‘Let’s work together to save our high streets’

* Harry Epsom (above) is studying fashion, buying and merchandising at the London College of Fashion. As someone who works in retail and has volunteered in a covid ward, he assesses the repercussions of the pandemic on our high streets, particularly in his home village of Tiptree

IT’S no secret our high streets are heading for disaster.

Much-loved restaurants, gossip-fuelled cafes and multi million-pound brands are gradually disappearing out of sight.

The pandemic has touched every possible industry.

However, it’s clear our local high streets - and the retail industry in general - have been affected the worst.

Big brands always seem to find some financial relief to keep paying wages and turning over a profit.

However, the quaint cafes and independent businesses that sit in the heart of Tiptree are among those suffering the most.

Each company is hoping for that rush of customers fleeing back - but is that actually happening?

With precautions in place, including social distancing and compulsory face masks, some of us are still slightly concerned about venturing out.

However, the increase in traffic along the high street on a Saturday morning suggests otherwise.

Maybe, in keeping with the new normal, it’s just easier to do everything at a click of a button - like we’ve been doing in the past few months.

Don’t get me wrong - the world of online retail is much more than just convenient.

In some cases, it’s massively cheaper.

However, this is because they have much smaller overhead costs, as well as buying mass quantities of products.

Big brands usually have an integrated supply chain system, where, to put it short, everything is processed and fulfilled by computer.

In contrast, many of the stores along our high street, such as Blossoms Boutique and Miss C Boutique, will use a traditional supply chain where every product is usually sourced by themselves.

They buy much smaller quantities, also meaning a much higher quality of product.

Small independent stores still need to think outside the box.

The retail industry is always going to decline and stores will continue to close.

Therefore, they need to offer something customers cannot get from surrounding towns and villages, forcing people to visit our village and spend their money in our high street.

Retail stores in our village are struggling, though, and it’s also a massive struggle for our small cafes and restaurants.

How can they offer a full menu, with limited staff and still have a profitable business, with few customers?

Many businesses will continue to struggle and some may never recover.

Many businesses within the village offered a takeaway service during their closure to keep their customers but, most importantly, make an income during the long months of closure.

The Government’s Eat Out To Help Out scheme also helped hugely and I can imagine how busy our restaurants were during this time.

Now the scheme is over, though, is it back to the drawing board for our restaurants?

Overall, we all need to play our part during the next few months to continue to support all our local businesses.

As clichéd as it sounds, we all still need to shop local and eat local.

I know many of us already do that and hopefully, together, we can continue to help save our local high street.