taken away from the high street but I think that we are actually really well placed to ride that out."
Q. What developments can people expect to see?
"Food and beverage is huge - and you’d expect it to be, we’re surrounded by producers and artisans. We’ve got more start-ups in this part of Kent due to our really entrepreneurial demographic. We do a business intelligence report that looks at the number of business start-ups and they remain really healthy.
"I think Camden Road again, is a really good barometer, you’ve got a lot of start-ups and small businesses there. I think leisure is going to come into the high street in a big way over the next few years, as well as a rise in flexible work spaces. Places like The House on Monson Road that offer self-employed people places to hold meetings away from home, I think that’s something that we will see growth in definitely."
Q: When do you think people will start to see the £70million upgrade of the RVP?
"That is something that only RVP can answer. I talk to RVP but I’m honestly not aware of the details or the plans."
Q: People have said parking in Tunbridge Wells is too expensive. Do you think that that has affected businesses?
"In our Town Centre Intelligence Report we released data that we had recorded over a three month period last year. What we found was that on average the average occupancy rate of our car parks was only 65 per cent. For 24 hours of parking in Tunbridge Wells it cost on average £7.33 compared to Hastings at £8.80 and Canterbury which costs £14.40 for nine hours on average.
"I think the days where people could drive up to a shop and park there for free for 20 minutes have disappeared, so while there is a cost to parking, I think it’s a reasonable cost. I don’t think it’s a bar to people visiting town centres."
Q: What are your thoughts on the future of Tunbridge Wells?
"I think the next few years are enormously exciting and the potential is absolutely huge. I’m really happy to be Town Centre Manager here because there’s lots going on."
