The changing face of Huddersfield town centre was at the heart of a debate at a meeting of Kirklees Council’s Cabinet.
The loss of major retailers such as W H Smith, Next and Beaverbrooks was described as a “crisis” by one councillor while council leader Clr Carole Pattison said Huddersfield was “ahead of the game” and would be the envy of others at how it was re-inventing itself.
Green group leader Clr Andrew Cooper, whose Newsome ward covers the town centre, expressed concern at the recent closure announcements of Next, Beaverbrooks, Foot Asylum, Magic Rock, Slug & Lettuce and others.
He said: “We have a crisis now in Huddersfield in terms of the amount of businesses leaving the town centre.
“These are individual decisions made by companies but we need to have a plan to address that. We need to be working with some of our traders who invest a lot of time, energy and enthusiasm into the great businesses we have operating in the town centre.
“A lot of businesses I have spoken to don’t feel we are actively supporting what they are doing. We have to look at the town centre to see what we can do, not just for (future) years but the here and now.”
Clr Graham Turner, Cabinet member for regeneration and finance, said the closure of businesses in the town centre was down to “natural churn” and added: “Businesses always open and close in town centres.
“We lost W H Smith not too long ago but W H Smith are looking to go down to 200 shops across the entire country. That’s the nature of the beast. Its profit is in airports where they can charge a premium and that’s where they see their future.”
Beaverbrooks is leaving Huddersfield after 90 years but Clr Turner said its business was changing too.
“I suspect – but I don’t know – that not many people get engaged anymore and maybe Beaverbrooks don’t sell as many engagement rings which used to be a cornerstone of their business.”
Clr Turner said Huddersfield still had a slightly higher occupation rate than the national average but said 31% of retail sales had moved online.
“When I was a child that’s 31% extra that would have gone into a town centre and that 31% will only grow in the future.
“So the retail offer isn’t great because people don’t want it to be great. People don’t want to buy a pair of trousers or whatever in shops, they buy online. They order 10 pairs and send nine back.
“The world has changed. We can’t get that back and we have to move with the times,” said Clr Turner.
“We have a good town centre. Could it be better? Of course, it could. Will it be better? Hopefully.
“In the grand scheme of things I think our town centre is doing OK. We should be rightly proud of it and not constantly run it down.”
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Clr Cooper said he was “flabbergasted” that Clr Turner described the rash of shop and pub closures as “natural churn.”
“We still have a lot of good stuff there and that desperately needs supporting,” said Clr Cooper. “But it seems the height of complacency to describe what’s going on in Huddersfield town centre as natural churn which suggests it’s something we don’t have to address.
“To suggest this has nothing to do with the rise in employer’s National Insurance or that Government action has nothing to do with it then I don’t know how you expect other people to have faith that you will do what’s necessary for Huddersfield town centre or any other town centre in Kirklees.”
Clr Turner replied: “One of the problems with pubs is that the generation behind those don’t drink as much. If you don’t drink as much, you don’t need as many pubs.
“When I was growing up I probably spent more time than I should have done in a pub because we had little choice in a small village because there was nothing else to do.”
Clr Turner said the younger generation now wanted to be entertained not to “sit in a pub with half a mild trying to put the world to rights.”
That was why the new Kingsgate Leisure entertainments venue, run by cinema operator The Light, was so important to Huddersfield’s future.
Kingsgate Leisure is due to open around Easter 2025 and Clr Turner said: “I was down in Kingsgate last week looking at the progress. That’s the sort of thing this generation wants.
“They want to be entertained. They don’t want to sit in a pub with half a mild trying to put the world to rights.
“The health service tells us to stop drinking but we want pubs to stay open. Which is it? Do we cut down our drinking or do we want pubs to stay open and – as in certain pubs in Huddersfield – encourage binge drinking?
“Kingsgate will make a huge difference to Huddersfield. It will meet the needs of the current generation and I think we have a fantastic offer.
“There will always be a natural churn in the town centre and it will continue. I have every faith we will prevail and have a fantastic offer in Huddersfield town centre.”
Clr Pattison said the changes in the town centre economy were exactly why the £262 million Our Cultural Heart project was so important. Work is well underway on Phase 1 – a new food court, library and events space.
“We have been forward thinking about this,” said Clr Pattison. “In our plans for the Cultural Heart we were working towards this change in culture many years ago. We are ahead of the game.
“In a couple of years when there’s all these people flocking to the centre of Huddersfield people will be really jealous and saying: ‘how did you do it, how can we do it? We will be an exemplar.
“We will have people living in town centres and people being entertained in town centres. And, yes, there will still be some shopping but not the sort of shopping we are used to.
“You can buy anything these days online now and most of us do.”
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