Sue Stubley of Occasions Jewellers and Darren Sutton of Charmed Interiors call for more improvement after Yorkshire Trading opening sees increased footfall at Bridge Street, Spalding

Spalding must build on the increased footfall seen since Yorkshire Trading opened in the town, according to traders.

The firm opened on Bridge Street in early March after moving into the former M&Co store.

Sue Stubley, who runs Occasions Jewellers on the street, and Charmed Interiors’ Darren Sutton both say the number of shoppers at their end of town has improved since then.

However, both believe more has to be done to find long-term solutions in bringing people into the town centre.

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in people coming down to Bridge Street,” Mrs Stubley said.

“All we can hope is that it encourages them to come into other shops as well, which would be good.”

Despite seeing an increase in ‘window shoppers’, Mrs Stubley says the increased footfall has yet to translate into more shoppers at Occasions.

Before Yorkshire Trading opened its doors, she says traffic at Bridge Street was ‘very poor’ - and that a gradual decline started back in early 2017.

She believes that transforming Beales Department Store, which currently lies empty on Market Place, into multiple small shops and cafés would benefit the area.

“The problem is branded shops won’t come if there is no footfall,” she added.

“I just think Yorkshire Trading needs to be built on. We’ve got to stop talking about what we want to do to the town and get on and do it.”

Mr Sutton says it is difficult to gauge an increase in footfall because shops have been closed at this time of year since Covid rules were introduced.

He said: “Generally, footfall is steady. I think Yorkshire Trading have been busy, so it has brought people to this end of Bridge Street, which is good.

“We didn’t want to see it empty because it is quite a big unit in Spalding, so it’s definitely nice that it’s been filled and people are coming.

“It’s good that it’s open and hopefully they’ll be successful.”

Mr Sutton, who also runs Bookmark on The Crescent, believes events such as last Saturday’s Spring into Spalding showpiece will be pivotal in drawing people into the town centre.