High Street Task Force targeting West Bromwich turnaround

The town is one of 20 in the country chosen for a Government pilot scheme to help reverse the fortunes of ailing town centres.

It means traders will get face-to-face support from experts, access to research, online training and footfall data to businesses in a bid to give them a “vital edge”.

It follows the town getting £25 million to revamp its high street as part of the £3.6 billion Towns Fund.

Only 14 of the towns to benefit from the High Street Task Force have been announced so far – they also include Stirchley, Birmingham and Coventry.

Robert Jenrick, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary, said: “The task force will provide the tools traders need to get the best advice possible and a dashboard of key local data.

“Central to the mission of this new Government is levelling up towns and regions, ensuring prosperity and opportunity are available to everyone.

"We will invest hundreds of millions into projects to transform town centres and support bespoke plans to meet the needs of communities.”

Sandwell Council leader, Councillor Yvonne Davies, said: “We will work closely with the West Midlands Combined Authority, the High Streets Task Force and businesses to maximise opportunities to progress our plans to improve the town centre.”

'Money is welcome but spend it wisely'

Residents of the town said they were pleased to hear about the funding, but urged any extra money to be spent on areas that will make a real difference.

Melvin Coates, 59, spoke about how it could be used for modernise the town centre and increase the size of the market.

He said: “I would like to see more shops on the high street. It seems like all the little shops have gone now and the big names like Woolworths and the like have all disappeared and we’d like them back as it would allow us to do more shopping in the stores.

“I do think it’s good that West Bromwich has been given this money and I hope it’ll do good with it, rather than just wasting it.

“I’d really like them to do this place up and make it more of a 21st century place to shop as the market has just deteriorated over the years.

“There’s a couple of stalls at both ends of the High Street and a great big gap in the middle, and you could have so much more.”

Margaret Roberts, 67, spoke about how a modern market with greater security was a must for her, adding: “I think the news about the funding is lovely. The town centre needs doing up in terms of the shops and how things look.

“I think the funding could help improve the town centre by making it safer as there’s a lot of beggars around and you don’t feel safe in the town now, so we want more security people.

“Making it more modern will help make it safer as you’re worried about your purse all the while and when you’re shopping, you’ve got your shopping on your mind and you’re worried about your purse and people bumping into you.”

Traders will get face-to-face support from industry experts, access to research, online training and footfall data to businesses as part of this pilot scheme.

Some of the traders on the market have spoken about how the incoming funding could help improve the facilities and attract more people to the town.

Paul James has been a trader at West Bromwich for 30 years and the 58-year-old from Halesowen spoke about how any help would be appreciated.

He said: “We need all the help we can get in the town and I think that money can help the town by improving it and making it a place to get people back in.

"The town is the heart and soul of the area and we need people here, simple as that.”

Manisha Kumari sells Asian clothing and accessories at her stall in the market and the 24-year-old from Tipton said the funding would be good for updating the market.

She said: “I think the news of the funding is really good because we could really do with investment like that here for things like updating the market stalls, particularly in weather like this because it’s freezing.

"Speaking as someone who works in a stall, you get lots of robberies going on, so funding towards help with that would be good.”