Town centre on the up? The resilience of Bolsover's shop-keepers as new data says high street is 'busier than before pandemic'

Chris Christopher, 37, has worked at Goddard and White newsagents since leaving school. “There’s me, the other Chris… Old Chris as we call him. He’s been here about fifty years. And then there’s my brother Dominic… We’ve been doing it all our working life.”

Chris pauses as a man walks in. Before the man reaches the counter, Chris has already picked a particular newspaper from the spread on the counter, which he hands to the man to an exchange of nods, coins, and a “Ta”.

We’re here in Bolsover town centre to speak to shop owners after new data revealed some high streets were on the up, post-pandemic. The location data is collected via mobile phone signals and the figures, collated by analysts Placemake.io, show town centres which have recorded big increases in activity.

Bolsover, it is suggested, is 60% up on what is was before the pandemic. Does Chris agree?

“No… We’re based in Town End, and we’ve got businesses in the market place, but, I can’t say that it’s going forward. We’ve always had this long standing problem with tourism and getting that connection between the castle and the town centre… That never improves. But, based on the Co-op shutting, the cafe next door’s shut, the chemist’s just shut further up the road… this scenario in Town End where we are here, on top of the car-park situation… that’s a major issue.”

Chris explains: “People tend to park up in the free car-parks then travel elsewhere… Car sharing… They’re not actually shoppers as such.”

Chris had to shut his other shop not long after the Co-op closed down, along with its car-park. “We sold fruit and flowers. As soon as that footfall had gone, we noticed the difference straight away. That was over a year ago now.”

Despite this, Chris’s resilience is notable. “I don’t want to stand here complaining… I’m quite a positive kind of guy.” He sees possible solution in communication, citing a dialogue with Bolsover District Council vital.

“They should take a long hard look at it and speak to the local shop-keepers. The council own and manage the free car-parks in the town… so, yeah.”

Alan Morris, 64, has been landlord to several of the shops along Town End for twenty years. His view on the recently closed shops is delivered with practical tenacity and a shrug.

“If I can’t get nobody in them, and I’ve got more people on about coming out… If nobody’s going into shops… Can I turn them into flats?”

We ask Andrew Fretwell, owner of Julie’s Sandwich Shop on the other side of the town centre, if he thinks footfall has risen. “I think it had, until the cost of living.”

He also sees customer parking as a potential problem: “More people seem to park in these car-parks that work here.”

Clearly, from what we have heard so far, the suggested 60% rise in footfall doesn’t necessarily denote a rise in shoppers. And yet, the resilience of the Bolsover shop owners feels a torchlight in a murky cost of living crisis.

This light certainly burns bright in Sharon Malia, 44, who runs the Gifted With Love shop on Town End.

“It’s been an interesting journey. I opened the business five years ago, then just before the pandemic hit, my small shop was burgled… The shop door was smashed… they’d ransacked and took quite a lot.”

From here, the Bolsover community got together and started fundraising for her. “The support was overwhelming and I have good loyal customers that come all the time. It’s a caring community. Sometimes Bolsover gets a bad rep, but, you know, people do stick together. The people in the town are really supportive of local businesses and do want to see you succeed.”

“I’m a local girl, I’ve always lived in Bolsover. My kids laugh because whenever we go anywhere, I know everybody. And it’s like ‘How do you know them?’ And it’s from being in the shop, from living in the town… everybody knows everybody.”

Sharon tells of building the business, enduring through lockdown, of making a website to enable click-and-collect for her customers, all while “Trying to juggle two kids’ home-schooling as well,” her laugh underlining her determined outlook.

Is the town centre on the up? “I think for a time it was. And possibly still is. We’ve had a few blows. I think people are coming into town, they’re doing the artisan markets, they’re doing Old Yard, the castle… But the footfall itself, it’s lacking down this end. I think we need something to bring people further into the town.”

What would help? “A bit of communication, I think, working together. I know the council have put a bid in for some funding to try and buy the Co-op building… turn that into a bit of a centre… tourist, history, artisan… even have a room as a cinema, theatre… That would be a really good central hub. That would bring people down this way, and make more of the town.”

Another resourceful character from the town centre is Sarah Smith, 41, who runs the Old Bolsover Yard with her partner Damion. Started with Ethos Upcycling and Molly Felicity Designs haberdashery, this characterful courtyard has several crafting units and a coffee shop.

Does Sarah see Bolsover town centre on the up? “Absolutely. There’s been lots going on. We’ve had a monthly artisan market… And since opening up after lockdown, as a business community, we’ve worked really hard to push things and do more stuff… We’ve got loads of really independent business here in Bolsover, which is fantastic. A lot of places you go to it’s the multi-national chains but here there’s so much independence, and I think that’s what’s going to be Bolsover’s unique point of moving forward.”