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by Lib Dem team on 26 May, 2012
Stockport has been selected as one of the twelve towns across the country to be a Portas Pilot.
You can see the video that formed part of Stockport’s bid here:
As a Portas Pilot town, Stockport will receive around £100,000 in additional funding, along with a tailored package of support from Mary Portas and the Government.
This is excellent news for Stockport. Whilst Stockport Borough has an excellent record for jobs and businesses, retail in our Town Centre has long been a concern, not least because of the competition we face from Manchester and the numerous out-of-town retailing centres such as the Trafford Centre, Cheadle Royal and Handforth Dean.
We know that there’s a lot of work to do to make our Town Centre all it should be, we’re up for the challenge and very glad to have the support of Mary Portas and the Government to help us.
3 Comments
The Portas Pilot – a crash landing in the making ?!
Seriously. Stocky has to face up to changing shopping habits – result ? – fewer shops.
Oneself HAS to order many things (particularly apparel) online – the shops either do not stock the items (Day Bow Ties) or do not cater for the ‘larger than life’ (XXXL !) consumers. They probably would be out of business if they tried to cater for all sizes never mind tastes.
One can think of atleast three ‘pseudo’ shopping streets in Stocky town centre, which, if they closed all the shops, would not be missed – Churchgate, SaintPetersGate and Wellington road (N&S). These are quite simply ‘off the radar’ of most shoppers.
Stockports Shopping Renaissance ? – a completely rebuilt Merseyway – including the ‘outside’ – Chestergate and Princes Street, plus, the old Market Place.
Less = More.
Not quite sure what will be achieved with £100k.
Relatively little will be achieved with £100k (though the Council’s already put in matched funding) but there are other aspects of being a Portas Pilot town which should make a much bigger difference – as long as we grasp the nettle and make the most of the opportunity.