Wisbech Community Forum

FOLLOWING ON FROM MY RAMBLINGS YESTERDAY I spent an interesting hour on the web today, prompted by this.

The sign is in the window of what used to be M&Co in the High Street. I followed up the landline 'phone number, and discovered that it belongs to a Market research company in Kent.

Nothing wrong with that of course, but it does tend to back up my feeling that a large part of Wisbech town centre is owned by people 'out-of-town', who may have little or no connection with Wisbech.Further research led me to the Estates Gazette website, which revealed the kind of rents which town centre shopkeepers can be expected to pay.

I did email the address on the poster, and was pleasantly surprised to hear back almost immediately from a gentleman who said, yes, the property was owned by his company, Merlin Research Ltd.

ONE OF THIS MORNING'S HEADLINES was the depressing news that town centre chain stores are closing shops around the UK at an alarming rate. It seems that there are three main reasons for this:

• Our continuing love affair with out-of-town retail parks and the free parking they offer
• Our ever-growing use of the internet
• Rents which many retailers simply cannot afford to pay

SO, IF ANYONE IS PREPARED TO OPEN UP A SHOP IN WISBECH, be they migrants or blue-blooded sons and daughters of the Fens, provided they are keeping things legal and financing the business by hard work and initiative - ALL THE VERY BEST OF LUCK TO THEM!

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