In a regular feature for Bira members, Ashleigh Cornelius of pioneering new shopping app Localise, visits high streets across the UK to discover how they are surviving - and thriving!
In this edition, he pays a visit to sunny Tenterden in Ashford, Kent.
The first time I visited Tenterden, was almost 15 years ago and I remember immediately thinking to myself, what a beautiful little town. The sun was high in the sky and people said ‘good morning’ to me as I walked along the high street. Can you believe it? Amazing! Having spent most of my earlier life in London, where mostly people are just too busy to even look up as they scurry around the streets, I was instantly mesmerised. I am sure my brain must have subsequently introduced an element of romantic nostalgia to that particular memory, as when I cast my mind back to it now, I visualise Victorian gents doffing their hats and bowing to greet me ever so grandly as I skip along the pavement. I admit, that may be a slight, (however lovely) exaggeration but I can certainly wholeheartedly confirm that I found Tenterden to be a wonderful little gem of town.
Skip forward 15 years and I very happily found myself back in Tenterden as, along with some of the Localise team, I was in the town carrying out photoshoots with a few of the amazing independent business owners and their stores. Luckily, Tenterden hadn’t changed. And again, the sun was blazing gloriously in the sky.
As we went around the town, capturing the independents in their natural habitats, it was just ever so clear that there is a real and authentic community bond between the business owners. People really cared. Not just about the success of their own businesses but also for the success of others and the part everyone plays in making Tenterden such a great little business community.
During the day, I spoke with the ever-so welcoming and friendly Michelle, owner of Millard Interiors who educated me more on the communal approach that is being taken in Tenterden.
“Tenterden is a small town with lots of cute independent traders, we are extremely lucky. I think we all know the value of supporting each other and often collaborate, it might be a florist supplying flowers to the local wedding shop or someone else pointing a customer to you when they can’t fulfil a request. More than ever, we need to pull together,” she said.
Speaking about the pandemic specifically, Michelle explained how she had needed to pivot, in order to survive – something that we have seen a number of small businesses execute in order to get through the struggle of the last year. “Like a lot of retailers lockdown has affected my business and my income. I couldn’t continue with my furniture up-cycle workshops and all of the outlet I trade from were closed due to government restrictions. Instead, I spent my time learning new skills and working on my website and social media accounts.”
Michelle was also keen to praise the local council and town hall as well who have been particularly supportive and hands on in working to keep the business community thriving.
As I continued my day, I took in a spot of lunch from the lovely little Italian Café Bottega who were only too happy to adapt one of their offerings to make it vegan for me (and it was good!).
Meandering on, and discovering lots of hidden gems along the way, I found myself at new interior and home design shop, The Snug. Here, I bumped into owner Andrew, a wonderfully enthusiastic character who I chatted with for some time about opening a business post lockdown and the community approach in Tenterden. When I asked how important it was for small business owners to support each other, Andrew agreed with the communal approach “It’s very important. The more support we can involve ourselves in the better.” Andrew also commented that the overall buzz on the High Street ’was good, but not overly momentous just yet." I guess this can be somewhat attributed to the slowly slowly approach that a lot of people are still taking due to the perceived risk due to the post lockdown factor.
One thing I did notice, which is clearly a sign of the times and is consistent across every high street I’ve visited recently, was, sadly, a number of newly vacant units. I can only hope that as time passes and we climb the slow road to recovery, these units will once again be populated with quirky, unique character that only independent businesses can bring to our high streets. Something else consistent, is the fact that everything points back to us as individuals. We play the key part in that road to recovery and every single penny we can spend locally makes a difference. We all need to get out there and shop local and fight for the High Streets we want to see.
In summary, I had a wonderful day in Tenterden. It was fantastic to meet with the authentic and genuine small business owners who are driving the success of the high street themselves along with support from the local council, and in particular their brilliant town coordinator Keli, who works tirelessly to support the town and keep footfall and revenue optimised. I certainly think now more than ever, collaboration and mutual support amongst business owners, councils and the community is the way forwards and can only be good for everyone involved. Long live the high street!