A View from the Bridge

Six weeks into the new year and we are already seeing a large number of market redevelopments, privatisations and new opportunities on the high street as more national multiples prepare to slide under. Cloned high streets dominated by chains offering limited choice at high prices seem to be on the way out. We look forward to the resurgence of independent trading rising phoenix-like from the ashes of closing down sale banners.

As larger high street retail units empty out; the next layer up the food chain will begin to re-adjust. Landlords; particularly the heavily geared variety, will need to either reduce rent levels to attract businesses with flair and dynamism albeit without traditional covenant or, seek to expand within leisure and residential uses suited to local communities. Can this re-modelling of town-centres benefit markets? This is probably the single best opportunity for markets and it needs to be pursued with vigour and determination - something I'm convinced a number of like-minded firms will do and equally convinced that many will apathetically look on and wonder why their markets are failing!

We hope you enjoy this issue and always look forward to hearing your comments.

The Quarterbridge Team

Blackburn wins Indoor Market of the Year at NABMA

Congratulations to stallholders and staff at Blackburn Market for winning the 'Best Indoor Market of the Year' prize at January's NABMA/ATCM conference. Blackburn's new market opened last June inside the refurbished Blackburn Shopping Centre - "and not a day too soon" according to many stallholders who experienced the dingy '60's concrete hall it replaced fall down around them. The challenges of maintenance and falling occupancy were described by Council Head of Property, Andrew Bond in a presentation to delegates. He included lessons learnt the hard way such as controlling budgets for stall fit-outs, some of which had to be implemented before traders had signed their new leases.

Quarterbridge advised the Council throughout on the design, fit-out and lettings. Director Jonathan Owen said: "The Council took a bold decision to install display equipment for traders but it was crucial if the project was to be delivered on time. Open sightlines and quality displays are what shoppers expect nowadays but getting the right quality whilst meeting EU procurement rules was pretty demanding."

The 60,000 sq ft market now hosts some 120 stalls and a foodcourt, with direct links into the Blackburn shopping centre and 1200 space carpark. Follow-up surveys by consumer research company ROI Team have confirmed the food offer is the core attraction and a far younger shopper profile now use the market. Blackburn's design has learnt from the competition and it has paid off. Well done everyone - give yourselves a slap on the back!

Southport Market Update

Phase 1 of redevelopment work at Southport Market is complete and the 17,000 sq.ft market hall is beginning to resemble a wonderful place to shop and eat. Current traders will move over to phase 1 this month, freeing up space to complete the project which is due to be complete in the summer. Pre-letting is progressing well ahead of expectations with some great names and fantastic offers gearing up for the summer opening. It would appear that enthusiastic and successful independent businesses are still taking up good commercial ventures.

Growing excitement over Southpoort Indoor Market upgrade as 'wonderful' traders reserve stalls - Jan 26 by Joe Thomas, Southport Visiter

The multi-million pound refurbishment of the Indoor Market is on target to be completed this summer. Builders are about to move onto the second phase of the £3m project, set to revitalise the iconic shopping area. A host of 'wonderful' new traders are looking to move in according to Quarterbridge, who are overseeing the upgrade.

It is already confirmed the new-look - and newly named - Market Quarter will have a fresh food area, which will be filled with retailers including butchers, greengrocers, a fishmonger, delicatessen, and a host of world foods.

Other businesses are also lining up to rent stalls and excitement over the new market is growing. Local entrepreneur Giles Gottig believes the improvements will be of great benefit to the town. Currently considering renting space in there he revealed the mood was positive among town traders and spaces were filling up. He said: "I believe the refurbishment for the market is the right way to move ahead in the town. This was the only option in my eyes and what is positive is a number of people believe in it as space is filling already."

Read the full article in the Southport Visiter

Czech out the competition - Market Matters February 2012

How was your Christmas trading? Good I hope - despite the long hours, discount competition and light fingers looking for a little something extra. Anecdotal evidence suggests market sales held up pretty well in 2011 as shoppers looked for bargains. Mainstream retailers announced a mixed bag of results though. Like-for-like sales for multiples were up 2.2% but that was nothing to crow about in comparison to Christmas 2010 when sales fell 0.3% because of awful weather and the recession. Despite the continuing recession in 2011 the unseasonably good weather should have made Christmas 2010 easy to beat.

Debenhams, JD Sports and Next all reported flat sales with some retailers like Blacks Leisure never even making it through the festive period. Tesco issued a profits warning which wiped the odd billion or two off their share price, but Sainsbury announced 'their best Christmas ever'. Ocado and online sales were the big winners - up 20% or so. You know online marketing makes sense. Mainstream fashion retailers were stuck with furry coats in an Indian summer which prompted pre-Christmas sales earlier than ever with 25-50% discounts the norm. Buying departments were left with faces redder than Santa because you just can't rely on the weather anymore, can you?

Amidst all this uncertainty December seemed like a good time for some research, courtesy of Wizzair. OK, the hotel was above a lap dancing club in Prague but what more can you expect from a cheap weekend package?

Read the full article on our blog

A Shout in your Ear! Market Matters December 2011

I'm no great fan of TV's 'Mary, Queen of Shops' but I have to say last month's report by Mary Portas into 'The Future of our High Streets' is a good read. She might be a bit too quick jumping onto a passing bandwagon for everyone's tastes, but isn't that what retailing is all about? At the start of 2011 MP was invited by the PM to suggest a cure for the UK's declining high streets. She published her report in December which can now be downloaded from www.maryportas.com. It contains some uncomfortable reading for retail businesses both large and small:

"Expectations have been raised in terms of value and service which the average high street has simply failed to deliver. During the boom years many extremely mediocre businesses survived and flourished - Woolworths is a prime example". Ouch.

She goes on to criticise unimaginative retailers who might know their product inside-out but are simply no good at running a business.

"There are thousands of businesses in Britain who once managed to make a living out of retail but have simply failed to adapt. Hard-working, committed and professional people, frequently real experts in their fields who haven't adapted their retail offer to meet the increasingly-demanding expectations of todays consumer. In a world where the sheer sophistication, speed and scale of the web and major supermarkets will always be pushing new boundaries you'll never be able to compete with the range and diversity of the major multiples".

At this point a few of us might start to feel a bit uncomfortable but I have to say she's on the right track - there's very little room for sentiment in retailing where you either Do or Die. I also agree there's no point in going head to head with a supermarket chain - better to box clever and specialise. She points out the phenomenal growth of online sales is as great a threat to multiple retailers as independents so demand for high street shops was already drying-up before the recession hit. As Sir Philip Green of Arcadia Group says: Why carry the burden of a high street rent when you can increase profits by selling online? Although rents are (believe it or not) still cheap on markets there are still too few businesses promoting themselves via the web and treating their stall as a 'showcase' while making core profits on the internet. Online sales are growing at 10% per annum and set to increase.

Read the full article on our blog

The weights and measures system has a problem. The kilo is not what it used to be

Since 1889 the kilogram has been defined as the weight of a cylinder of metal kept under guard at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris. To the bafflement of scientists they have discovered it's weight is changing. Measurements confirm it's mass has changed by about 50 microgrammes - the equivalent of a tiny grain of sand - over the last 100 years. "Actually, we're not sure whether it has lost mass or gained it," said Alain Picard, director of the Bureau. "The change may be to due to surface effects, loss of gas from the metal or a build-up of contaminant".

This is particularly irritating to the French authorities as the 99% platinum/10% iridium cylinder was made in Britain and is the 'base constant' of the metric weights and measures system. The International System of Units (SI) depends upon it remaining constant to provide a precise measurement standard for engineers, scientists and merchants. If a kilo of spuds is no longer the same as a kilo of spuds a hundred years ago that is an oddity, but if a kilo of diamonds in Paris is now different to a kilo of diamonds in Africa then that is a problem.

This opens up the possibilities for some good arguments with your local Trading Standards department: "Don't blame me - my scales are calibrated against the French" etc. but it's also a reminder to have your scales recalibrated and PAT-tested from time to time. Your supplier will do this for you at modest cost.

Unlike its six 'base unit' standards in the SI system - the metre, second, ampere, kelvin, mole and candela - from which all other measurements are derived the kilo is the last unit still defined by a physical object. It will now go the same way as the platinum ruler which used to represent the world's standard metre. That was replaced by a 'fundamental constant' - the time light takes to travel 100 centimetres. The kilo will now become a fixed value of the 'Planck Constant' which in turn corresponds to the smallest packet of energy two particles can exchange.

What a shame - I like to see something for my money, not some weird mathematics devised by scientists. The platinum ruler and standard kilo will be placed on display in Paris, but only as historical curiosities. They have gone the same way as the purpose-built weigh house which often remains the most impressive building on a market square. Grainger Market, Newcastle contains a fine weigh house which used to house the weights and measures officers and measuring equipment.

Surveyors quickly learn that measurement is not an exact science - it depends on the accuracy of your technique and the precision of your tape measure. Ask a Surveyor, a Stallholder and the District Valuer to measure the floor area of a stall and you'll be lucky if their figures agree to within 5%. This causes all sorts of fun when calculating rents, rates and service charges by floor area and I can think of one case when I realised the District Valuer had forgotten to include the entire basement in his business rates calculations. Needless to say his proposal was accepted very quickly and he either never realised his mistake or was too embarrassed to admit it. A good result.

Read the full story on our blog

Our green and pleasant land? Market Matters November 2011

One thing the British public can feel rather proud of is it's town planning system. OK, the idea may have been invented by the Dutch but since it's adoption by the UK numerous pieces of legislation have stopped evil developers from concreting-over our green and pleasant land. It has been remarkably effective at forcing the government to run up a thumping big bill to justify the Sizewell B nuclear power station and back down over proposals for a third runway at Heathrow. Our backyards are, by and large, still green and pleasant - apart from the occasional illegal travellers site.

The big problem though is striking a balance between allowing economic development and maintaining the quality of what's left over. It takes years to devise legislation which grants planning permission for a high speed rail link or a line of electricity pylons - all of which has to be in place before your Council or MP's approve the development. Government departments like the DCLG are constantly second-guessing what might be needed in 10 years time to have the legislation in place to deliver it when it's needed. In the meantime the British Chamber of Commerce says the development is vital to the national interest and Swampy and his mates are digging themselves in amongst the trees.

Last month Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government introduced the proposed new National Planning Policy Framework to the House of Commons. It is supposed to save time and money by removing unnecessary bureaucracy - encouraging investment in the new homes, factories, supermarkets and airports we need to compete in the world economy. The framework would replace 1,300 pages of planning guidance evolved over 60 years with

52 pages drafted in 60 weeks and is based on the presumption that 'sustainable development' will be allowed whenever the planning authority cannot demonstrate grounds for refusal. The speed of it's introduction and it's simplicity has startled charities like the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the National Trust and even the public body Natural England which falls under the control of DEFRA.

Read the full article on our blog

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