Cumbria

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1st July has seen the adoption of our new logo developed for us by Cypher Digital in Milnthorpe.

The refreshing style reflects our commitment to the high street and our role advising, motivating, mentoring and supporting to the needs of the independent retail sector.

Working either directly with private clients or reaching greater sections of the retail community through business or economic development initiatives being delivered thorough  local councils we develop and deliver bespoke programmes individually orienated toward meeting the need of the particular trading environment or retail sector involved.

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The latest round of Shop Doctor in store surgeries will be taking place in three areas of urban Carlisle in the near future.

Up to 16 businesses across Currock, Upperby and Harraby will be receiving visits from The Shop Doctor in this latest round of business support specifically targeted at assisting the independent retail sector.

The work  has been commissioned by Carlisle City Council and follows previous support delivered to retailers in Brampton, Longtown and Dalston.

The asistance will be provided on a first come first served basis and retailers within the nominated areas are urged to make contact to arrange a visit without delay.

Visits can be arranged directly with the Shop Doctor via 015394 40020 or email bill@sldt.co.uk.

Alternatively contact Chris Pearson, Carlisle City Council Economic Development Manager on 01228 817015 or email christopherp@carlisle.gov.uk

Boost your Business information

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Businesses who have come together in Longtown to find routes to help address issues raised in the Longtown Economic Development Action Plan discovered more about the potential opportunities provided through the establishment of a Community Land Trust at their 4th meeting last night (25th May).

Andy Lloyd of the Cumbria Rural Housing Trust attended the meeting and gave an insight into Land Trust establishment and the platform that such an organisation could provide to link commercial activity to community benefit.

The business network is being facilitated by Bill Smith of Let’s Talk Shop via Carlisle City Council funding. Bill had suggested that a Land Trust might provide an innovative route to help revitalise the towns retail offering whilst providing opportunity to develop visitor attraction facilties and affordable rental housing stock.

Following last nights presentation the group are excited about the prospects that such an initiative could deliver are now to further investigate the opportunity.

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During a day spent in Millom on Thursday 19th May ‘The Shop Doctor’ met with a range of local retailers and assessed the impact of some of the important first impressions that faced visitors to the Town .

An evening Let’s Talk Shop workshop was attended by over 20 retailers who were given an insight into the initial findings of the day and received key pointers as to how they could take cost effective steps to help improve the impact of their individual businesses.

A report will be compiled to help Copeland Borough Council, who funded the days programme, identify keys issues that are felt to be impacting on retail vitality in the Town,

The meeting also saw opportunity to promote the ‘My Millom, proud to be’ initiative and to enthuse retailers to take advantage of £300 match funding available towards implementing improvements to their shop fronts.

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Copeland Borough Council have recruited “The Shop Doctor” to assess issues within Millom that are impacting on the retail vitality of the shopping environment and identify routes to help reinvigorate trade in the Town.

Following a day spent reviewing the Town an evening retail masterclass will be used to highlight the challenges identified and detail ways that they can be addressed. 

Our ‘Shop Doctor’ has been dispensing specialised retail assistance to independent retail operators across the north west (and beyond) since 1998 and is presently working with a number of local councils delivering a range of projects to help reinvigorate High Streets across the north west.

Click here for more about Millom

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TV Retail ‘Guru’ Mary Portas has today been asked by David Cameron to come up with a plan to help turn around the fortunes of our ailing High Streets.

Central to the review – ordered by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills – is the worrying level of sales in town centres, which have dramatically under-performed other locations.

Government figures show that between 2005 and 2010, town-centre sales grew by a paltry 1.5%, while those in out of town shopping centres grew 11.5% and non-store (mail order and internet) soared by 71.5%.

As our ‘Shop Doctor’ knows only too well there will be no simple solutions as the picture across the country is extremely complex and compounded by a range of issues that range from the costs associated with operating on the High Street , the state of the local economy, customer demographic and how supermarkets and out of town retail activities interface with the towns themselves.

Underlying this is the poor condition of many of our High Street environments, parking charges and accessibility and the individual presentation of the shops within them – and then there are the challenges of the varying levels of customer service experiences and customer perception (or misperception) of what it actually costs to shop in the High Street.

Read more about this issue from Retail Gazette here

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Copeland Borough Council have arranged for ‘The Shop Doctor’ to spend a day in May evaluating the retail scene in Millom as part of an excercise to help revitalise trading opportunities.

Following the day visiting the key retail areas The Shop Doctor will present an evening Masterclass detailing his thoughts about the visual impact that Millom retailers make on their customers, and recommending cost effective routes to develop business performance.