City leaders fear disastrous domino effect following collapse of major high street retailers

pThe leaders of Walesapos; three largest city councils have warned a quot;disastrous domino effectquot; could hit cities following the collapse of two major retailers./p pArcadia Group, which owns Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Evans and Burton appointed administrators on Monday putting 13,000 jobs at risk./p p And on Tuesday, department store Debenhams announced a data-content-type=news data-link-tracking=InArticle|Link href=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/debenhams-closing-store-rescue-talks-19376700 rel=Follow target=_blankit would start winding down operations/a at its stores quot;while continuing to seek offers for all or parts of the businessquot;. All if its 124 UK stores are at risk of closure. /p pIn a joint statement councillors Huw Thomas, Jane Mudd and Rob Stewart, leaders of Cardiff, Newport and Swansea councils, said the news came as a quot;serious blowquot; and called for a substantial package of support to help cities through the pandemic./p pquot;These announcements could potentially have a disastrous domino effect on other retailers depending on the number of shoppers the anchor stores attract,quot; the three leaders said./p pquot;The impact could also be widespread - if the cities struggle, everyone will struggle./p pquot;We need a comprehensive and substantial package of support to help cities through the challenges.quot;/p img src=https://i2-prod.walesonline.co.uk/incoming/article19390831.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_JS223839208.jpg title=Council leaders said high street decline has been exacerbated by the pandemic data-portal-copyright=WalesOnline/ Rob Browne/ p/ p/ pThe council leaders said they acknowledges the pandemic had impacted all communities, but they said it is having a more damaging effect on the economy and health in cities./p pquot;As councils, weapos;ve all been working with our retail partners to help them over the last few months,quot; they said./p pquot;Now, as cities, we are extremely concerned about the potential cumulative effects on our retail hinterland./p pquot;Our high streets have faced the growing challenge of online shopping - and now the pandemic has exacerbated the situation./p pquot;We cannot allow uncontrolled decline in our city centres, so we call on the Welsh Government to use all its influence to protect our city centres./p pquot;This includes business rate support during the pandemic and beyond, increased grant aid for the retail and hospitality sectors and enterprise zone status./p pquot;We would like to see the faster roll out of the fourth economic renewal fund focusing on our city and town centres./p p#x201C;Our city centres are the engines of the Welsh economy. If they fail, Wales fails./p pquot;Our city centres collectively employ over 100,000 people across south Wales, about 1 in 8 jobs, regardless of the wider supply chain./p pquot;The crisis in our city centres is affecting the core of the Welsh economy, and urgent and urgent government support is needed to stimulate recovery./p pquot;Needless to say, a large number of city centre businesses are major contributors to the economy but also to Welsh public money, through their rates./p pquot;Aid is now vital to maintaining our citiesapos; collective ability to anchor the emerging city regions of Wales.quot;/p pThe call from council leaders is supported by business improvement districts representing over 2,500 businesses in the centre of each of the three cities./p pSwansea BID, FOR Cardiff and NOW Newport business improvement districts, said: quot;Businesses have been making heroic efforts, at great personal cost, to keep the economy going and protect vital jobs - but so many business owners are now on top lead or beyond./p pquot;We know that once city centres are deteriorating as businesses go bust, this is the fatal blow to them./p pquot;Fast and generous support, along with developing a reasonable recovery plan by working with us as businesses, is essential./p pquot;It is not acceptable for city centres to decline and die, and a comprehensive and substantial package of support would help city centres face these challenges./p pquot;Our government needs to use every influence it has now to protect our city centres quickly.quot;/p