Chippenham residents and visitors to the town are being urged to support its privately owned shops as part of national Independent Retailer Month.
Nearly half the retail units in the town are independently owned – reflecting a growing trend across the South West in particular for smaller, locally owned stores to set up and compete alongside the national chains.
To coincide with Independent Retailer Month – which is taking place this month – the Chippenham Business Improvement District (BID) is calling for people to use these stores and avoid Chippenham becoming just another ‘clone town’ full of chain stores with no local character.
The BID, which was launched last November after being approved in a ballot of town centre businesses, aims to improve Chippenham through a range of marketing initiatives and events.
BID manager Carolyn Brownell said: “It is important not only to celebrate and support our town’s ‘indies’, but to also recognise their importance to the future growth and success of Chippenham.
“Indies are just as important in attracting footfall as the chain stores as they give the town centre variety, colour and choice, and this, when balanced with the big brand familiarity of chain stores, is what attracts visitors and shoppers from the surrounding region.
“It is crucially important that we have a healthy balance between independents that offer variety, and chain stores that offer familiarity and reassurance. Towns and cities centre that have an imbalance do not thrive. If they don’t have enough indies they suffer from becoming clone towns and fail to attract inward visitors.”
She said the South West boasted a very healthy independent retail community. Latest figures from The Local Data Company and the British Independent Retailers Association show the region experiencing the greatest increase in the number of independents of all regions across the UK. Chippenham’s retail mix shows 46% of its stores are independently owned.
“We need to support that growth,” said Ms Brownell. “We also have half the national average of vacant shop units. These are great statistics on which the Chippenham BID and the town can build. But we must not forget that retail remains a challenging environment, so it is crucial that we continue to support all of the town’s retailers.”
Sarah Jayne of independent outlet SJs Café added: “As a locally owned business, it is crucial that we can rely on the support of the Chippenham people to help us survive. But in order for the town’s independents to thrive, we need to attract more shoppers into the town. The Chippenham BID has laid out a vision and a plan to make the town more attractive to outside visitors, and this can only help us. These are exciting times for the town and its retailers, and we are now perfectly placed to reap the rewards of a positive transformation.”
Last month the BID launched its Chippenham Connected brand which features the town’s iconic, Brunel-designed Western Arches. An app will be launched which the BID hopes will become a promotional tool for businesses, including a loyalty scheme to boost local spending.
Pictured, from left: BID members Faye Matthewman, Keiran Mulvaney, Michelle Donelan MP, Sarah-Jayne Puntis, John Paine and Melody Thompson
