Tell us What do you think about Huntingdon town centre

‘Huntingdon’s Dead’ (Long Live Huntingdon!)

As any regular user of local Huntingdon Facebook groups will know, this is a common term used about our amazing town. So often we find ourselves in Facebook battles trying to outline the facts about our town and show people just how exciting it is to be a part of Huntingdon right now.

We at Huntingdon First, the Business Improvement District, dedicated to promoting the town centre of Huntingdon, thought we would take some time to talk through some of the incredible positives about Huntingdon.

There’s so Many Empty Shops!

“There’s so many empty shops, it’s so sad” Yes, there are empty units, though we’d like to give you some context around how Huntingdon compares to the rest of the UK.

There is a national survey completed quarterly across the UK by Springboard (National data capture company – you may have seen them on the news) this survey shows how each individual town looks in comparison to the national picture.

On the last survey Huntingdon registered a total of 21 empty units out of a total of 208 (units are classed as ground floor premises retail or hospitality/offices spaces within the town centre) this works out to be 10.1%.

By comparison the UK average is sitting at 11.2% and the ‘East’ at 12.5%. Consider that from the 21 currently vacant units (3 that have now been taken are due to open soon) 10 of those units are in St Benedict’s Court an area of town that has needed redeveloping for a number of years, after being left untouched by the previous landlords.

The good news here is that this area was bought by a new landlord last summer who is actively working with the town to develop it, having recently introduced ‘My Dentist’ as the first of their new tenants.

Work is underway (mainly behind the scenes) at St Benedict’s Court, and we will bring you news of new tenants as and when they are announced. And it’s great news about B&M taking the old Wilko unit, meaning that one of the largest units in town is no longer empty!

It’s a Ghost Town

“No one comes to Huntingdon town centre anymore” On the contrary! We have a great deal of people come into the Town Centre every day! Our footfall data (again through Springboard the national data analysts) is showing a slow but steady increase (which goes against the national story for high streets!)

In fact, December 2023 saw a total of over 618,000 people across the month! With over 157,000 alone in the 6 days leading up to Christmas! This represents a very substantial uplift when compared to our same data for 2022.

Figures for December show that Huntingdon was 4.8% up year on year, which doesn’t sound a lot but compare that to the data for the ‘East’ which sits at 3.7% up year on year, ‘High Streets’ even lower at 0.0% increase year on year and the UK as a whole (which includes all major cities!) 3.3% up year on year!

As you can see, Huntingdon was (as with vacancy rates) up on the national trend! As a reflection Huntingdon normally sits at around 110,000 – 120,000 in a given week. That’s a LOT of people still finding life in Huntingdon!

Nothing Ever Happens in Town

“Nothing ever happens here” Not true! Huntingdon boasts a huge number of events throughout the year, with many people involved from us at BID, Huntingdon Town Council, Huntingdon District Council and Community Groups.

Each of us bringing something new to the town and our communities. A large number of visiting markets including our home grown monthly ‘Fayre on the Square’ (a joint venture from us at Huntingdon First, Huntingdon Town Council and Huntingdon District Council) and of course the very popular Christmas Market and lights switch-on.

Huntingdon First pride ourselves with the events we put on, including 2022’s Dino Day that saw a record 40,000 people in the town over the course the day, Similarly our now annual Halloween Trick or Treat Trail brings in more than 2,000 alone during 4-6pm.

Each of these events are designed to promote Huntingdon, stimulate visits to our town centre and encourage children to engage in our business community, thereby safeguarding their futures.

It's all Charity Shops, Barbers and Vape Shops!

“All we have are charity shops” That’s not true, there are of course a number of charity shops in town, but then there always has been!

Currently we have 15 charity shops in Huntingdon (remember we have 201 retail units!) But is that a bad thing? Charities in the UK rely on income to support their charitable missions.

We sometimes don’t see the connection between receiving much needed help from say, the British Heart Foundation in our private lives to us shopping in their retail shop so that more people can receive that support.

As a rough figure 13.8% of the (National) British Heart Foundations Charitable income comes directly from their retail stores, for more localised charities that number rises substantially.

The Attic (St Benedict’s Court) receives around 80-85% from its single shop unit, with 100% of their revenue fed directly back into Huntingdon’s community – giving much needed support to those around us, including many of you reading this, your friends, family and neighbours. Charity shops are also incredibly good for the environment, reducing waste and proving the old saying “One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure” (Though this of course isn’t just limited to the male population).

Perhaps it’s time we realised the importance of charity shops within our community, and that with 7.7% of our town centre businesses being charity shops – we’re far from being overrun! Likewise, barbers are now and have always been a necessity in life!

People will always need their haircut; these places wouldn’t survive if they didn’t have customers which to us says a great deal about why they are still here!

Similarly, with Vape Shops, not to everyone’s taste but let’s remember back in the day it was Tobacco shops (yes Huntingdon used to have one too!) In fact, many of the local newsagents used to also sell tobacco!

Of course, tobacco shops, many butchers, fresh veg and bakeries have also been in decline as we as a community moved our shopping habits over to larger supermarkets that offered convenience and, in many cases, a cheaper option due to the buying power of larger brands.

This has been a gradual change in shopper’s behaviour over the course of the last 10-20 years but is now considered ‘the norm’. Sadly, even market traders have seen a decline in people shopping for fresh produce with them, there are many who would of course like this to return, sadly it’s unlikely with a nation of people looking for convenience.

There are, as with all towns and cities across the UK many problems and perceptions. The High Street that we all know is changing, it’s happening all around us, and in every other part of the country.

As shopper’s culture is to shop online. This obviously has an impact on local businesses, no longer can they be seen as the ‘shop window’ where people can browse and select what they want without purchasing, instead choosing to order online, that’s not sustainable as a business in the 21st century.

We absolutely agree that physical purchases in store can cost you a little more, but let’s remember what that ‘little more’ covers – rent, rates, utilities and importantly staff.

A much higher proportion of their outgoings than a large warehouse/retail unit. Please remember that many private landlords own the properties in town, meaning that they set the rent, not the council.

Similarly business rates are set nationally through the valuations office (HMRC) and not through the local councils, who do great work in supporting our local shops and services.

Huntingdon does boast a HUGE number of large chain retailers in the town centre, next time you’re in our town count them, then when you are visiting friends in a similar sized market town with a population of c.25,000, count how many they have!

In short, Huntingdon is a great place to live, work and play. Our vacancy rate is lower than the national average, our footfall is rising and ahead of the UK curve, we have some great events to keep people engaged and pushing our town centre as part of our community and its culture.

We need to keep shopping local; we need to make sure that the businesses and services that are available remain relevant and that’s down to us all. We need to #ShopLocal #ThinkLocal and Re-Discover Huntingdon as it’s a pretty great place to be right now!