Withington Road - Looking in the Right Place for a Compassionate, Viable Economy

Withington Road - Looking in the right place for a compassionate, viable economy

Where are we most likely to find models for a viable economy? We recently discovered there are more answers than we realised without looking very far.

There is a strong economic case for vibrant local shops. It is based on how money flows around a local economy. How many times money circulates in an area is just as important as the amount of money flowing into it. The key to successful high streets is interdependent, inter-trading local businesses. 1

Withington Road First Steps is a consultation project about the shopping area on Withington Road which is in Whalley Range, Manchester. The exercise grew out of local dissatisfaction about the area. We talked to traders, including managers of local health services. There are undoubtedly many things which can be improved; and we also found that the area has many strengths on which to build.

We started the exercise with preconceived ideas about what the shops and services had to offer Withington Road and what they wished for in return. Our expectations were based largely on the look of their shop front, the shop name or personal past experiences, often from a long time ago.

We started by looking at the strengths and moved on to what traders would like in the future and how that might be achieved.

Our preconceptions of what some shops and services had to offer were challenged once we stepped inside. Whilst the shop signs or front give potential customers a clue as to what is sold or provided inside, it is not until you speak to the people behind the counter that you see all that is on offer.

1 (http://www.neweconomics.org/blog/entry/long-live-the-queen-of-shops 2011)

ZÇZ •š(( o]À o}ooÇ v Á}Œl Á]šZ pride. One member of staff knows everyone t what we want in the business, •Z Z• ]v µvvJ[

ZavÇ }( šZ •š(( Œ o}oV šZÇ ZÀ ‰••]}v for the community. They come to work because they want to work in this environment, therefore we have low staff turnover. We feel our staff are very compassionate and empathetic which develops their relationship Á]šZ šZ ‰š]vš•[

We realised that most traders saw compassion as the route to their success and recognised the enormous amount of wellbeing and social care work they and their often low paid staff do, which is unrecognised, invisible, unvalued and unpaid.

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ZA woman came in; she had locked the car with the key and baby inside. The baby was crying.....I managed to get into the car and I did it carefully without breaking the glass. She became my customer and has been a customer for a long time now and recommended others who are also still customers. Z

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