Frome is bucking the national trend with a thriving town centre.
That’s the opinion of the Frome Chamber of Commerce who have responded to research by the British Retail Consortium that says the number of empty shops in Britain’s high streets has risen again, with one in seven now vacant.
With new businesses setting up shop in the town centre during the past year and a strong ‘shop local’ attitude in the community, Frome’s post-lockdown economy is looking promising, says the Chamber
President of Frome Chamber of Commerce, Pauline Davey, told Frome Times, “It has been heartening to see new retail and hospitality businesses open up during the past year, in what has undoubtedly been one of the most difficult trading environments faced by the High Street in a long time.
“We have seen shops close, not necessarily because of Covid, and others open in their place. Presumably that is because those businesses have faith that Frome offers a robust place to open their doors, and the chamber would certainly agree with that.
“We have heard that market towns like Frome may have benefited in comparison with city centres. People have tried to ‘shop local’ to support local businesses and we don’t have a heavy reliance on the big High Street names, which are closing premises. And with more people working from home, rather than commuting away, that has left them more opportunity to enjoy what their home town has to offer.
“There are empty units in Frome town centre, some of which have been vacant for some time. And of course we’ve had the worrying news that the Westway Co-op and therefore Post Office, are to close.
“We have to hope that as the dust settles and certainty returns then those units will fill up because Frome definitely remains a popular destination, both to live and to visit.”
“It is not unusual for there to be some vacancy rates in a town centre and I certainly don’t think that the vacancy rate is high in Frome. It’s not necessarily a bad thing for high street businesses to close and new ones open in their stead – it refreshes the ‘offer’ for residents and visitors.
However, the chamber has raised concern about how Frome’s self-employed community has fared in the pandemic.
Pauline continues, “These are the people that have not had the benefit of the same – or indeed – any financial support from the Government and it is difficult to have a clear idea about how many of those businesses are still operating.
“But there continues to be a lot of free help and support for start-ups and small businesses which hopefully will help those entrepreneurs recover or plan for a new future.
“Mendip is running a programme of free business events through May: www.mendip.gov.uk/businessevents
And the Heart of the South West Growth Hub: www.heartofswgrowthhub.co.uk; and Business West: www.businesswest.co.uk offer a lot of free support, advice and information.
“The chamber is also working with Frome Town Council to organise a number of training and networking events that will run this year and Somerset Chamber also offers a lot of training events, often free or for a small charge, throughout the year: https://business.somerset-chamber.co.uk/events.
