YORK’S city centre shops are losing millions of pounds to their rivals and face being left behind unless major retail developments get off the ground, a new report has claimed.

A study by consultants claims businesses in the city’s historic heart have seen their share of the overall York market fall by nearly a quarter in the past nine years as out-of-town shopping centres draw customers away.

The outside team from GVA Grimley, brought in by City of York Council, say the Castle Piccadilly scheme is now vital to clawing back shoppers and could boost the city centre’s retail coffers by almost £146 million a year.

But GVA Grimley’s findings were attacked today by Adam Sinclair, chairman of York Business Forum, who claimed York’s “uniqueness and compactness” were helping it ride out the recession much better than rival centres such as Hull, Harrogate and Leeds.

He said pressing ahead with new shopping developments could damage the city’s unique position, adding: “Look at all the major fashion chains which have invested here since the original Castle Piccadilly redevelopment plan was turned down – Coast, White Stuff, The White Company, Vivienne Westwood, Zara, Cath Kidston, LK Bennett and so on. I totally disagree with the report’s findings.”

The consultants said that while a 60,000sqm retail scheme within the stalled York Central development could rake in an annual turnover as high as £395 million, it would massively hit the central shopping area, Monks Cross and Clifton Moor shopping parks and York Designer Outlet.

The report going before the authority’s local development framework working group next week, described as a city centre “health check”, recommended prioritising Castle Piccadilly and other potential shopping schemes at Stonebow House and the Telephone Exchange over the next decade.

Figures show the city centre currently attracts 28 per cent of consumer spending within the York area, compared with 37 per cent in 2001.

The council’s principal development officer, Rachel Macefield, said: “It is evident Monks Cross and Clifton Moor are taking a growing proportion of spend from the full spectrum of categories, including clothing and footwear. This has had a detrimental effect on the ability of the city centre to retain its market share for these goods.”

She said major development plans in Leeds, Hull, Darlington and Harrogate were likely to increase their shares and draw people away from York’s catchment are, adding: “The risk is that, without new investment in the city centre, its market share could continue to erode as shoppers change their centre of preference.”

GVA Grimley said a “no-development” scenario would only accelerate the city centre’s decline.

Ms Macefield said that while York’s “unique environment” was a major selling-point and must be protected, it also presented “physical barriers to expansion” and modern stores, which had led to the likes of Debenhams and Next opening new outlets on the outskirts of the city instead.

The traders

MARKET traders in York are doubtful that a huge new retail development would boost their takings, writes Jonathan Wilkes.

Gordon David, who has run the Gordon and Jane fruit and veg stall in Newgate Market for 35 years, said: “There are enough supermarkets in the area and I see what they’re trying to do, but they’re doing it for their own means and not for market traders. Supermarkets are now selling most of the things you can find on a market and it’s hard to keep up with big businesses. A development like the one being mentioned killed Doncaster market and I think it would be detrimental to us.”

The watchdog

THE layout of York’s city centre should not be an obstacle to the shops within it flourishing, according to Richard Dodd, of the British Retail Consortium.

He does not feel a new retail development has to be seen as pivotal and says York’s heritage should allow it to steal a march on its competitors.

“It would be wrong to assume barriers to physical expansion are anywhere top of the list of issues affecting the state of the market share in York,” he said.

“The biggest issues are costs, particularly rents, business rates and service charges, and also about the availability and price of parking and the ease of access for delivery vehicles. City centres are tremendously important to the overall retail mix, but I don’t think everything should primarily be about building new shopping centres or precincts.”

The shop boss

WHILE Castle Piccadilly could provide a long-term shot in the arm for the city centre, the short-term issue of parking fees needs to be looked at first, according to Nick Brown.

The managing director of Browns of York feels visitors within the “key heartland”, a 20-mile radius from the city, are dissuaded from shopping in York because they have to pay more than residents to park.

He said Park&Ride meant the likes of Monks Cross and Clifton Moor benefited more than the city centre.

He said: “The key issue is how we welcome people to the city centre and the parking system needs to be addressed. I feel the city centre has come back strongly with the likes of TK Maxx and the new Boots store opening, but we’re not complacent and realise there is a need for more shopping to stop the drift of shoppers out of town. I’d like to see Castle Piccadilly happen, but not on the scale of before.”