UK’s first shopping centre enterprise zone launches in Shrewsbury
A project aimed at creating the UK’s first shopping centre enterprise zone has been launched in Shrewsbury.
The town’s Riverside Shopping Centre is awaiting redevelopment but now the empty units in the centre, which is one of the gateways to the town, are to be used to create businesses and jobs for the unemployed.
The Phoenix project is the brainchild of Shrewsbury Mayor Jon Tandy who has been working with the Shrewsbury Shopping Centres and award-winning local social enterprise company Imagematch to get it off the ground.
Contracts were signed this week and the first business of what could be 20 new enterprises is expected to open within days.
Jon Tandy said: “I didn’t want to see the Riverside lie empty while it waits to be redeveloped and the owners of the Riverside shared my vision and have been very supportive of the idea.
“I wanted to help people in Shrewsbury start their own businesses and to give everyone who wants the chance to become self-employed the opportunity to see if they can sell and if they can grow.
“Everyone walks through the Riverside from the car parks and the bus station. It’s an important access to the town and I was determined to make sure it could be a bright and vibrant place again.”
Kevin Lockwood, Manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres, said: “We were very excited about Jon’s vision because we have been successful ourselves in assisting local independent businesses start up here in the centres.
“Heavenly Brides, Flutterbies and Golden Guitars are just a few examples where we have supported and incubated business and these and other new openings in the last few months which have created over 20 jobs mean we have been happy to cooperate with Jon to make this work.
“It’s very exciting and we’re very keen to encourage the concept and can offer advice and guidance as well as the bricks and mortar of premises in which to set up shop.”
The Mayor called in Imagematch, the Shrewsbury based company which has won a series of awards since it was set up in 2010, including the UK Social Enterprise Company of the Year in 2011, to get Phoenix off the ground.
Imagematch Director Mark Gibson said: “We help the long-term unemployed to get back into work by coming up with new ideas and one of the things we have been keen to do is to help people become self-employed.
“That has fitted in very well with the ethos here at the Shrewsbury Shopping Centres and if we can create new business opportunities and encourage some of our people to start their own businesses then we can create more employment and apprenticeships.
“We hope to get the first business open next week and while we know New Riverside is going to happen and it will bring new shops and jobs to the town, in the meantime let’s make use of the area and give the long-term unemployed the chance to find out if retailing is for them.
“We have people we can help and we know how to help them through projects such as the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise for the over-50s – it’s what we do.
“We feel this is an exemplar project here in Shrewsbury and we are hoping to make the Riverside the first and only Shopping Centre Enterprise Zone in the UK – that would be unique.”
Jon Tandy added: “It is very exciting and we’ve had great co-operation from the Shopping Centres and from Shropshire Council.
“It would be such a shame if it weren’t used and this way it will have lots of people passing through with everything from pop-up shops to people selling jams.
“There will also be free Wi-Fi and computer access so people can search for jobs and get the latest employment opportunities.
“I know how big this is for Shrewsbury but it is big for this country as well to get it up and running and working together so that people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own get another chance.”
