Dreadful reporting from a "trainee journo"
informing us that M&S opened there in the 80's! FFS!
Chickens coming home to roost. Blackburn has brought it on themselves, as has M&S to an extent. Obviously on line shopping has contributed and unable to compete on price M&S let quality drop years ago and and lost their reputation. Meanwhile the council treat businesses like money trees. Ridiculous business rents and rates, a greedy money grubbing attitude to parking and a huge change in the demography have lead to the down fall of the borough. I've no idea how we could all see it happening but apparently not the council. A once thriving night life has gone to the wall denying the council pub and bar revenue whilst the shops in the centre are all left flogging a dead horse. Blackburn on a Saturday is now a ghost town compared to what it was in the 70's when I worked there. What has a Labour MP and a majority Labour council presided over other than a massive demise of the town.
I once suggested to the Mayor years ago that free parking discs and / or free bus passes should be handed out to all households the minute that they pay their council tax in full. Reason being it would attract people to use the shops in the centre thereby justifying the rent and rates, retail businesses would be attracted to the centre and buses that travel up and down with no one on them would have a purpose once more. He laughed at me and told me that parking fees were a major income that they could not do without. As ever short term thinking is the achilles heel of our politicians. 's be honest anyone from M&S taking Council leader Phil Riley as an example of the town would see that there isn't much future for elegance and grooming in BwD.
This is a good read for the more nostalgic amongst us, Blackburn was a thriving community and home to many small businesses before the demise of the textile industry...
https://www.cottontown.org/howweusedtolive/Down Memory Lane/Pages/All-Our-Yesterdays.aspx