Podcast Pete
speaker
382 appearances
2 recordings
1 series
first heard Jun 2024
last heard Aug 2024
Podcast Pete’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
It hasn't rained for about 24 hours, which is surprising in itself. Got some sport to come. We've got those job opportunities as well. Local travel and weather and hidden treasure together. And I'm really looking forward to bringing you the very first instalment of our Priory Bark feature. Still to come a little bit later on.
And before we go, at the end of the show, a natural sound from a place you know from Earlswood this week. . But first of all, let's bring you the news sequence here on the Planet Ruggate podcast. Hello, I'm Peter Stewart.
And of course, the main news this week is that six weeks after starting their consultation, Marks & Spencer sadly announced their decision to close the store in Red Hill this week. Of course, first and foremost, our thoughts and best wishes are with the staff there who may lose their jobs or maybe be redeployed to other locations.
Now, M&S has been rationalising its store portfolio over the past few years. In layman's terms, what that means is they've been looking around and they've been weighing up the future of the store and of all of their buildings and where they actually want to be and the kinds of things they're going to be selling.
And which stores, not necessarily which ones aren't profitable, but which ones are less profitable or where they can save money by pulling out of some areas and maybe invest in other areas. There may even be possibility of more specific food stores or some big out-of-town stores, the likes of which we've seen elsewhere around the area, of course.
So that's been going on for the last couple of years. And in October 2022, so a good while ago, 18 months ago, they said that they were going to be restructuring the business to put more focus on its food-only stores. That's where an awful lot of the money is. And it's going to be closing 67 locations over the next five years, with a plan overall to close 110 sites overall.
And now it has been confirmed that Redhill is one of those. Now, the last day of trading, Saturday, the 17th of August, staff have been told that their roles will either be terminated completely or they're going to be relocated by the 31st of August.
Now, as I said last week, the announcement comes at a time when actually visitor numbers in the Belfry are on the up, up, up, up 20% so far in 2024, which is really fantastic. Some good work there because virtually all of the units are filled. And it's way ahead of all national comparisons.
And they've had, as I mentioned last week, four new independent stores have opened up in the last couple of months. And it was hoped that with M&S, they've got a long lease remaining there. And they've had some positive trading in Red Hill, especially over Christmas. And it was hoped, you know, everything was crossed there, that they would avoid the closure. But, as I say, it's not to be. Now...
What do the Belfry say? What's going to be the future of those units, those two floors at the Belfry? Well, they say that they're getting constant inquiries for new tenancies, most recently including a whole load of inquiries from national retail chains and leisure companies as well about that space. That was before M&S confirmed that they were going to be moving out.
Now, it will take a while for M&S not just to put down the shutters, which, as I say, happens on the 17th of August, but to actually take everything out. They've got a lot of stock to clear. They've got a lot of units to clear. All those food areas, you know, the fridges and the freezers and all of that stuff. They've probably got stuff. Of course, they've got stuff behind the scenes as well.
The kind of warehousing bit that we don't usually see. So that's going to take quite a bit to dismantle all of that from the building. And as I said last week, there's two floors. So another company that comes in may not want two floors.
They may only want one floor, in which case they've got to take out the escalator, because obviously that's going to be of a security concern if you've got an escalator between two completely different shops. Take out that. That's a mammoth job, isn't it? And then fill in the floor that'll be left with that huge void in.
Put in more lighting and security systems and sprinklers and all the rest of it. So... Boy, oh boy. I mean, I don't know. I'm no architect, as you may know. I'm struggling to know what I am. But I'm certainly not an architect or a builder. But, I don't know, Christmas? Seems a bit of a pinch to me.
Unless someone's going to be going in and maybe doing a pop-up, something, two floors ahead of Christmas. I don't know. But watch this space. The logistics of repurposing it is all going to take time. So... What does the Belfry say? M&S has been much loved by our shoppers for the last 33 years. We wish all of the M&S staff well and thank them for being part of the Belfry's history.
The Belfry's constantly evolved over the years as consumer habits have changed and it'll continue to evolve with new stores opening all the time. Although it will be disappointing to lose M&S... The bigger picture of the centre remains extremely positive, with more visitors using the centre and staying longer. We have strong inquiries on the retail space that will obviously now seek to progress.
And it continues, finally, the Belfry is busier than ever and the town itself is thriving with hybrid working practices established. and the opening of Redhill's new Rise Complex last year, including the light cinema and leisure, we are confident of welcoming new tenants in time to the centre and can't wait to share news when we are able to.
Now, obviously, all of this is quite concerning and upsetting. People getting in touch with loads of comments. Here are some of them. Joe said, simple answer is they make more money on their food than clothing and they pay a lot more in rental to have the clothing. I hope they move into another unit and have a bigger food section. They'd be missing a trick if they didn't.
Well, you'd like to think, wouldn't you? I mean, perhaps just take over one of the floors there at the Belfry and just make it a big food store? Just an idea. I know there are a few of those. There's that food-only store in Reigate, for example. And I know there's a food-only store...
I think I'm right in saying, you know, up the A3 at Tolworth Tower, in the bottom of the top, there's a... Did you know that? There's one there. So, you know, it is possible. I don't know. Just an idea. Sure, they thought about it. Marilyn says, why not shut... Ooh! Marilyn, I'm not going to read out your surname. Marilyn says, why not shut the Reigate one? After all, it is much smaller.
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