Northwich traders speak of challenges town centre businesses face

Changing shopping habits, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the following cost-of-living crisis have meant high streets across the country have seen declining footfall and rising rents and rates.

Northwich has been no different, with many businesses in the town fighting to stay afloat and others sadly succumbing and being forced to close.

Many traders have been supported by the Northwich BID (business improvement district), which aims to develop opportunities to make the town a ‘vibrant, exciting, and successful’ retail destination.

Birtwisle's butchers has been a fixture in Witton Street for 90 years and owner Nick Birtwisle has seen much change in his time in charge.

The 55-year-old said: “I wish the town could go back 30 years. Now it’s dying as every business will tell you.

Nick Birtwisle, owner of Birtwisle's butchers (Image: NQ)

“Somebody used to say Northwich is a good town to just go and nip in and get something, now you can’t do that unless you go to a supermarket.

“Every road system in and around Northwich is geared towards supermarkets, that’s what we are up against on a daily basis.

"I’m lucky enough I don’t have to pay rent on this property but for businesses having to pay business rates and rent off a landlord it must be very hard."

Mark Hormbrey, who previously owned Hormbrey’s Butchers in Weaver Square, was taken on by Nick after his shop was forced to close its doors in 2022. He described business as ‘awful’.

Store 101 worker Ryan Bates, aged 25, said the high street is ‘in decline’, saying: "People’s spending habits are changing people are being more careful.

"Everything used to be on outside the library but now its all moving to Barons Quay.

"I think the powers that be, local councillors, need to talk to local shop owners.

"Barons Quay is a great idea, of course it is, but it hasn’t done anything to help the town centre it’s just moved the problem."

Sarah Lee, aged 32, who helps manage Crane Quality Counsel Charity Shop, said: “Bring the council rates down and draw the independents in, that’s what people like now, they like that thrifting vintage.

"More needs to be done, yes there are events, but it needs to be the whole town."

Crane Quality Counselling (Image: NQ)

There have been shoots of improvement in the town as new business owner Paul Johnson Whittle, who took over Northwich Art Shop, has discovered.

He said: "I was pleasantly surprised by how busy the high street is with lots of cafe’s it seems there is a cafe culture which there never used to be. It was a sunny day and it was nice to see.

"There’s lots of towns with a higher percentage of empty units, but granted there is a lot of empty units.

"It’s been noticeably busy on the Artisan Market weekends. We also had the festival arts all month which has been good as an art business.

"It’s been a completely new venture for me being a new business owner, its a massive learning curve.

"I think it’s very useful to have the BID. It’s not just about business improvement there’s several different aspects of what they do, obviously things like footfall, but also making Northwich an area where communities can thrive because it’s all interlinked.

"The more in addition stuff we do as a town can only be beneficial."

The Northwich BID has been been voted in to continue its work from September 2024.

Nikki Halliday, the BID project manager, said: "We are looking at what enhancements the BID could bring on market weekends from September onwards to encourage our visitors to explore more of the town and spend their time there.

"Buskers and face painters are popular and are being looked into as park of our plans.

"Our social media activity also heavily promotes our many and varied retailers and that will always be our primary focus."

The BID also works to support events in the town, such as the Artisan Market, which are delivered by separate organisations.

Nikki added: "Extending the market further across the town is something the Market Company would need to look at.

"They are only now starting to get back to pre-Covid levels of traders so the size of the market is slowly increasing.

“Northwich has a lot going for it – but we also know it has been tough trading for may of our businesses over the past few years. 

"The BID works on their behalf and we will be working really hard over the next five years to ensure Northwich is seen as the place to be to live, work, shop and visit."