How is Kettering town centre faring? We take a closer look at shop openings, closures and what the future holds

Whenever we publish a story about Kettering town centre we’re always met with the same comments – that it’s just charity shops, coffee shops and empty shops.

But how does the breakdown really look, what does the town do well and what needs to be done to entice more shoppers and businesses in?

Armed with a clipboard, we analysed 306 units from Sheep Street in the south to Newland Street in the north and spoke to traders, politicians and community figures find out just that.

Our findings

We put every unit into different categories to work out the make-up of our town centre and see which sectors dominate.

Of the 306 units analysed a total of 39 – or 12.7 per cent – were either vacant or long-term closed.

Hair and beauty took up 10.8 per cent of the units, closely followed by mixed retail (8.5 per cent). Food and drink accounted for just over one-fifth of the town centre’s retail space – split between cafe or restaurant (7.5 per cent), takeaways (5.9 per cent), food retail (5.6 per cent) and pub or bar (3.3 per cent).

There’s more estate agents (6.2 per cent) than clothing or shoe shops (5.6 per cent) while charity shops and vape shops – which many social media users bemoan – took up just 3.6 per cent and 1.3 per cent of the town centre respectively.

Further categories analysed included banks and financial services (4.2 per cent), phone shops (2.9 per cent), gambling premises (two per cent), pharmacy and health (4.2 per cent), jewellery (2.3 per cent), newsagents (1.6 per cent) and books, music or games (two per cent). We placed 9.8 per cent of units into the category other.

How does Kettering compare?

A report by the British Retail Consortium and the Local Data Company found the UK’s overall shop vacancy rate for the fourth quarter of 2022 was 13.8 per cent – higher than the rate of the Kettering units we analysed. We’ll be looking at how neighbouring towns fare against Kettering in the coming weeks.

Marcus Learoyd, from Corby-based property agents Potter Learoyd Commercial, said all town centres are facing the same problem because the cost-of-living crisis and economic climate mean people don't have as much money in their pocket.

And, while customers don't spend as much, traders’ bills are rising and they still have rent and rates to pay, eating into their profit margin so much that it's unsustainable for some.

Mr Learoyd said he has noticed Kettering’s retail offering change – and that the loss of M&S hasn’t helped.

He said: "I would argue that Rushden Lakes has had an impact on Kettering's High Street and it's been the opposite to Corby.

"They've almost swapped places – we get phone calls from retailers who want to come out of Kettering and want to come to Corby."

The openings and closures

Kettering has suffered a number of big name closures in recent years, with the rise in online shopping a big factor. It’s now been five years since the closure of M&S and, apart from becoming a temporary job centre which is yet to welcome a single jobseeker because of issues, it has sat empty.

Menswear retailer Burton also closed in 2018, followed by New Look in 2019, Argos in 2020 and Colemans last year. One indicator of how retail value has dropped is the price tag of the town’s Newlands Shopping Centre – in 2021 it went on the market for £8.5m just 10 years after being sold for more than £30m.

One unit to close recently was Vinyl Coffee in Market Street, which shut in September just under a year after opening.

Owner Jason Tagg said the cafe and record shop simply wasn’t busy enough to continue and that he thinks the town’s footfall had dropped since before Covid-19. He thinks council bosses could offer some free parking to bring shoppers back.

He said: "Closing was a really tough decision to take. It had been a passion of mine for a long time and I really did not want to let it go.

"I was trying to consider every possible option to keep it open but I just couldn't find a way to make it work."

But it’s not all doom and gloom. In 2021 Kettering was named as one of the UK’s most entrepreneurial towns – and many independent traders and franchises are snapping up empty units.

Egg-free cake shop Cake Box was blown away with the response when it opened in Gold Street in December and Geek Retreat is bucking the High Street trend, with people flocking to it.

Soon after Vape Central closed in Montagu Street CC's Cake Supplies moved into the unit and Marvellous Minds Tuition recently opened up in Market Street.

One of those to recently open in a new unit was Michelle Robertson, who opened gift shop Kitsch Mitch at The Yards in November.

She said the reaction has been amazing – and she hopes to see others follow in her footsteps by setting up their own business.

She said: "The Yards has got so much potential and I want to try and help regenerate the area a little bit. It really helps small traders like me and independents are the way forward.

"I think lower rents would really help other businesses get started, especially in their first year."

Incentives, Kettering’s community and what the focus should be

Jamie Cooper owns Jamie's Quality Butchers in Gold Street and has worked at the shop since 1997.

He spends a lot of time on social media with competitions to keep customers engaged and has tried to entertain them with 'different' ideas – from holding a stinky fish challenge to putting a boxing punchbag machine outside his shop.

He thinks the future of the town centre revolves around making it a venue for social activities.

He said: "People don't come into Kettering to buy clothes anymore and I think it's hard to make money unless it's food.

"I can see the town centre in the future just being a place to meet people and go for a coffee. There needs to be an incentive for people to shop here because at the minute you have to work bloody hard just to keep your business going."

Davina Parkhouse opened independent mini department store The Bean Hive in High Street in 2018 and it quickly became one the town's most popular shops. They bring together a number of local traders under one roof with its bright pink frontage standing out from the crowd.

They recently recorded their best ever December and January and Davina said it’s clear people want to support local traders.

She said: "I think it's quite positive that as soon as something closes there's someone interested in taking the unit on.

"I think the community is the best thing about Kettering – people care and they want to support the town."

Alison Holland is one of the founding members of the Kettering Town Centre Partnership and said town centres are changing but that a lot of smaller retailers are thriving.

She agreed that there needs to be more of a focus on activities to bring people in.

She said: "We need people to recognise all of the good stuff we have in our town and feel positive about what's going on.

"It's no longer just a place to go shopping but where you can meet people and do stuff. It's about far more than just shops and it's use it or lose it really."

What do our politicians think?

Cllr David Brackenbury (Con), North Northamptonshire Council's executive member for growth and regeneration, said people’s shopping habits have changed compared to previous decades and that the council is trying to make the town centre more attractive to draw people in.

He pointed to a makeover with new pavements and street trees, as part of a £4m revitalisation project between the authority and Historic England, and ongoing work to remodel the Alfred East Art Gallery, Kettering Library and museum.

He said: "We want to work with stakeholders and heritage groups as well as people from the retail and entertainment industries to make Kettering as attractive as possible while respecting its heritage and history as a leading market town in the East Midlands."

There have been numerous calls to reduce the town’s car parking charges and Cllr Brackenbury said the council is currently conducting a review of them.

Kettering MP Philip Hollobone (Con) also pointed to recently-funded projects to make the town more attractive but said developments like Rushden Lakes have had a negative impact on its retail offering.

He said: "The biggest challenges faced by Kettering High Street are online shopping and the decision taken to develop Rushden Lakes. It's taken years of economic growth out of the town centre.

"That's why M&S left. Rushden Lakes was the nail in the coffin."

Cllr Keli Watts (Lab) is the mayor of Kettering and was recently elected to represent the Northall ward on North Northamptonshire Council.

She thinks we have to accept that shopping like we used to is no longer an option because online shopping is here to stay. But she would like to see more places to sit for those visiting as well as pop-up art galleries and places where people can listen to music.

And she wants to see the front of empty units decorated or used as a billboard to promote events to make them more pleasing on the eye.

She said: "Nobody likes looking at an empty shop front. It reeks of failure and loneliness and we do not want that in our town."

Cllr Watts added that there needs to be some form of free parking every day – and she thinks ANPR systems should replace pay machines so shoppers don’t have to prematurely curtail their visit.

She said: "I speak to people and they say they'd love to stop and chat but they have to get back to their car because they've only put so much on it. We want people to stay in our town, not have them running off because their car park ticket is running out."

What do you think about Kettering town centre?

You can share your views by joining the debate on our Facebook page or emailing nt.newsdesk@northantsnews.co.uk.