..and big name multiples. The repurposed Southport Market offers a great model - an attractive Edwardian space but modern food offer. Likewise the revival of smaller centres like Birkdale and Ainsdale villages demonstrates an appetite among locals to get behind local businesses
Another great read, Jack. I find Southport a really interesting place and I think the Labour candidate’s idea of. “Refurbishment Zone” is spot on. Lord Street has retained enough of its original cache and grandeur to provide the platform for revival and if an investment zone were established to attract independent retailers and services, it has more than a sporting chance. The Ocean City development of retail sheds and cinemas no doubt serves a purpose but also undermines Lord Street’s efforts to attract more people who want to spend time and money in bespoke surroundings. The alternative is a race to the bottom as the town is surrounded by retail parks offering easy free parking and
Southport will not thrive whilst (Labour controlled) Sefton Council see it as little more than a cash cow to support what they perceive as more needy and deserving areas. Their shameful purchase of Bootle New Strand shopping centre being the most obvious example
Well written article Jack - and the comparison to Margate - an area you obviously know well - was insightful. What came across so powerfully is that Southport has no plan or vision to arrest this decline.
Whoever is elected MP is inconsequential without a team pushing forward a revamp of Lord Street and upgrading its existing amenities. You have to attract footfall for economic success.
Very, very disappointed with this article. While parts of Lord Street are struggling in line with the national picture, other parts of Southport are booming and there’s a real upswing in the arts and investor confidence. Southport has so much going on. Expected better from The Post tbh
Bit late in getting round to reading this piece, I can't believe no one has mentioned the loss of the pier. For God's sake this was the best things about the place, I can see no reason to visit the town without the lure of a walk along the pier and won't go again 'till I can. (Cutting my nose off to spite my face perhaps, I'll miss The Swans fish and chips.)
It’s hard to avoid nostalgia. Wanting to celebrate our 70th birthdays in September 2018 I got tickets for Liverpool at home to Southampton (3-0!). The Labour Party conference was on in Liverpool so I suggested the Prince of Wales, the best place in Southport in my youth. I won’t go into detail. It’s enough that some of the gilded letters in the hotel’s name had fallen off and one was hanging by a thread. I relish the prospect of a Labour victory and the hope of some resurgence for this once stylish town, where the grandfather of my friend Tim Riley had the bright idea of ref tarmac on Lord Street and my mum could choose between at least three furriers while I tucked in at one of the branches of UCP ( United Cattle Products). It’s not just hard; it’s impossible to resist nostalgia!
A lot of the problems are of the town's own making. If the area you lived in still had the Red & white lamp posts, then you were considered to be OK, but the further Southwards you moved or lived, the levels altered to Just about tolerated, right through to outward contempt. At one time, Southport was like a reflection of this Country, where everything was London-centric, Southport seemed to get the best and reality was never allowed to intercede, whereas Bootle, LItherland, Waterloo and to a lesser extent Crosby, could all be desert mirages for all the attention they got.
Then of course, there was the outright disgust at having to be classed as part of Merseyside, something which upset many of them so much that they tried to get Royal Mail to "redesignate" the Post Code from L to PR. Unfortunately, bad times can happen to us all, and now that economic reality's beginning to bite, the Barricades are very reluctantly coming down. Southport still has a fair bit going for it, but like so many other places in this area, and up & down the country it all depends on what they do and how they go about it as to how it will both survive and bounce back
Southport will only revive when Liverpool decides it should, just as it only thrived when Liverpool decided it should. And that’s not a ‘decision’ as such, as much as businesses transforming the appeal of the town and bringing visitors in. It can be done, as London has done for Brighton. However attitudes of snobby Sandgrounders (a thankfully decreasing minority) could be a little less hostile. You can’t think you’ve ’made it’ by leaving home and moving there anymore…
Ultimately, there’s little the people of Southport can do besides being a little bit more friendly and cooperative. There’s a lot more business owners or people with wealth in Liverpool could do with vision though…it would only take small steps and it could accelerate quickly.
Sunak has clearly given up any intention of continuing as PM - this is the ONLY explanation for him walking away from commemorating the 80th Anniversary of D-Day this week. The Conservative party will surely LOSE their only seat in this area. It will not surprise me if the town becomes a Lib-Dem gain, as it is almost impossible to differentiate Labour and Conservative.
..and big name multiples. The repurposed Southport Market offers a great model - an attractive Edwardian space but modern food offer. Likewise the revival of smaller centres like Birkdale and Ainsdale villages demonstrates an appetite among locals to get behind local businesses
Another great read, Jack. I find Southport a really interesting place and I think the Labour candidate’s idea of. “Refurbishment Zone” is spot on. Lord Street has retained enough of its original cache and grandeur to provide the platform for revival and if an investment zone were established to attract independent retailers and services, it has more than a sporting chance. The Ocean City development of retail sheds and cinemas no doubt serves a purpose but also undermines Lord Street’s efforts to attract more people who want to spend time and money in bespoke surroundings. The alternative is a race to the bottom as the town is surrounded by retail parks offering easy free parking and
Southport will not thrive whilst (Labour controlled) Sefton Council see it as little more than a cash cow to support what they perceive as more needy and deserving areas. Their shameful purchase of Bootle New Strand shopping centre being the most obvious example
Well written article Jack - and the comparison to Margate - an area you obviously know well - was insightful. What came across so powerfully is that Southport has no plan or vision to arrest this decline.
Whoever is elected MP is inconsequential without a team pushing forward a revamp of Lord Street and upgrading its existing amenities. You have to attract footfall for economic success.
Not a word about the woeful Council.
Very, very disappointed with this article. While parts of Lord Street are struggling in line with the national picture, other parts of Southport are booming and there’s a real upswing in the arts and investor confidence. Southport has so much going on. Expected better from The Post tbh
Can you give us some examples Rob? I’m genuinely interested.
Bit late in getting round to reading this piece, I can't believe no one has mentioned the loss of the pier. For God's sake this was the best things about the place, I can see no reason to visit the town without the lure of a walk along the pier and won't go again 'till I can. (Cutting my nose off to spite my face perhaps, I'll miss The Swans fish and chips.)
It’s hard to avoid nostalgia. Wanting to celebrate our 70th birthdays in September 2018 I got tickets for Liverpool at home to Southampton (3-0!). The Labour Party conference was on in Liverpool so I suggested the Prince of Wales, the best place in Southport in my youth. I won’t go into detail. It’s enough that some of the gilded letters in the hotel’s name had fallen off and one was hanging by a thread. I relish the prospect of a Labour victory and the hope of some resurgence for this once stylish town, where the grandfather of my friend Tim Riley had the bright idea of ref tarmac on Lord Street and my mum could choose between at least three furriers while I tucked in at one of the branches of UCP ( United Cattle Products). It’s not just hard; it’s impossible to resist nostalgia!
A lot of the problems are of the town's own making. If the area you lived in still had the Red & white lamp posts, then you were considered to be OK, but the further Southwards you moved or lived, the levels altered to Just about tolerated, right through to outward contempt. At one time, Southport was like a reflection of this Country, where everything was London-centric, Southport seemed to get the best and reality was never allowed to intercede, whereas Bootle, LItherland, Waterloo and to a lesser extent Crosby, could all be desert mirages for all the attention they got.
Then of course, there was the outright disgust at having to be classed as part of Merseyside, something which upset many of them so much that they tried to get Royal Mail to "redesignate" the Post Code from L to PR. Unfortunately, bad times can happen to us all, and now that economic reality's beginning to bite, the Barricades are very reluctantly coming down. Southport still has a fair bit going for it, but like so many other places in this area, and up & down the country it all depends on what they do and how they go about it as to how it will both survive and bounce back
Southport will only revive when Liverpool decides it should, just as it only thrived when Liverpool decided it should. And that’s not a ‘decision’ as such, as much as businesses transforming the appeal of the town and bringing visitors in. It can be done, as London has done for Brighton. However attitudes of snobby Sandgrounders (a thankfully decreasing minority) could be a little less hostile. You can’t think you’ve ’made it’ by leaving home and moving there anymore…
Ultimately, there’s little the people of Southport can do besides being a little bit more friendly and cooperative. There’s a lot more business owners or people with wealth in Liverpool could do with vision though…it would only take small steps and it could accelerate quickly.
Sunak has clearly given up any intention of continuing as PM - this is the ONLY explanation for him walking away from commemorating the 80th Anniversary of D-Day this week. The Conservative party will surely LOSE their only seat in this area. It will not surprise me if the town becomes a Lib-Dem gain, as it is almost impossible to differentiate Labour and Conservative.