St. Helens Town Centre Health Check Appraisal Town Centre Overview St. Helens town centre is the principal retail, commercial and administrative centre of the Borough as defined by the St. Helens Local Plan Core Strategy (2012). The Borough lies within the Merseyside Region which also comprises the Metropolitan Boroughs of Knowsley, Sefton and Wirral, as well as Liverpool. The town is well connected with Liverpool city centre, the regional hub which is located approximately 22.1km driving distance from the centre. St. Helens achieves 18th highest retail ranking of the destinations in the North West identified by Venuescore (2015/16). However, within the Merseyside region, St. Helens achieves 4th behind Liverpool, Southport and Birkenhead, respectively. The focus of retail activity within St. Helens town centre is along the central pedestrianised area of Church Street, Church Square, Market Street, Barrow Street and Hardshaw Street. This area also contains St. Helens’ two shopping centres, Church Square Shopping Centre (comprising the Lagrange and Palatine Arcades to the west, and St. Mary’s and Brownlow Arcades to the east) and The Hardshaw Centre. The primary retail frontages, as defined by the St. Helens Unitary Development Plan Proposals Map (Core Strategy October 2012 Interim Update) project along Church Street and the Church Square Shopping Centre. This area contains a high concentration of national multiple Class A1 retailers, which amongst others includes Marks and Spencer and Argos. However, the highest concentration of national multiple retailers is located along the Lagrange Arcade, which includes Top Shop, River Island and Boots the Chemist. The ‘retail core’ is adjoined by Hardshaw Street, Barrow Street, Ormskirk Street and Bridge Street which also contains a high volume of retail and service units. St. Helens indoor market is located in the south-eastern part of the town centre, within the Church Square Shopping Centre (St Marys Arcade). The current adopted town centre boundary stretches a significant distance beyond the retail core particularly to the north, encompassing a significant residential area, as well as industrial and other commercial areas. There are a number of supermarkets located outside of the primary shopping area, but within the town centre boundary including Asda and Aldi. A site visit of St. Helens town centre was undertaken in June 2016 to enable the latest health check analysis, ensuring that the most up-to-date diversity of use and floorspace figures are available. We have utilised the centre boundary as identified by Goad for our analysis in order to consider an extensive area and to allow a direct comparison with the national average figures (which are calculated using Goad’s assessment of the boundary of each centre). The survey information collected has been used to compare the relevant data against the national average figure and, where necessary identify any potential issues within the centre. WYG’s June 2016 survey identified that there is a total of 439 retail units located within the Goad defined town centre boundary, comprising a total gross floorspace of 107,310 sq.m. In addition to the 439 identified retail units, a further 46 non-retail units, defined as ‘other’ are located within the Goad boundary. 1 The Health Check covers the following aspects: . Sub-regional shopping hierarchy . Diversity of main town centre uses . Proportion of vacant street level property . Customer’s views and behaviour . Retailer representation and intentions to change retailer representation . Pedestrian flows . Accessibility . Perception of safety and occurrence of crime . Commercial yields and rents on non-domestic property . State of the environmental quality . Digital facilities in St. Helens town centre 2 Sub-Regional Shopping Hierarchy Table 1: Sub-Regional Shopping Hierarchy Change in Location 2015/ 2014 2013 SCORE Rank VENUE Local Authority Grade 16 /15 /14 (2015/16) 2013/14 – (2015/16) Rank Rank Rank 2015/16 Liverpool, Centre 551 Liverpool Major City 5 5 5 0 Preston, Centre 238 Preston Major Regional 56 52 60 +4 Warrington, Centre 221 Warrington Regional 70 76 69 -1 Southport, Centre 188 Sefton Regional 100 96 93 -7 Birkenhead 142 Wirral Regional 163 142 134 -29 St Helens, Centre 144 St. Helens Regional 166 163 161 -5 Bootle, Centre 91 Sefton Sub-Regional 297 235 229 -66 Widnes, Centre 42 Halton District 735 693 714 -21 St Helens, Ravenhead Retail Park 33 St. Helens District 974 1,021 864 -110 Newton Le Willows, Earlestown 23 St. Helens Minor District 1372 1,207 1155 -217 St Helens, St Helens Retail Park 21 St. Helens Minor District 1486 1,361 1204 -282 St Helens, Haydock 17 St. Helens Local 1789 1,792 1684 -105 St Helens, Boundary Rd 15 St. Helens Local 2034 2,146 1907 -127 St Helens, Peasley Cross Ln 13 St. Helens Local 2394 2,557 2428 +34 Newton Le Willows, Centre 11 St. Helens Local 2827 2,775 2428 -399 St Helens, Baxter Ln 10 St. Helens Local 3152 N/A N/A N/A Source: Venuescore 2015-16 and 2013-14 UK Shopping Venue Rankings (Javelin Group) Venuescore provides a ranking system of centres, which draws from the number of national multiples and anchor stores, as well as units within the food service, convenience and comparison sectors. The score attached to each operator is weighted to reflect its overall impact on shopping patterns. St. Helens town centre has a Venuescore of 144 and is currently ranked as the 172nd largest centre in the country, falling within the regional category. It is the 18th largest centre in the North West region, and the 4th largest in the Merseyside sub-region, behind Liverpool , Southport and Birkenhead. St. Helens’ rank has decreased by five places since the 2013/14 period. Table 1 also shows the sub-regional shopping hierarchy for the North West, focussing on the Merseyside sub-region and neighbouring settlements, as well as all of the centres in the St. Helens authority area included in Venuescore. The table shows that the majority of the centres (all but Preston) have dropped in ranking since 2013. 3 Photographs of St. Helens Town Centre (June 2016) Photograph (top left): Cafe Nero, Ormskirk St Photograph (top centre): Baldwin St Retail Units Photograph (Top right): Church Square, Church St Photograph (bottom left): Primary Shopping Area Photograph (bottom centre): Lagrange Arcade Photograph (bottom right): Church St 4 Diversity of Main Town Centre Uses – June 2016 5 Diversity of Main Town Centre Uses – June 2016 Table 2: Number of Units in St Helens Town Centre (March 2011) Table 3: Floorspace in St Helens Town Centre (March 2011) Category No % UK* Category Sq.m % UK* Convenience 39 8.9 % 8.7 % Convenience 21,960 18.9 % 14.4 % Comparison 136 31.0 % 33.4 % Comparison 39,210 33.7 % 36.9 % Retail Service 56 12.8 % 13.2 % Retail Service 5,800 5.0 % 7.0 % Leisure Services 102 23.2 % 21.7 % Leisure Services 27,140 23.3 % 22.8 % Financial and Business Services 50 11.4 % 11.0 % Financial and Business Services 8,480 7.3 % 8.5 % Vacant 56 12.8 % 11.7 % Vacant 13,800 11.9 % 9.8 % Total 439 100% 100% Total 116,390 100% 100% Source: Experian GOAD base validated by WYG site visit (March 2011) Source: Experian GOAD base validated by WYG site visit (March 2011) * GOAD September 2009 and ** February 2011 UK Average Figures * GOAD September 2009 and ** February 2011 UK Average Figures Table 4: Number of Units in St Helens Town Centre (June 2016) Table 5: Floorspace in St Helens Town Centre (June 2016) Category No. % UK* Category Sq.m % UK* Convenience 43 9.9% 8.6 % Convenience 14,700 12.8% 15.2% Comparison 121 27.1% 32.0 % Comparison 46,640 39.9% 35.9% Retail Service 54 12.2% 13.9 % Retail Service 5,650 4.9% 6.7% Leisure Service 107 24.2% 23.4% Leisure Service 31,580 27.1% 24.4% Financial and Business Service 48 10.8% 10.6% Financial and Business Service 7,470 6.4% 8.0% Vacant 70 15.8% 11.2% Vacant 10,340 8.9% 9.0% Total 443 100% 100% Total 116,380 100% 100% Source: WYG survey, June 2016 Source: WYG survey, June 2016 *UK average from the Experian Goad Category Report, June 2016 *UK average from Experian Goad Category Report, June 2016 6 Diversity of Main Town Centre Uses – June 2016 St. Helens town centre had 443 retail units in June 2016. This represents a small increase of four units since our previous survey in March 2011. This is attributed largely to the sub-division of existing vacant units which are now occupied. In respect of the retail and service floorspace, the figure remains unchanged since 2011 at 116,380 sq.m. There has been no significant development resulting in an increase in retail floorspace within the Goad boundary since our previous survey in 2011. Convenience Good Units There are currently 43 units occupied by convenience operators in St. Helens town centre, which accounts for 9.7% of the total units. This proportion is slightly higher than the national UK average of 8.6%. However, the proportion of convenience goods floorspace is 12.6% which is lower than the national average of 15.2%. This can be attributed in large to convenience goods retailer Tesco relocating the 5,610 sq.m (gross) town centre store from Chalon Way to Peasley Cross in 2011, explaining the decrease in convenience goods floorspace, which has reduced from 21,960 sq.m in 2011, to 14,700 sq.m in 2016. Whilst the overall convenience goods floorspace has decreased since 2011, the total number of units has increased from 39 to 43.