Sir Tom Hunter's tears at state of high street are a wake-up call to us all

Another week, another brand disappears from the High Street. WH Smith is the latest casualty after shoppers decided they no longer want to buy magazines or three giant Fruit and Nut bars for the price of two.

William Henry Smith, now rebranded as TG Jones, joins John Menzies, Dorothy Perkins, Cath Kidston, Ted Baker and so many others in leaving the high street. Politicians may struggle to grasp the scale of the collapse but it’s not been lost on one of Scotland’s leading businessmen.

This week Sir Tom Hunter revealed he’d been reduced to tears by a visit to his local high street over Christmas. Sir Tom’s rise to success started in the 1980s, selling trainers from the back of a van before opening a retail outlet in Ayr high street and then stores around the country.

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Sir Tom Hunter, who built the Sports Division empire, cried when he saw the number of empty shops in Ayr town centre where he began his business (Picture: Lesley Martin) | PA

Rise of online shopping

When someone with his track record and commitment to Scotland sounds the alarm bell, it’s time to sit up and listen. And he’s not alone, in November Paisley-born broadcaster Andrew Neil lamented the state of high streets calling Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow “a national disgrace”.

Strong forces are at work here. The decline in brick-and-mortar retail was happening fast anyway but the Covid shutdown accelerated things. About a third of British shopping now takes place online. Panicking retailers have reacted by trying to cut costs, shutting stores and reducing staffing which, in a classic example of the chicken-and-egg theory, then puts customers off visiting stores.

Business rates are a big part of the story. High charges combined with rises in the minimum wage and National Insurance contributions make trading simply uneconomic for some retailers.

Rates relief introduced in the Budget this week will help but it’s only part of the story. Out-of-town retail has carved out the heart of main streets up and down the land. At least one in eight high street stores in Scotland now lie empty.

Lack of parking

In Dumfries, a proliferation of retail parks has left the traditional centre of the old market town unrecognisable from years gone by. Last year Next won a seven-year battle to move to premises out of town, exacerbating the issue. The council were right to fight the plans on the basis of the impact it would have but they caused the problem in the first place by encouraging retail parks in their heyday.

Lack of parking is another factor in the decline of town centres. The drive to remove cars has hit retail hard. Retailers also need to step up and provide bright, attractive places where people want to spend their money, offering services and experiences shoppers cannot get online.

There is still hope. If 30 per cent of retail is taking place online, that means 70 per cent of it continues in person up and down the land. And some businesses are booming. Next and JD Sports are doing well and Marks and Spencer are planning to double their food business. If the business is nimble and the offering is right, build it and they will come.

If we want to save the high street, everyone has a part to play. From politicians to planners to the public and how and where we spend our cash, the high street as a source of jobs and a centre of communities is still worth fighting for.