The post you are reporting:
With the exception of the petrol stations I was working on those initiatives Alan - up until end of March this year.
We have had new shops opening recently - discussed on here; there are a great range of different types of coffee shops/cafes:
C'est La Vie, La Salle Verte, the Honey Pot, Dickens, Baguette Ella, etc. etc.
Most of what you want can be found here, but until people really support their Town and not spend all their money at Tesco's, ASDA and Sainsbury's - all away from the Town Centre and all selling a lot more than food, we won't get the big shops here again.
I agree we do need more small, independant businesses here, selling things like fresh fish, perhaps cheeses etc. but and it's a big but, the cost of the (in many cases) London-rated rents of many properties and the fact that they are full-repair leases - meaning that people have to spend lots of money - too much, before they even open, it puts so many off of starting in the first place.
Business Rates are too high for the level of trading that many businesses are trading at.
It is an uphill struggle, but I was having a measure of success - until late March.
The main point of the original posting was to let you know what is going on here, and the value to you and your Town of SHOPPING LOCALLY.
Thanks Colin, I'll add you to my email address groups - they are all sent out blind so you cannot receive any scam or spam emails from them.
Roger