CARLISLE'S city centre continues to be hit by decline as this week yet another popular shop announced it will be closing its doors for the last time.
Peter Jackson the Jeweller opened in The Lanes, Carlisle in 2002 and in the 20 years since then, has become firmly established as a leading and prestigious jeweller.
It is a growing and distinguished list of A-list shops that are leaving the Lanes, shrinking the city centre's retail offer.
H&M closed in 2021, just weeks after Debenhams was forced to cease trading. Iceland on Lowther Street, Food Glorious Food and Homebase all recently disappeared from Carlisle streets.
Evidence of yet more retail decline on the High Street or part and parcel of the ever changing retail scene in our city?
In the last six months of 2021 more than 8,700 chain stores closed in British high-streets and Carlisle like other cities has been dented by a decline in footfall.
This begs the question, why is this happening and what can be done to save this city’s stores?
In 2019, Rishi Sunak announced as part of him Autumn budget a £675 million ‘Future High Streets Fund’ designed to help stores, in which Carlisle were set to receive £9.1 million in funding. However, the unprecedented events of the pandemic and the economic decline the country witnessed meant that many stores did not reap the benefits of this.
READ MORE: Thugs Bunny: Pop-Up park in Carlisle damaged
The County Council local committee for Carlisle published a report in 2020 detailing their hopes and plans for the future of the city.
It states: “To create a distinctive, coherent and inclusive city centre that will improve the perception of the city, increase social value, and ultimately improve economic performance through greater resident and visitor footfall and demand."
The 2008 credit crunch, austerity cuts and the Covid-19 pandemic are all milestones in the downward spiral compounded by the convenience of internet shopping.
These are challenging times for our City as a retail destination and a complex conundrum for the new 2023 Cumberland Council to solve in the years to come.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel