Are traders going loco for changes at Crewe?

Jayne Li opened her bubble tea shop in Crewe just a few weeks ago

Significant amounts of cash have been spent on the former railway town of Crewe. But with empty shops in the town centre and footfall falling, what do business owners feel about the changes?

More than £100m is earmarked for the town centre, according to Cheshire East Council.

It spent £6m on buying the former Royal Arcade shopping centre in 2015 and demolition on the site's existing buildings began in late 2020.

The Cheshire town, with a population of 75,000, was allocated £22.9m under the Towns Fund and £14.1m from the Future High Streets Fund.

Work on a multi-storey car park and new bus station is set to be completed by the end of the year

A total of £3.7m was spent on revamping Crewe Market Hall

Michael Vernon has run Vernon's Fish Bar in the town since 2013, and a chip shop had been operating out of the premises for 25 years before he took over.

He said his business was being helped by offering deliveries and by having a loyal customer base - some of whom travelled from Stoke-on-Trent.

"The big changes are the footfall, there just aren't the people coming into the town now," he said.

"All the big shops have left, they just want to go on to the retail parks where free parking is provided.

"I don't think there's a great deal of future left in Crewe now."

Michael Vernon said offering deliveries had helped his business

Mr Vernon believes a market would improve things, and said the recently opened market hall was "for people who want to go out and eat a meal and watch a band, it's not really shopping."

"They do a Sunday market once a month and that seems to draw a lot of people into the town, so I think markets and small shops are the future," he said.

But what about newer businesses?

Jayne Li opened her bubble tea business Kawaii Bobo Tea just a few weeks ago.

She said her first day was "crazy from start to finish, just non-stop".

She is based within an existing business, Hong's Noodle Bar run by Simon Shen.

'More incentive'

"I think Crewe's been crying out for something like this," said Mr Shen.

Crewe needs new ideas, he said, and added it was "sad" to see companies which had been in the town centre for a long time moving to the retail park.

"Don't get me wrong, I think the retail park is really good, but you need to have a car to benefit from that. But the town centre is where everyone in the old days used to come together."

Louise Reed runs Kennedy's within the market hall and said Crewe needed a lot more regeneration.

"It needs a lot more businesses opening up in the town centre and maybe there should be a lot more incentive to do that.

"This [the market hall] is a brilliant start and if the rest of Crewe can be brought up to the same standard as this, then it will be an awesome place to visit again."

Crewe town centre has lost a number of shops to the nearby retail park

Work on the new bus station and a multi-storey car park has already started and other schemes planned include projects to improve pedestrian and cycling routes, pocket parks and a revamp of the Cumberland Arena.

Meanwhile, some schemes have already happened. The £15m Lifestyles Centre opened in 2016 and the revamped Crewe Market Hall opened in 2021 after a £3m investment.

Independent retail expert Clare Bailey said a recent government policy which would make it easier to convert empty shops into residential space should help improve towns like Crewe.

So is it too late for some high streets?

"It's not too late as long as there are forward-thinking planning departments," she said.

"Local authorities need to approve schemes and need to recognise that we're overspaced in terms of retail.

"If they're willing to let landlords revert into sensible residential then what remains will shrink to a viable proportion as it puts people on the doorstep, it looks buoyant."

You can listen to more on regeneration in Crewe on BBC Radio Stoke all this week on Stuart George's show.