Stockton businesses say relocation results in more customers

The Castlegate demolition will make way for an urban park linking Stockton's High Street to the riverside

Moving a high street within a town centre has already encouraged more customers to shops, retailers say.

Castlegate Shopping Centre in Stockton is being torn down to create an urban park and as part of the plans retailers are relocating to Wellington Square.

Stockton Council said the move had seen a large fall in empty shop units, as well as an increase in footfall.

Thirty-one retailers have moved into the council-owned shopping centre and say it has boosted their businesses.

Debi Ramshaw from Specsavers said she believed the move to Wellington Square had been positive

Debi Ramshaw, manager at Specsavers, said: "Before in the Castlegate we were busy first thing on a morning but here we tend to be busy throughout the day up until the end as there are more people passing to go to the car park and to other businesses in the area."

Lisa Halligan, who runs a schoolwear business, also said moving to Wellington Square had attracted new customers.

"We've had a lot more footfall and people popping in and saying, 'I didn't know that you were there' - even though they are local and we've been going for 32 years," she said.

"It's been amazing to get our name out there - so being here has really enhanced our business."

The Castlegate centre opened in 1973 and housed a hotel which has been empty since it closed in 2009.

The proposed park on the banks of the River Tees would include performance spaces

Demolition work could take up to a year, but once completed it will open up the area between the High Street and the riverside.

The council hopes the new urban park area will be completed by 2025.

Wellington Square, at the north end of the High Street, was bought by the council in 2019

Nigel Cooke, the council's cabinet member for regeneration, said the town centre revamp had already reduced the number of empty shop units in the town.

"I think if you go back to 2019 the vacancy rate across Stockton town centre was 20% so we were well above the national average," he said.

"We're now down to 10% so we're actually 4.6% under the national average and local traders are reporting increases in trade, especially those who've moved from Castlegate over to Wellington Square."