But Daphne East, who took on the the role of town centre manager a year ago this month, remains confident of the health of the high street.
She describes the past 12 months as a ‘whirlwind’ getting to grips with her new job and readily admits that her claim to the JEP last year that she would meet ‘every single retail, hospitality and stakeholder business’ within her first three months was ‘unrealistic’.
‘It is not like a doctor’s surgery with just ten minutes for each person. You can’t plan a day of 50 meets. It is about setting realistic targets. I try to see a least two to three a week.
‘I also have 11 trader groups I connect with on a regular bass. At least eight to ten of them we meet every two months around a table.’
However, she says her other bold claim to cut through red tape to enable the town centre to flourish has gained some traction.
Aside from meeting retailers, Mrs East says the last year has been a constant juggle of working on community events such as the Fête de St Helier and preparing the town for the NatWest Island Games as well as building relationships with Jersey Business, Visit Jersey Economic Development and TTS.
‘The Constable takes a keen interest. We go on weekly walkabouts if we can looking at cleanliness and rubbish. We take it from the grassroots up.’
So how would she count her successes?
‘The key thing for me is empty shops,’ she said. ‘At the moment we have 3.3 per cent empty shops. I believe we’ve never been over five per cent. In the UK between 13 and 15 per cent of shops are vacant.
Shortly before she took on her role an 18-month late-night shopping trial was launched, with stores being encouraged to stay open until 7 pm. But according to Mrs East only about 20 shops – ten per cent of those in town – have decided to take part in the Love Shopping, Love Thursdays scheme.
‘Obviously I would like it to be higher,’ Mrs East concedes. ‘Those who are staying open are absolutely keen to keep it going. They don’t want it to stop. We need to campaign to keep it going.
‘The feedback from the stores that are open has been positive. One retailer says that in the last two hours of the day he gets 17 per cent of his takings. Another retailer has actually brought in additional staff on a Thursday.
‘I would put a call out to other retailers that if more retailers opened more people would come.
‘I think 7 pm is early if I’m honest but I go back to the traders – it’s difficult for them to work 15 hours a day. Unless they are getting the footfall I can understand why they wouldn’t want to stay open. Hopefully this trial will prove it is working. I believe it will continue.’
With shop opening times we’re back to the age-old question – should Jersey stores open on Sundays?
Mrs East says Visit Jersey is currently looking at whether it’s something that tourists want.
‘We need the evidence before we offer that up,’ she said. ‘You do see tourists wandering around on a Sunday. I’m a firm believer that if there is a demand, people will vote with their feet. If we can open and get the additional sales that’s great but if people are just spreading their spend over seven days instead of six it’s a slightly different beast.’
Either way, Mrs East, who lives in St Helier with husband Chris, who works for the Royal Bank of Canada, and their seven-year-old daughter Millie, says that she wants to breathe life into the town on Sundays.
‘I think we need to enliven the town on a Sunday with a market delivered in a very vibrant way,’ she said.
‘I think it will enable entrepreneurs to test the market. My hope is that they would become small independent stores.’
Although Mrs East said that St Helier is a ‘ghost town’ on a Sunday, footfall does not appear to be a problem throughout the rest of the week. Latest year-to-date figures show that footfall is 1.1 per cent higher than in 2013.
But is attracting people to the high street enough? As shoppers turn to the web to find bargains, shops are feeling the pinch – according to Jersey Post’s annual survey the average Island household spends £7,000 a year on online shopping and figures released earlier this week show that retail GVA (gross value added) dropped by three per cent last year, compared to the year before.
‘Online is impacting us,’ Mrs East said. ‘It’s not going to go away. I think the support we could give traders is to have two different avenues – a shop and online. Click and collect are the words of the moment.
‘I understand that it means traders have to go home after a day’s work and deliver their website and that it is a lot of investment but I would say there is help out there from Jersey Business and small web design companies.’
So does she think that GST should be added on to all purchases imported into the Island – rather than the current policy of charging the tax on imports of £240 and over – to deter shoppers from turning to the web?
‘And there is nothing better than face-to-face service. I don’t think online purchases will ever reduce but I do think that retailers have a lot more to offer.’
Looking to the future, Mrs East says she three strategies she would like to implement – bringing free WiFi throughout St Helier, creating more green spaces and getting more retailers involved with the Love Shopping, Love Thursdays campaign.
‘I’m not done yet,’ she said. ‘There is so much to do. The first year has been a whirlwind. I have come through the trees now and can see so many projects to work on.’
*Customer Service Week, which has been organised by Mrs East, Jersey Business and Busy Queen Bee to celebrate customer service in Jersey, runs from Monday5OCT to Friday9OCT.
