DESPITE almost 1,000 career seekers turning up for a jobs and recruitment fair in the city of Newport last week looking to secure a job at the soon-to-be open Debenhams department store, there is still a task to do to convince some retailers that Friars Walk is going to be a run away success.

The prospective Debenhams staff were given the chance to meet face-to-face with their possible future employer at the event in Newport’s Charles Street as the leading retailer looks to fill some 80 vacancies ahead of the opening of the anchor store on November 12.

And Debenhams is just one of a host of employers looking to fill a range of vacancies at Friars Walk, which will be the biggest retail event in the city for decades, perhaps ever.

We have taken a range of retail requirement enquiries for in the city. The requirements at long last appear to be emerging from the woodwork but it still remains a bit of an uphill struggle to convince doubting potential operators to have faith in the city.

Meanwhile, despite all the headline and hype in the wake of the first all Conservative budget for two decades the Chancellor George Osborne is still ‘coasting’ on the business rates review while ratepayers are drowning in them. This remains a massive and potentially damaging issue, especially in Newport city centre.

One announcement the Chancellor made which is sure to be welcomed, we would hope, by shoppers and retailers alike, is the proposed devolution of the Sunday trading hours.

It will give greater freedom to shoppers and should hopefully provide a boost for recruitment and jobs and will particularly benefit town centres by generating extra footfall and commerce for local communities especially now Friars Walk is nearing completion.

The logistics sector received a major boost in the Chancellor’s budget statement with duty on fuel to be frozen. Also included is a substantial commitment to sustained investment in our roads with the creation of a road-building and maintenance fund. Both these measures will help to reduce transport costs and this in turn will create a ripple effect felt by the haulage sector, retailers and ultimately consumers. We can all hope the M4 relief road will not be ‘quietly dropped’ as stated last week. In fact, supporters now need to make as much noise about this as is possible so that the Brynglas Tunnels problem, which is only set to get worse as our economy improves , is sorted once and for all. Good infrastructure is key to bringing more people to Newport

Industrial take up in Newport has continued to improve, we have recently have agreed and completed on a number of industrial lettings and sales within the city and we still have strong levels of enquiries coming through.

We’re pleased that 5 Gold Tops, which we sold, will remain in commercial use which is good for Gold Tops. However, numbers 8, and 9 Gold Tops are all currently being converted to residential flats with work ongoing.

Off the patch slightly but none the less important is the imminent opening of the Marks & Spencer food store in the former Co-Op in Thomas Street, Chepstow. The arrival of the blue-chip retailer in Chepstow has already created quite a buzz with a number of retailers looking to make their move in the thriving border town on the back of this very encouraging move.

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