Paisley: High Street shop closes 11 months after opening

Laura Maney, 31, owner and manager of News Express, said the closure is due to high rates of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.

After announcing it was to close permanently, the shop sold its remaining stock at half-price until the shutters came down for the last time on January 17.

“People just don’t have money to spend right now, with the cost-of-living crisis,” Laura said.

Paisley’s High Street has been no stranger to shop closures in recent times.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Sandy Ritchie, 53, who popped into the shop during one of its last remaining days. “It’s like a ghost town.

“I used to work in Dixons years ago and the place used to be absolutely buzzing.”

Laura’s husband, Sean, used to have a shop in nearby Causeyside Street but it also had to close.

On the same day that News Express revealed it was to close, nail and beauty salon Goddess, which had served customers for 19 years, also announced it was closing its doors for the last time, citing unsustainable costs.

“It’s horrendous,” said David Armitage, 29, who was a regular customer at Laura’s shop.

“This place is not just a local shop, it’s a cornerstone for the community that we’re losing now and it’s really going to be missed.”

Ben Smith, Labour councillor for Paisley Northwest, where News Express is located, said he is “extremely saddened” to hear about town centre businesses having to close.

He added: “Small businesses in Paisley contribute a great deal to the local economy and culture. After Covid and in the harsh economic climate of recent years, it’s admirable when people venture out and start their own business.

“The admiration for their courage to take the risks that come with starting a business makes it all the more sad when a shop has to close.”

Laura said that, due to everyone having to face rising costs in their own lives, they have less income to spend in shops.

“There’s not as many people going up and down the High Street,” she added.

“The students don’t seem to be coming out of the university as much. They seem to be staying in.

“There’s been a lot of factors that’s played into it but I do think the cost-of-living crisis is probably the biggest one.”

While there has been debate about how business rates hurt small traders, it wasn’t a factor in Laura’s decision to shut up shop.

She said: “My shop isn’t rateable, just due to the size of it, but we are subject to business rent, electricity, water rates.

“The landlord’s been very good. He’s not increased the rent. He actually gave me a rent reduction for December because it was a really slow month, so I can’t fault the landlord at all.”

Rather, it was energy costs which her business couldn’t keep up with, as these skyrocketed over the shop’s 11-month lifetime.

“When I started in here, the electricity was about £200 a month and it peaked at about £412 a month just a couple of months ago,” said Laura.

“That extra two hundred and odd pounds does make a difference because that could be used for stock, it could be used to pay another bill.”

Another factor has been the high cost of stocking the shop, which Laura says forced her to raise prices.

“I tried to keep the prices as low as possible,” she says, “but it does start to filter across to the customer because it’s costing me more to buy the stock.

“The main place I see it in is in the price of Coca-Cola. So, when I first started in here [11 months ago], a can of Coke was about 69 pence. The same can of Coke now is 95 pence.

“That’s where it’s more noticeable, especially to customers.”

Laura doesn’t blame the government or Renfrewshire Council for the shop’s demise.

“I think people are very quick to bash the government [and] local councils but I do see it from both sides,” she said.

“As a small business, it would’ve been lovely if there had been any sort of funding available to me but there wasn’t because I was just too small.

“I can’t fault Paisley itself because there is this thing called the Paisley First initiative, which as small business owners we contribute a monthly fee towards the regeneration of Paisley. They have been great, they’ve given me lots of opportunities to get exposure.”

Labour councillor Ben Smith says help can come from the Scottish and UK governments but the council still has a role to play.

“Many of the powers that could be used to help small businesses lie at Holyrood and Westminster, where I would argue that small businesses are being let down by both the SNP/Greens and the Tories,” he added.

“However, more can be done here in Renfrewshire. The council seem to be ploughing ahead with a one-size-fits-all approach, whereas the Labour group had argued that a special focus of the council’s resources should be placed on women and young people who statistically are even more disadvantaged in terms of employment and small business.

“Hearing stories of shops, restaurants and bars closing should focus the SNP administration’s attention.

“Instead, since the local elections, the SNP have passed a number of motions in the council about independence, a subject that councils have no jurisdiction over. The considerable length of time spent debating those motions would’ve been better spent discussing what we can do in Renfrewshire to support small businesses and boost employment.”

The SNP’s MSP for Paisley, George Adam, and SNP councillors Kenny MacLaren and Mags MacLaren were contacted for comment but have not yet responded.

So, how can Paisley’s High Street become a bustling and thriving district again? Laura believes it needs a pull-factor that makes it more attractive than out-of-town shopping centres such as Braehead and Silverburn.

One of these factors would be the presence of big names.

“We don’t have a Primark, that would be a massive boost,” she says. “That’s the reason I go to Braehead. I won’t go to Silverburn because they don’t have one.”

Over the last decade, big names to quit Paisley’s high street includes McDonald’s and Marks & Spencer.

Laura believes the presence of popular retail brands would help smaller local businesses.

“Footfall would be increased,” she said.” People would be walking past the shops to get to these McDonald’s and things like that.”

Councillor Smith added: “I’m a strong believer that, to help rejuvenate the High Street in Paisley and high streets across the UK, governments and councils should be encouraging people to live in and around town centres.

“The cause of the decline of high streets across the UK is multifaceted. For example, competing with online shopping puts a lot of pressure on local shops.

“Having more residents living in the town centre increases footfall for local businesses. I’m confident that the High Street can be improved and, in my view, that would involve the town centre being a multi-functional space with more residential buildings alongside the shops, bars, cafes etc.

“To make this work, public transport needs also to be greatly improved, which would also help to tackle emissions released by traffic in urban areas.”

Laura concedes that, for now, her “self-employed journey has come to an end.”

However, she still has some cautious optimism about what lies ahead.

“Maybe in the future there’ll be a better climate to own a shop,” she said.