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Now there's a rumour that'll please all the traders up there...I heard the whole of Greengate St north of the High House was due to close by the end of the year. Everything must go.
Total lack of class alphagamma. There are people with jobs up there and private businesses that can do without such stupid comments
That's what the signs and boars say in the windows.
never found the need for 3 outdoor shops in town, but you never these places like to advertise the closing when they actually are not, like sports direct.
Mmm, sorry to pour oil on troubled waters but the rates will not really help. The problem looming for Retailers is the minimum wage that will continue to rise- large Retailers can handle that by reducing staff perks ( see Boots, B&Q, Nero etc etc etc) but for small Retailers and Independents it is far more serious.
Add to that the Pension nonsense that will hit them this year or next AND, as I discovered to my disgust - they can no longer claim any SSP back that they pay if someone goes sick (they always used to be able to claim it back but the government decided it was not worth the effort and simply stopped it.) It may only be £88 quid a week but that equates to I would guess £300 worth of sales for the smaller trader- the difference between breakeven and loss for some. I think we have a lot more pain to come for the retail small guys - and it's those that make Stafford different from the other towns in the area.
The ONLY thing that will change this is if we all started actually supporting the small Retailer - you'd be amazed how good they actually are. If you are dealing with the owner they genuinly care about you and will help in ways that will take you back years. As Gareth suggests, St Marys and Mill Street is not a bad place to start. You will miss them once they are gone.
There was a post on Facecloth the other day that summed it up very well: "When you buy from a local independent you are not giving your money towards a posh company car, an expensive Head Office or an off shore bank account, you are helping a local person pay their bills, helping them employ other loocal people, helping them put food on the table for their kids - and keeping your local economy alive usually whilst getting the advice and service we used to get in the 50's "
This goes along with my "shot through the head" test - the people you see in front of you, usually on low wages, would be missed in the morning, if they were shot through the head tonight - but, the people removing the money from our local economy would not be missed for ages, if ever.This part I don't buy. If people can't live on the wages given then why work at all? If you need government topups because your employer can't give you a wage you can live on without then the employer doesn't deserve to have staff. Wages need to rise because costs have risen, housing and utilitiy bills have skyrocketed where wages have not. Sick pay is a tricky one, but I believe employers should meet the first maybe 10 days per year the employee is sick. After that they should be be going to the government, but if you want to keep good staff you need to treat them well.
This part I do agree with. Every penny you spend with a multinational is a penny that leaves our town (even our country) making us as a whole poorer. Spend local and see the benefits locally, more money flowing through local businesses means more local people employed.
This part I don't buy. If people can't live on the wages given then why work at all? If you need government topups because your employer can't give you a wage you can live on without then the employer doesn't deserve to have staff. Wages need to rise because costs have risen, housing and utilitiy bills have skyrocketed where wages have not. Sick pay is a tricky one, but I believe employers should meet the first maybe 10 days per year the employee is sick. After that they should be be going to the government, but if you want to keep good staff you need to treat them well.
That's more or less exactly what I was going to post, so you've saved me the job.This part I don't buy. If people can't live on the wages given then why work at all? If you need government topups because your employer can't give you a wage you can live on without then the employer doesn't deserve to have staff. Wages need to rise because costs have risen, housing and utilitiy bills have skyrocketed where wages have not. Sick pay is a tricky one, but I believe employers should meet the first maybe 10 days per year the employee is sick. After that they should be be going to the government, but if you want to keep good staff you need to treat them well.
This part I do agree with. Every penny you spend with a multinational is a penny that leaves our town (even our country) making us as a whole poorer. Spend local and see the benefits locally, more money flowing through local businesses means more local people employed.
I understand what you are saying but you miss my point. The "new" minimum wage (marketed as a "step up") has done nothing to help the poorly paid. Big compnaies have simply reduced their hours or reduced their perks to ensure it costs them nothing extra. Some have simply reduced the contracted hours to save on holiday entitlement. The smaller business cannot do this. Most independents run on low margins as it is, relying on the service they give to attract customers rather than low prices - They will never be able to match the prices of the big sharks. We do, however, have to accept price DOES play a part in what and where we buy from, so fantastic service is a very blunt tool to use, but is the only tool the independent has. What we need in Retail is Equity - so the small person is playing with a decent hand.
Most good independents treat their staff like family members and often pay their staff more than they pay themselves, especially during lean times. Of course wages need to rise, but costs for the small Retailer also rise and in real terms by a far higher percentage than it does for the big guys.
If I could work out how to post images I'll post a very good one that describes Equity very well