Town to let
Thursday 21st April 2011, 2:30PM BST.
Joy in Market Square is due to close due to high rents.
A Guernsey Press survey prompted by high rents being blamed for the impending closure of Joy in Market Square found that there are 41 shops either empty or to let.
But Town Centre Partnership executive officer Jack Honeybill said its own recent survey revealed all empty shops were either let, about to be let or redeveloped.
‘We couldn’t find one that is being left, which is something we are very pleased about,’ said Deputy Honeybill.
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The le lievers building from 2012 will cost £195,000 a year to let alone! it’s far to much and with the internet shops have no chance of competeing
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This is why the Bridge Development is a great idea. Town will not die because of this development as claimed, it is the rent setters and landlords in St Peter Port killing town and they have been killing it slowly for years, put down the rents and save your town if you feel that strongly about it !!!
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The very high rents in town should be of concern to all of us. Nobody in Guernsey would like to see the death of town. It looks bad even with one or two shops empty. The Bordage shops by the Sofa shop seem to have been empty for ages. It makes no economic sense for a shop to run where it is not able to make a profit and the fact that Joy is having to close due to the high rent is a major shame. What is the point in people trying to run a business with all the expense of setting it up in the first place if they can not make a go of it. Profit is not a dirty word it is the mantra of a successful business. People may buy things on the internet and consider themselves smart to have saved a few bob but they would be the first to complain if all the shops in town shut down. I understand that a large number of shops are owned by Jersey landlords – do they care as much as they should? There should be a rent cap set by the states to enable businesses to run at a reasonable profit. Even the UK firms opening up here will simply leave if they can not make it viable. Deputy Honeybill may be pleased with himself but I suggest that he wipes the smug smile of his face and takes a much more proactive role in helping businesses fill the town shops. St Peter Port is a very pleasant place to shop but we need to act to reduce high rents or we will all suffer in the long run.
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The foreign landlords would rather the shops sit empty than make little money.
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Honeybill has been taking flying lessons again….. oink, oink
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I hope for his sake that Jack Honeybill is right, I’m saving this article and will revisit the issue in 6 months’ time.
Personally I’d be amazed if he’s correct.
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The needs of the many is outweighed by the greed of a few.
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Its called greed,the monster guernsey today has created.
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More over zealous politiking by Jack Honeybill. Poor man hasn’t got a clue. Bless. All empty shops rented out in six months time?
Just in time for everyone to start their internet shopping!
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In the UK they have a law which says if a shop is left empty for a certain amount of years the government can buy the shop out by force which they then rent out to local businesses at very low rent.
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john
Thank god were not part of the UK then eh.
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Greedy out of town landlords bleeding the poor business owners dry .
The states could reduce their rates to enable them to reduce their outgoings and everybody could benefit .
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Get rid of business rates !
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@Andy
what are business rates?
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Sorry but I dont think all the shops have been let.What about all the Gabriel shops by the market.
A lot of the shops have signs up to let.
Check out the Pollett and the Arcade.
Sorry but the internet is killing the local shops.
Free delivery, No Vat.
I bought a bed recently and the same bed in town was £200 more expensive and the wait was 10 days.
I ordered online and it was on the doorstep in 4 days.
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All occupied in 6 months? I’ll eat my hat.
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anybody betting £50.000 on them all being let in 6 months can rest assured their money is safe – they have been saying the same about Upper Bordage for 9 years now !
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Really??
41 empty shops identified by Guernsey Press…well that I can easily believe.
Town Partnership “couldn’t find one that was being left”! Honestly!?? (Deputy Honeybill you sure that’s not an erroneous ‘f’ in there!).
Well I hereby look forward to 41 new shops or development within the next 6 months or so. 41 new shops and I will honestly have a good sized spending spree in Guernsey rather than online.
Please Guernsey Press re-visit this in 6 months’ time and revisit with Deputy Honeybill as I’m intrigued to hear more on this if not fulfilled. There maybe an ‘f’ in left but there’s no ‘f’ in chance!!
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is it the greedy landlords to blame for the high rents or is it the very greedy estate agents that manage the properties for them, they say landlords want their places to be occupied but the estate agents want the rent to be as high as possible so that they get more commision
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