Calls for Cannock shop rent freeze to stop closures
Shop landlords in Cannock were today urged to freeze rent rates amid a string of closures in the town centre.
District council leader George Adamson spoke out after high street chains Burton and Evans closed on Saturday while Thorntons will shut towards the end of the month.
The council has slashed business rates for new traders in Cannock, Rugeley and Hednesford to try and fill empty shop units and Councillor Adamson called on landlords to follow the authority's lead when reviewing rents. He said: "It is very sad to see these shops closing and I understand it's because the landlords have been raising rental rates.
"While the council is offering special rates for new businesses to come into the town, which has brought one or two into the centre, the businesses don't seem to be getting the same help from the landlords who just keep on upping the prices.
"It must surely be better for landlords to freeze the rents than to have an empty shop on their hands – and it is much better for the town as a whole if more shops are filled." Money for the business rate reduction has been set aside from the £100,000 Mary Portas High Street Innovation Fund while the rest is coming from the Town Centre Improvement Fund.
Cannock Traders' Association said the trio of shop closures was 'upsetting' while Councillor Paul Snape, leader of the Conservative group on the council, said it was a 'major blow' for the local economy.
Sheila Dunning from the Traders' Association said: "We are trying to bring people into the town centre. To lose these big shops like this is terrible. It's not fair on the people of Cannock. I really feel quite deflated about it all."
Councillor Snape claimed there were now not enough big name stores in Cannock.
Councillor Adamson said shopper numbers were dropping in Cannock but rising in Hednesford.
"With the new development there, a lot of the shoppers are going there with the bigger stores and brands there," he said.
