Today we say goodbye to Dorothy Perkins & Burtons from Rayleigh High Street as it has been sold to an online retailer as part of the collapse of the Arcadia Group. With the loss of 2450 jobs, the big names disappearing from our High Streets are coming thick and fast.
Whether the announcement of the reopening of our Towns will save those businesses hanging in the balance remains to be seen, but for many businesses the road ahead is surely going to be a bumpy one.
It’s a tragedy for Rayleigh High Street to lose a shop like Dorothy Perkins / Burton. Ever helpful staff who were not intrusive offered ideal service. We all wish them well. Personally I am not convinced, as we are being told, that such shopping will be going totally online. Will it really be economic to have vans running around to deliver items valued at less than £25.00? Especially with the Supreme Court ruling last week that Uber drivers are not self employed which will have implications for the ‘gig’ economy as a whole – including these van drivers. The fact is that as a country we had too many shops, it is sad that among the casualties good shops like DP/Burtons in Rayleigh have been forced to close. Local Councils need to nurse our town centres back to good health, one thing they can do is keep car parking costs down and even encourage ticket exchange. If a car parking space is paid for it’s paid for and it’s the sign of a friendly community if pass on their parking tickets – even if they are not officially transferrable.