BOARDED UP MIDDLESBROUGH, any hope for this town?
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- čas přidán 21. 09. 2023
- Nestled at the northernmost point of North Yorkshire, Middlesbrough boasts a fascinating history of transformation. Once a thriving hub of the iron and steel industry, the town successfully reinvented itself as the retail epicenter for the region. However, in today's challenging economic climate, the struggles faced by Middlesbrough's high streets are evident to anyone who walks through them.
In this thought-provoking video, we delve into Middlesbrough's journey, examining the current challenges plaguing its town center. Join us as we uncover the visionary plans set forth by the determined local council, designed to reshape the town's future and revive its high street.
But the story doesn't end here. We also draw comparisons with Scarborough, another town grappling with the decline of its high street. What valuable lessons can Scarborough glean from Middlesbrough's experiences? As we explore these questions, we hope to shed light on the resilience and potential of towns like Middlesbrough, offering a glimmer of hope for their future prosperity.
#abandoned #middlesbrough #urban #deathofthehighstreet #highstreet #dying #town #explore #centre #derelict #shops #urbex #urban
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Gratitude to all who engaged with our previous video, 'Boarded Up Scarborough.' Your feedback has been immensely valuable in fueling this ongoing dialogue. With your support, I'm eager to learn about places resilient against modern high street challenges and those struggling. Together, let's amplify this conversation and work towards securing the future of our towns and cities.
Thank you for highlighting the positives , a breath of fresh air, and yes, there is hope yet. Maybe there should be a mass movement to boycott Amazon.
More Middlesbrough shops are closed now than in the last 6 months, the indoor market stall is improving their store area image, and new shop front, but needs more indoor market traders around 40%, and more homeless people living on the streets.
Teesside has been betrayed by every government since WW2. A manufacturing and Engineering powerhouse. Despite the very best efforts by government to turn us into a slum, the people of Middlesbrough are still friendly, upbeat, and proud people. As a contractor, you cannot go on a major engineering project anywhere in the world without bumping into people from Teesside. Engineering and pride are in our blood. The people of Teesside have had everything taken from them……and are still the best most down to earth people in the world. When the puppeteers are overthrown and people are allowed to live without government interference Teesside will shine
Your absolutely right Sesh, there is a fantastic sense of pride and achievement in Middlesbrough and out of all the places I’ve visited there seems to be an incredible resilience there that you’ve done it so many times before, Middlesbrough will be at the forefront of what comes next. there embracement of Leisure over Retail is remarkably foresighted..
We are moving to Middlesbrough soon and I am rather looking forward to it. This town has a certain charm about it.
i tell you what if my business wasn’t down here in Scarborough id move there in an instant. it has everything going for it. aside from a forward thinking council and a great night time economy you have the Cleveland Hills which is our nearest escape to the country and you have the magnificent A66 that can get you into the Lake District in under an hour and a half. im sold…
It's an awful place, spent a lot of years there. Its just full of anti social behaviour now and a corrupt council
When I was growing up in the Boro there were 5 or 6 huge department stores. All gone now sad, but there's no going back. Happening everywhere, even out of town centres like the MetroCentre are struggling similarly.
Its such a sorry time for high street retail. If things are going bad in the metro centre we need to really fear for the worst!
I am so happy to see your video till the end and sorry for the late visit here
thank you so much Aishu, really appreciate the support ❤️
Love Boro ! There used to be a shop on Newport Rd that had a neon sign saying “Smoggy for life” and although we are not locals we always admired the loyalty and pride the local population had in their town ! But the town had its heart ripped out the decline of North Tees, Seal Sands Billingham Redcar and Wilton. So sad all those valuable skills lost .. irreplaceable and Amazon’s Robots will never deliver equivalent levels of prosperity. But the town can reinvent itself because there are people there who know how to. And when it does the wealth and shops will surely return .. Great video .. Thank you
I love that “Smoggy for life”, there is such pride and resilience in this town. it’s always been our go to place for shopping, cinema and even drinks! It’s sad to see it decline, but whilst I filmed a lot of this mid week, we did our research on a Saturday and the atmosphere was buzzing. there is enough of the night time economy alive to attract crowds to the streets and the new leisure and drinks complex that forms the start of the reinvented Captain Cooks Square was absolutely rammed. if they make good on their plans to complete that area the town will have beaten most other towns and cities in the UK to reinvent themselves. Still loving that channel name guys ♥️
Hey Nick and Jill, glad to have watched this!! So sorry for not being able to be there supporting you at the premiere, but loved this and have been looking forward to your next video on 'Boarded Up'. Appreciate how much time and effort went into making this too, you presented fantastically and kept us engaged throughout on these hard hitting subjects. Unfortunately the times are changing, we as a society are moving into a lazy and more convenient way of life and places like Amazon for most are a god send, but i agree, it's so sad to see what is going on in our high streets, take Portsmouth as an example, our high street is now only scattered pubs, fast food outlets and the massive department stores are converted into student accommodation, then everything else is completely boarded up, i haven't shopped down that high street for maybe 7 + years? I find it sad that independent retailers don't really get a good look in due to rent costs going through the roof and of course the decline of footfall into the high streets. Unfortunately i couldn't understand the fella speaking, but i'm sorry to see the hardship he has been dealt. A sad reality. Thank you again Nick and Jill, always thought provoking x
ah thank you Alessa, thats the second time tonight that i have heard Department Stores are being turned into student accommodation and it really warms my heart. clearly your council is forward thinking and has a plan to ride the storm. we opened up a branch of Coventry University in Scarborough at a massive expense at the same time the stupid council here put a kybosh on all bars opening or renewing their licenses. where was the thinking there? sorry about the homeless dude. i must have watched that segment a million times, i understand him perfectly now and desperately want to air the full unedited segment but need to make sure i have rated the video appropriate viewing for our advertisers and I haven’t a clue about that. he was very vocal about what he is seeing around him and had no clue as to why he was being left out whilst others, not brits, were being afforded amazing help. its a topic we will be covering as winter looms.. 6000 english homeless and 10million spent each day on… well you can see where we will be heading xx
I grew up in Eaglescliffe and my first job was a weekend job in Charles Clinkards, when I was 16, in Middlesbrough. I used to enjoy shopping in Boro my teens, and as I got older nights out, before I left home for university. I now live just over in Durham. I always thought the Orange Pip market and stuff was good but never had opportunity to explore more when it was on. My husband said he didnt think he'd ever been to Middlesborough, so we booked a 2 day, 1 night stay just this weekend, gone. And do you know what? We had a brilliant time. Yes, it's not the most pretty of places- has some scruffy run down bits, but we visited some great places on Bedford and Baker Street (the Nuthatch being our favourite) Madame Rouge on Linthorpe, The Teahouse, enjoyed a walk round Central Square to see the swans and duck and went to the Dorman and Dressers Tearoom and walked around Albert Park. We then went a little further a field to Acklam Hall. I sent pics to my brother during our trip who couldn't guess where we were in "North Yorkshire". Its quite sad seeing how much it's struggling and declined since my youth, but its the story for many high streets, but it's good to see positive ideas planned. I feel like Boro gets more flack than it deserves. When I was researching places to go there was some great sounding places. Come on Boro! Don't give up! Needs some brave people, with a good business head and the right buiness ideas to take the plunge as well as the council to come up with good initiatives to support and tempt businesses.
Ah Karen thank you so much for this heart warming comment. Before i speak to the rest of it, ironically it was Charles Clinkard that brought me to Middlesbrough for the first time twenty years ago, my Mum insists on slippers that can only be bought from there as Xmas presents and i return each year to but them in a different colour. Middlesbrough has always been the place we go to for quality shopping, its been the place that we bought all our wedding and honeymoon clobber from and its the place we go to buy our new holiday wardrobe. In fact for all our none grocery shopping needs Middlesbrough has always been our go to place. When I posted this video I was disappointed with some of my acquaintances reactions, the general feeling was “well Middlesbrough has always been a s&£t hole” and that really upset me, it’s definitely not how we have viewed it and to this day it still isn’t. I love that you have just enjoyed an overnight stay there and i tell you what i’ll probably do the same before the year is out. The place has so much going for it and i really believe that the decline of the high street there has been a concern for the Council for some time. They have a vision for the future where other towns and cities are only just noticing that things have changed. We researched and filmed this on a Saturday and Tuesday and i can tell you this the atmosphere was electric on the Saturday and people were busy going from one bar to another. There is life and direction in Middlesbrough…
@GENerationXplorers it seems a lot judge Middlesbrough without having spent any real time there. I have fond memories of Middlesbrough. My other brother (not the one I sent photos to) still lives there so I pop through occasionally and I always enjoy my visits and I've always felt perfectly safe in the town center. I've got a soft spot for Boro. 🙂
@karentindale7095 yeah us too Karen. For us, its the nearest centre of retail (still), the nearest cinema, the friendliest town and an attractive place to enjoy bars and restaurants. Middlesbrough is great and i sincerely wish more people opted to spend time there.
A brilliant premiere sadly showing first hand the end of the inner city. One day, everything will be online. Thanks for sharing...... the thought police will be with you shortly
🤣🤣 just heard some knocking at our door but didn’t answer….think it was the thought police 👮♀️ it is a sad topic but one we are all experiencing! let’s see where it leads! have a great weekend Chris 👍❤️
Great job guys. Let’s hope this one blows up too. It’s so sad to see what’s happening to the high street. Nowhere is safe! Cheers 🍻
its very scary. well we pandered to youtube, we tried budget travel vlogs, eating reviews and social commentary.
of course, the most upbeat channel on youtube, what do they want you to do next?
of course, depressing social commentary.
well at least we have a vested interest here. we moved from Blackpool 20 years ago because it was all starting to be boarded up and now Scarborough gives the worst Blackpool a run for its money.
so we are invested in this topic.
on our serious panda notes we will also be covering 6000 homeless, 10 million on illegal hotels every day, second home property ladders and more..
watch this space xx
Excellent video and info! thanks for sharing this with us...
Thank you so much, we really hope Middlesbrough can be the example for us all..
Sad to see whats going on with businesses. Amazon keeps getting bigger. I’m one who likes to go shopping at stores and seeing people. We have many homeless here too. Who knows what’s in the future? Great video guys. Thanks for bringing attention to it. 👍😊🇨🇦
Thanks Christine! it is sad but a topic affecting us all! homelessness is a subject we will most certainly be visiting! have a great weekend 👍❤️
Absolutely brilliant mate.
You and Jill have done some major research here!!!
Very sad state of affairs. Like you I’d rather shop in town than on line - just like the buzz of it 👍
You really should offer this to the local TV and radio station as it’s very evocative and there’s many who are keenly interested in their town 👍❤️
Thank you so much Phil. Its interesting because its Jills birthday next Friday and after filming and researching this i cannot physically resort to shopping online anymore as i normally would. I will be visiting the town centre (whats left of it) a couple of times over the weekend and if i cannot find the cards and presents she might want on the high street she will have to make do with the best our high street has left to offer. Its time to take a stand..
I'm from the Boro and don't have the same confidence as you with the labour council for Boro town centre.
Sorry to hear that. I blame most of my towns woes on our Council. We have a Conservative Coalition with Labour and Independent, its a Conservative majority but we have a Labour leader. Its an absolute farce.
Wow what a production well done guys that was brilliant. So much work put in to that.very hard hitting in parts is there no end to your talents your best you done so far give yourself around of applause xxx
Thank you so much Simon. I had been working for weeks on a follow up to Boarded Up Scarborough and only went up to Middlesbrough to film the rant outside the Amazon Warehouse which was going to bookend my second Scarborough video. When i saw how badly Middlesbrough has been affected it was a case of going back to the drawing board and starting again. Hopefully the powers that be will get to see the state of our country outside of London! Xx
*Great video, thank you for sharing. 😃😃😃*
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment 👍
Great to see the overwhelming success of this video guys!
Thank you Bogi, very up and down with the views, all depends on how many impressions you get, it’s the CZcams lottery!
Hi Jill and Nick! I loved that you didn't just emphasize the negative but you also highlighted some positives. Great to see the local council is implementing some measures to try and help their high street survive. It seems to be a losing battle though, doesn't it? On visiting the UK this Summer, I was really taken aback by just how many shops had closed since my last visit. One of our malls in Norwich has survived by evolving into an entertainment zone. In some areas over here, shopping malls are struggling. It really depends on where they are situated. In the more affluent areas, business seems to be booming. A very well-researched and thought-provoking video ❤
Thanks Julie and Lucy and thanks for incredible support. The cracks really are showing up everywhere now, im hearing reports from even the very most affluent middle class quarter’s, its very frightening, but maybe its this final onslaught that will get MPs to realise this really is an issue. I think what is happening in Norwich is a great model by the sounds of it. Lets have more affordable housing, local ward essential retailers and entertainment venues for locals. Its the changing face of our high street, lets hope more Councils can embrace it quickly so we don’t look like a third world.
Such a very beautiful place to see my friend. Great sharing. God bless us all
Thank you Rodkris, there is a lot of hope and pride simmering…
A fab premiere and such an interesting watch Nick and Jill. I can see how much research you put into this one. Well done 😊
Thank you Yasmin, yes its a wee bit harder for us without smartphones. Ironically i went up that way to do a rant outside my nearest Amazon warehouse to couple up with all the content i have on a Scarborough follow up. We went to Middlesbrough to do a spot of shopping as we often love to do and were shocked at what we found. Its been a whirlwind week to follow of researching and returning to get everything in place. That being said id swap Councils with Middlesbrough any day of the week.
Indeed, Amazon and Walmart here in Canada. Was talking to a business owner and found that the business taxes on properties are incredible here in my area...at a shocking level even! M&S closed out years ago here...and I still miss them. Parking is always an issue if heading downtown. There was a report done in our downtown too that has shown that since the pandemic, people have chosen to continue to work at home, leaving the business areas mostly vacant and people not around to keep eateries or other businesses with enough customers to keep open. Don't have a real solution, but maybe a mixture of a few things such as a change in taxes and an increase in mass transportation routes may be a place to start. Hope you are able to get out this weekend and enjoy. Bruce and Otis
Hi Bruce it’s really interesting how other places across the globe are the same so thanks for telling us what it’s like where you are! Something needs to be done to coincide with our changing habits! have a great weekend 👍
Such a said but reoccurring situation. It's good to see local government being proactive and trying to change with the times, we hope it works out and becomes a great example for other cities. This is a great showcase guys, the information is very well presented. You guys were very kind to the guy on the street, such a sad story. This is happening everywhere, this is happening in San Francisco. Retail is being hit hard everywhere. We've seen some places doing well changing to or integrating retail with housing.
hi Gina and Robert, thanks for your great comment! yeah it is sad that it is happening the world over! yes we have had a few day their shops have been turned into housing but then why still all the house building on outskirts of places which seems to be all over 🤷🏻♀️ have a great week guys ❤️
Like 93 👍
Greetings from your friends in Naples, Florida. This is so sad to see. Great video!! Thanks so much for sharing with us, have a great week. 💯
So sad but seems to be happening the work over! Thank you and you too 👍❤️
Hello Jill and Nick 👋. That’s amazing information👍. That’s very sad to see all this shops struggling and hard to go back in normal business. Have a nice day. Greetings from Germany 🇩🇪.
Yes sorry Kenn it is quite a depressing subject but one we are all experiencing! interesting to see what unfolds in the future! hope you are well and have a great weekend 👍❤️
Thanks for this video about my hometown, Middlesbrough. I was back in September 2023 for the first time in many years and I was shocked to see how much was closed. I can only hope that things get better. What stood out though was this: the friendliness of the people we encountered. I can only wish my town and its people the very best for the future.
Wow that’s quite the move to Austria, it’s absolutely stunning there and I’m imagining that retail is not struggling or facing the same challenges we are in the UK. your absolutely right though the people of Middlesbrough are the heart of the town and they will get behind whatever changes are to come! thank you so much for your comment and I’m going over to sub as we love Austria!
@@GENerationXplorers Thanks for your interesting reply! I don't often see shops closed up here. I think there's less poverty in Austria, and maybe that's the reason. I attribute that to the economy being organized along social democratic lines; in other words, despite the presence of some seriously wealthy people, the economy is organized in a more redistributive way. And that probably helps with spending on the high street! There's plenty of money in the U.K. - it's a seriously wealthy country - so I think things could be a lot better if the economy was organized differently. And then towns like Middlesbrough would have a chance to realize their potential. I can only hope that things will change for the better.
Doing the catch up…quite interesting all the closures although sad to say not surprising…we have so many closures here too…to go along with homelessness, which is a whole other issue😢
I’d have to agree with Anita about shopping in smaller stores, which is what I remember growing up…if I needed a pair of shoes there were shoe stores and plenty of them to purchase them from ! Today everyone buys everything online…something the pandemic made people comfortable doing. I could go on but don’t want to take up space here…sad the state of the world and I often wonder where it’s going from here! Great video! Happy New Year 🎊 Thanks for sharing your amazing videos!
Hi Donna thanks for your awesome comment and yes it appears it is happening the world over with chancing society’s we feel it was always going to happen but the pandemic made it happen faster! Hope you had a lovely Christmas and all the best for 2024 👍❤️
The boro town centre was amazing in the 90s.
oh my days Gareth it was amazing in the 00s and the 10s too. it was our go to place. we shopped for our entire wedding in Boro Town. it was and still should be the classiest place for retail in the North East.
Fascinating video mate, you’ve earned a sub!
Thank you Ross. Its a sorry time for our high street and it doesn’t seem to be the focus of Government at all. They go to and fro from their mostly protected middle class affluent towns and boroughs and are clueless to what is going on elsewhere. Well its only a matter of time and it will reach them too. E-tail, as you so rightfully call it will reach even the richest parts eventually!
@@GENerationXplorers I live in a little town called Hucknall just outside of Nottingham and while it does have it’s share of charity and vape shops, the local council have really tried to do something. So we’ve got an ARC cinema, loads of places to eat, plenty of pubs and a few independent retailers.
Maybe the future is people going even more “local”, I use our local butcher for meat (not the Tesco) and I use the local pubs for nights out. Put it this way, I rarely go into Nottingham unless it’s for work.
Anyway, keep up the good work mate, it’s a genuinely interesting thing you’re doing and I don’t think it gets enough consideration.
@@rossgardner9412 ah thank you so much Ross, sounds like Hucknall is bucking the trend and getting locals out with the perfect mix of leisure and supported independent retailers. Its at the Councils discretion on a case by case basis but if its a retailer’s only shop, they have limited income and a rateable value of less than £12,000 they can apply for a Small Business Rate Reduction. Id like to see this get used more often to keep independents open. They have enough other costs to worry about!
very useful information l thank you for sharing
Thank you for taking the time to comment 👍
Loves your action handsemotion while explaining
Those shop are close
🤣 thanks Juliana have a great week ❤️
Thumbs up 2. I am going to sleep 🥱 now. I will watch it tomorrow morning 🌄 as soon as I wake up 😅
Good night Aishu, sweet dreams and thanks for your ongoing support 👍❤️
That was brilliant 🤩 really was. It’s so sad what is happening to our towns. 😢.
thanks Cara, it makes me nervous seeing just how fast it has happened. it really is mostly the last two years..
Very very informative sharing, I love it. Keep it up! 18:02
Thank you so much for watching and commenting. Have an awesome weekend! 👍
Great informative video Nick and Jill 👍 😊❤
thank you so much 👍
super great video but also a sad one .....keep tripping Jill and Nick
We will! Thanks Fred it is a sad topic but one that affects us all and interesting to see where it goes 👍❤️
Hey both, we’re watching this again as I (Wills) didn’t see it all last night due to work. This is really interesting, it’s such a shame that there are so many boarded up shops thanks to companies like Amazon, although we still all use them. Amazing that the council seem to be putting some money into the town. Thorntons, yep, they’ve gone from by us too. Really enjoying this video guys. Such a shame about Wilco. Interesting story for you….the guy who started Iceland…a chap called Malcolm, hired Rach’s nan’s garage in Northop, North Wales to put his freezers in and that was the start of Iceland. Cool eh?! Really interesting chat with that guy, was it Phil? I smile every day and make my own luck…hats off to the guy and good on you both too! Fab video both x
Ah wow thats an incredible story Wills. I will have to research that further, sadly Iceland is with Weatherspoons, Boots and Clintons that will be departing our high street next. Im quite invested in how the high street will look next and what major players are actively shutting down operations. To my knowledge there are four of us covering this commentary on CZcams. All worth looking into.
From my perspective i left Blackpool which was well and truly boarded up and mostly car-parked where there was once great cinemas and theatres to high tail it to Scarborough. Im still confident that Scarborough town centre is THE worst example of mis management and bad council that a town could ever see. Ive filmed possibly a years worth more on that note and im still not sure how to package it.
Town centres failing is massive to me. We upended our life in Blackpool to move to Scarborough where we thought we would be safe. Far from it. I will revisit Blackpool again but i already know its enjoying some weathered successes whilst parts fail. We will investigate that in great detail.
Felt so sad learning more about Wilcos. I have a whole video filmed about the demise of Wilcos from the employees perspectives. They have been through hell and back these last couple of months. After learning about the founders i wont ever let it see the air of day.
Im excited that Iceland that will vanish from our high street by this time next year has a similar story…
I live in Stockton-on-Tees right next to Middlesbrough, there isn't really much in the town centre/high street but its happening all over the country. I went to the Teesside retail park recently and it were packed compared to the boro
thats a very good point, the retail park makes for a much more attractive proposition for shoppers in the area, another huge reason why Middlesbrough’s high street is in such decline..
I'm from Middlesbrough and we are not Yorkshire, we are Teesside.
We only ever want to be associated with Teesside.
@alfreddunn03 thats what i always thought Alfred. Get that petition started, your on the River Tee, only makes sense to me..
Teesside is and always has been in Yorkshire. Teesside was a county borough in Yorkshire.@@alfreddunn03
Teesside has always been in Yorkshire. The North Riding of Yorkshire is where Middlesbrough is and how can the commenter hate his own County? Maybe he wants to be a Geordie instead? @@GENerationXplorers
Felt utterly depressed after this. However thank you for shining some light on a dark subject.
Ah thank you so much Leon. Us too, unbearably so. This all came together by accident, i went up North to film a rant outside an Amazon warehouse and i was so exhausted i just wanted to indulge in some retail therapy. Welcome to my whirlwind week, this was not planned, but i do have hope in Middlesbrough Council
Such a shame to see all these shops closed. 😮 Great video with some interesting points. 😊👍
thanks Matt and Bec, i really hope that Middlesbroughs foresight into the demise of large retail and its eye on the ball with where town centre leisure could go will make the town succeed. whilst my town does not stand a chance id like to think i could enjoy visiting Middlesbrough as much as i have for the last twenty years.
awesome video my friend
Thanks Mike, it was sad to see though. Got married 9 years ago and this was the place to go for us. From getting kitted and kaboodled in designer shops to having skin colour matched in the makeup part of House of Fraser this was everything we ever wanted from retail. We have the fondest memories of this great retail town and have returned every year since. This last year has been a nail in the coffin..
Great video, after your last video on Boarded up Scarborough, the youtube algorithm decided I needed to see a video on Primark's business model which is successful. It was an interesting contrast to all those large stores that have closed as Primark focuses on having bricks and mortar stores, they refuse to use an ecommerce model. In recent years they have gone as far as having click and collect, but even that emphasises the physical stores. You can order online but have to go into a store to collect what you bought, then generally people decide to buy something else whilst in the store. It all encourages sales in their stores, ecommerce apparently is quite expensive as you need to have enormous warehouses plus the technology to run it and the delivery people to deliver items.
Town centres need to give people a reason to go there and make it more convenient than visiting the local shopping centre or outlets. Unless there's a large resident community (larger cities are building apartment complexes on derelict land, Manchester is one) where people can walk to the facilities they need, then ease of public transport and parking needs to be considered. Free parking or free parking for 2 hours ( that's what we have at my local suburban high street and they check! I've got a parking fine for overstaying! Council revenue, they don't loose out!) should be offered. You don't need to go into a high street for a whole day so an all day parking fee isn't helpful. (It annoyed me when I was in the UK, some places we stopped it was for only an hour and yet it was a blanket fee)
Superb comment, thank you. Yes i was very impressed with the Primark model too. no e-commerce, no advertising and like you say even click and collect forces you into the store. they have no shrinkage either as they are happy to discount an item continuously until it makes a loss to get it off the shelves when the time is needed which also means they can adapt to trends faster.
thats a great idea about the parking, the first couple of hours should be free to stimulate a visit and like you say, charging people that stay longer is more money for the Council.
Very nice video Nick and Jill 😃
Thanks Kat and Robert 👍
More than a bit grim but it's true this phenomenon is everywhere and I can't see it getting much better. Amazon are so big they can squeeze their suppliers better then the little retailers on the High Street. Then again it's dog eat dog but it doesn't help the smaller dogs when the big dog is the favourite pet who gets all the treats. Great video and superb presentation 👍
Very well said Paul! it is a depressing subject but one that is affecting us all sadly who knows where it will lead! Thank you! have a great weekend 👍❤️
I'm glad to see this video showing up since I contacted you about the Scarborough video clip and about the Loftus Town regeneration plans, another 2 shops will be closed soon. Middlesbrough, I went 4 times to look around in springtime this year, I looked at the empty shops, especially when M&S shuts down, and the footfall drops more, I went to Dundas in February to view the market stall area, the most oversized stall, then I decided not to proceed further, then I found out 7 traders in July where they decided to move out after speaking to other traders, they said the footfall is the main problem due to M&S, Cooperfields, and B&M shuts down, I was contacted by the Dundas Shopping Centre Manager this week to reconsider my decision whether or not I would like to move to the indoor market, I have not yet replied to him yet. Looks like my decision will be definitely no after watching the video of the boarded of Middlesbrough video clip.
thank you Stephen for getting in touch again and for helping shape this narrative. im on insta under the same name so please get in touch directly and lets change the narrative together. there is nothing i would like better. its a sorry state of affairs most places, but the overwhelming impression i got from Middlesbrough was one of hope. i think thats a great dose of hope that has factored into Middlesbroughs change from Steel to Iron to Chemical to Retail. if there is resilience to be found its to be found here..
Hi guys very interesting we lost M&S ages ago but they have a thriving food hall now in town. Had forgotten about C&A funny how some really well known names have gone for good. It's good that there were some positive bits although overall a bit depressing. Hope you have a great weekend Best wishes Dave & Dawn ❤
hi Dave and Dawn it really is a depressing subject but one we feel affects us all and needs covering! wow we were surprised about the M&S so even more so you saying that about yours however ours in Scarborough is open but there is never anyone in the clothing section but crowds fighting over the yellow labels in the food section! there should be M&S food outlets everywhere, scrap the clothing too much competition with Primark! Nicks mum shops M&S and after buying 100% cotton T-shirts from Primark at £2.50 each she was amazed and told us T-shirts in M&S were £15 🤷🏻♀️ the world is very unbalanced and confused right now hope we can find some kind of balance! have a great weekend! 👍❤️
You elaborated this topic so well not only in this video but also in some of the previous ones! Unfortunately, this is more and more the practice in most of the Balkan countries too, I don't think Scandinavia has this problem even though a couple of big companies like MediaMarkt have left the Swedish market.
Its a curious one isn’t it Ervin? I haven’t seen this be so much a problem across mainland Europe. Im back there next week and my rose tinted glasses are off and on the table. If there are boarded up shops i’ll call them. I really believe that mainland Europe is current escaping this horrid high street trend..
It’s the same in the absolute majority of towns across the UK. You should see the state of Bournemouth now. One of the top holiday destinations in the country and most of the High Street boarded up now. It’s only saved by the beach.
Hi Steve thanks for your time watching and great comment! a lot of seaside towns are holding on to the tourism parts to survive! shame to hear about Bournemouth! Have a great weekend 👍
@@GENerationXplorers cheers - you too! I was born in Middlesbrough btw and lived 8 miles away until I was 16 in 1992!
Very informative video. A few mistakes, but enjoyed it very much. I’ve subscribed
Ah thank you so much, that really helps! Still a huge fan of the place and I think out of all the places I’ve visited the foresight to try and buy up empty blocks and repurpose them as leisure is the most hopeful thing I’ve witnessed.
Oh wow, not the run of the mill video. Very interesting, well done...
Thank you very much! yes our little different segment that is boarded up…first one doing very well! great topic ❤️
This place is full of histroy and is such a great video~😀
its such a proud town and its been through so much, the current storm on the high street wont leave a lasting mark here.
Hi! Truth life video in that town. Thank you. Like 👍
So nice of you, thank you for taking the time to watch and comment 👍
@@GENerationXplorers Thank you for taking the time to answer my comment 🙂
Amazing how much money Amazon is making - it’s scary really. So sad that all of these local businesses are in such decay and boarded up! We need more of these small shops again but we keep giving our money to the big guys 😢 so sad seeing the state of this town now. It is nice that one of the spaces is used as an art gallery! Much better use of space than sitting in decay. Wow sales up $2 billion at primark 😮 the leisure and entertainment spot looks huge! So glad the council is reinvesting into the town! Good for them! Interesting it had declined after the steel industry but had then thrived with retail. Hopefully they bounce back again quickly! Cracks are definitely showing in middle class towns too, I agree. Even here in Canada. Amazon is killing all of our businesses too 😢 so crazy they get those crazy tax breaks, I had no idea!! This was a great, super well done video you guys!
It’s crazy about Amazon isn’t it but we are all guilty of using it! Primark does so well in the uk they have no online presence and their clothes are so cheap, example Mens black 100% cotton T-shirt £2.50 compared to M&S £15 no brainer! thanks for another great comment guys! have a great weekend 👍❤️
Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much. there will be more on this topic. really appreciate the support 🙏
Selamat sore.Terima kasih sharingnya temanku
Thank you so much, have a great day! 👍
What is driving this retail closing! It is terrible! Where is the support from the locals?
We have a slogan “Shop Local”
I hope that there is a traders association to do some great things for this shopping district.
I hope that your video brings much attention to this area, Have a great weekend Nichols and Jill ❤ 😘
Thank you Joseph, yes we do too. This was the first time I haven’t shopped online for jills birthday next friday. I could not bring myself to do it. I will happily shop local at the expense of money and quality just to make a point this year. We all have to make the difference. In other news we are saving your camino de santigo for our hols next week. Btw we will be doing a big section just north of rome xx
I was brought up in Peterlee 12 mile north of Middlesbrough, I lived in the town until 2021 when I moved to Durham. Peterlee has suffered for many years, even before the pandemic. A combination of very high business rates causing shop closures. A lack of investment and retails parks opening outside of the main town centre have caused most of the problems for the town, like many others across the UK.
Hi Dominic, its such an incredible part of the country, sorry to hear that Peterlee is also suffering from high business rates and emerging retail parks draining the footfall from our high streets. Some towns and cities seem to be weathering a little if they have other things that can attract visitors to the high street, festivals, markets, events can all help keep a high street alive.
Middlesbrough is one of those places that was quick to put up these massive retail units and when the big companies started to fail we are left with huge abandoned spaces.
im hoping Middlesbroughs strategy to bring leisure into the high street will help and in turm attract visitors to the smaller units that can once again be taken over..
Sad to see that Brick & Mortar type of businesses are going the way of the dinosaurs pretty much everywhere worldwide. As I own a business myself, I can tell you that it is really tough trying to stay afloat against the big players online, multi-national corporations and big box stores. It seems that rising costs and various charges, rising taxes and rates certainly excacerbate the issue and make it near impossible for the family or small business to compete on price when the big guys who get rebates and kickbacks from manufacturers keep driving margins so low that their pricing are generally lower than wholesalers/distributors as well. The worse part being that customer service and human social interaction between shoppers and businesses are in many ways disappearing due to impersonal online buying, making the traditional shopping outings a thing that is bound to slowly die as well. Great video guys... a truly sobering expose of things to come if we keep going in this direction.
hey there Laurie and Karen, thank you for your amazing comment and hearing how as a business owner yourself and the struggles competing with the big corporations! yes sadly changing societies and how people interact with each other nowadays is changing a lot of things around us! It’s strange but since making these videos we haven’t ordered online but gone out of our way to shop in our town centre shops but think it is too little too late! have a great week guys 👍❤️
Forbidden Planet has closed that store but opened up in a much bigger and nicer store just inside the Cleveland Centre next to WH Smith's just a minutes walk from the old store, plus the old store is currently getting renovated and fitted out for a new shop yet to be announced. That other shop you pointed out wasn't Thornton's, it was Goldsmith's Jewellers for many years until it closed recently. The are you walked along with the painted shutters and you said 'That whole stretch is shut' Well that is actually just the side of what was H. Samuel Jewellers, however they kept most of those shutters down for years. Market cross are actually already there and are expanding into the shop that you mention.
Oh thanks Andrew, thats great news about Forbidden Planet, not sure how I missed it, went in on a Saturday and a Tuesday and thought id covered every square inch. Ironically Forbidden Planet is one of the shops i enjoy visiting Middlesbrough for as its a great place to discover niche gems. Ah i was misinformed then some locals gave me the info on Thorntons. its nice to hear a different perspective on this conversation and get a positive position on what is going on. I’ll be back to have a look around and to find that Forbidden Planet I somehow missed. Thankyou 👍👍
@@GENerationXplorers That Warhammer shop next to the old Forbidden Planet is still open too, think they’re closed Monday/Tuesday but open the rest of the week with some late nights. What has just closed in Dundas Arcade is the job centre where Boyes used to be, they refurbished the place and took out a 5 year lease on the place but 2 and a half years into the 5 they’re gone!
Awesome upload here so detailed well done
It's a shame a lot of places here look the same
Thank you very much! It seems to be the work over as we change our habits! Have a nice weekend 👍
Very nice video ,🥰😉🙃✌👏thanks for sharing and have a nice day🥎🎟 👍🏼
Thank you! You too! 🤗
To be honest, for me, you answered your question to you subtitle in the opening shot. I think for things like food, cafes, restaurants, butchers and bakers, they will always survive if they have reasonable business rates and low car parking charges, so this is were landlords, council and shopkeepers have to work together in order to maintain anything, as shown by Cooplands. Captain Cooks Square looks like it could be a winner, fingers crossed it is and good to see the council being proactive. Never knew that about Clintons but you can never compete with Tesco and shocking with the shops in Keswick, very disappointing indeed, cheers Alan
thank you Alan. really wasn’t expecting to do a segment on Middlesbrough as its a place we absolutely adore. we got ready for our wedding there 9 years ago, designer shops back to back through the streets. got everything we needed to have a great designer wedding all kitted and caboodled from Middlesbrough. we have always known about its bad reputation but it has always been a second home for us. the place to go to do xmas shopping, enjoy a film or get clothes for a holiday. with no intent of making this segment we innocently visited here on Saturday and were genuinely shocked. but id happily swap my council for Middlesbroughs any day, every day. very forward thinking, the positivity is evident in every corner..
I have a friend who lives in Newcastle and we were recently talking about other cities near her and this one came up. She knows so many people who've moved because this place turned into such a hole. It's a real shame. It seems like it used to be a thriving place.
ah it really did Colin. such an amazing place, its a very sudden and shocking decline. its nice to see the night time economy still thriving though and if they continue with their plans to turn retail into leisure it could be really great again. i hope Newcastle is ok, we love it up there but I haven’t ventured that far up for quite a few years.
Well Nick this is my home town.......crikey where do I start. Back in 1978 my geography teacher said Middlesbrough was a growing conurbation and would eventually expand out as far as Stokesley in the south(12miles from the town centre) and its almost there now with dozens of housing projects(almost all of them private and out of reach for the average working class family).......back in the 80's the Thatcher regime introduced the ''buy your council house'' at a knockdown price(most of them should have been knocked down) this was a strategy to get the working class 'mortgaged to the hilt' and therefore unable to take any kind of strike action to gain wage rises and better working conditions because unlike the local councils the banks gave no quarter on missed mortgage payments and you would lose your home if you dared to take industrial unpaid strike action(therefore unable to keep up your mortgage payment and eviction)... what has this to do with the demise of the high street you may ask.....firstly within 5yrs of this Tory strategy most of the steel industry on Teesside was decimated unable to compete with cheap foreign inferior imports, with the workforce unable to make any kind of stand in defence of their jobs that spelled the end of steel making in the area which was the largest employer culminating in the closure of the blast furnace at Redcar........at the same time the huge chemical industry(ICI) were laying off thousands of men and sold out to private Dutch and German companies who did not invest in the area.......these two examples contributed massively to huge unemployment on Teesside with knock on effects on the local buisness community including retail....this was mirrored in the whole of northern England, remember the miners and the dockers(shipyards) etc, all victims of the same Tory policy.
Before this you could not move in the Cleveland Centre shopping arcades, packed with people spending their well earned money from secure jobs unaware what was lurking just ahead, this was the reason the North of England would never again vote Tory....until 12yrs ago........and here we are again de-ja-vu. Its not just the online giants dominating the sector, its fuelled by government policy to invest in privatisation across the board giving corporate giants tax breaks that are beyond belief.....in essence its the rich giving to the rich. Remember what I first said about Teesside becoming a conurbation with huge out of town private building developments, well these would also require massive retail parks to satisfy that population......and now that every household has access to a vehicle where do they shop....in Middlesbrough centre which is derelict and crammed full of immigrants(nothing against immigrants......however they refuse to intergrate or respect our culture, just my opinion) or in these Corporate retail parks which offer cheaper deals and free parking.......this does little favour to encourage any small buisness from setting up in town centres, vape bars, nail-shops etc are just a fad and will silently slip away un-noticed.
I admire your optimism in the local council Nick.......only Middlesbrough council are so much in debt, caused by harebrained decisions made by consecutive Mayors and their own corruption are teetering on total collapse with services either removed or about to be removed.. eg the bloody snow-centre that was supposed to put Middlesbrough back 'on the map' never happened and that land was sold off to...........well we all know about levelling-up, which as we all know is another Tory policy(why do they keep cropping up lol).....more private investors, to which a corruption case is pending involving the previous mayor.
How long have you got Nick lol.................The demise of town centres was inevitable 50yrs ago, sometimes people should just stop, pause and be very careful about what they wish for.........im sure we will carry on this debate Nick.........PS The homeless guys was a real nutter, you did well to keep your composure.......and your charitable attitude was admirable......I would have told him to F**k off lol....😜
Wow, thank you so much Stu. This will definitely shape the narrative going forward. Sadly compared to the mess that is Scarborough Council there is some clear leadership at play in Middlesbrough and whilst it might quickly make the town bankrupt the vision is at least decent. The foresight and securing of funds from central government is key here. Scarborough council put a bid in at the same time to open up a gateway to the town under a similar scheme that Middlesbrough bought up Frasers and Captain Cooks Square. We failed, like we do at everything. Even though we are a Conservative majority bizarrely ruled by a Labour leader. It was pretty shocking to see my much loved Middlesbrough in such a state, yes we all know it had its problems but the extent of which were shocking.the foresight i witnessed with the buy up of lands and eviction of TJ Hughes warmed my heart, this is a Council with some decisive action.
The homeless guy? If i can work out how to get the advertisers onboard with his mantra it will be golden. It went on for over half an hour and im happy to entertain anyone as long as it doesn’t intimidate my wife. The whole time i suspected it might so i was very much on edge.
Taking a step back, its very understandable why he has such clear feelings, he is one of UKs 6000 homeless whilst we spend 10 million a day putting illegals up in hotels. Hard to fathom, even more so for him, poor chap.
He feels left out and deserted by his own country whilst he is oblivious to his own obvious choices that got him here.
There will be a lot more of this on the channel. Heartbreaking to see,
Im almost pleased to report that this state of affairs extends to our affluent middle class mostly white towns. We all expect this to happen to Middlesbrough and Scarborough, but its happening to you too MPs and toffees..
@@GENerationXplorers Thanks Nick.......Im happy to contribute to such important issues that will as you say affect us all in the end...........It is sad to see homeless people in such dire straights throughout the country like the guy in the video......especially when the ''morality middle-class police'' keep harping on about helping immigrants......its time we looked after our own for a change, or even better house our homeless in those affluent middle-class suburbs. Its a real shame Scarborough council didnt show enough vision to secure the funding they so desperately need. I have no faith in the current Middlesbrough council to follow through with 'their' vision for the future as im an active victim of the cutbacks they have made to public services in the last few years.......im expecting a huge council tax rise next April...................I really fear for the coming generations in this country.......''Dystopian future'' is becoming a reality.
@@stubloggs6358oh sorry to hear that Stu, yes Council Tax is a ridiculous amount for the services we get, especially when they get withdrawn. It is time to look out for our own. 6000 British people homeless facing what will be a cruel winter. Its mot fair..
10:40 Nice to see the Mayor taking time out for an interview.
ha ha, thats priceless! 😂😂
Bom dia meu amigo!!! Ótimo vídeo mais um inscrito pra fortalecer o canal
Obrigado pela ajuda, thank you so much! It is really appreciated! 🙏
So quite, many empty😢
Hope one day all going good there 🙏🏽😊
We hope so too, thanks Martha 👍❤️
With Amazon it’s often close to the high street price what I buy, but the free delivery and no minimum order is rlly handy, and a fairly good return policy.
Hard to fault aren’t they? im desperately trying to use solely the high street but finding niche items or available stock is nigh on impossible.
You folks put on the most engaging amd professional videos! Puppets are always impressed 😼🐶🐶🤡
Ah thank you so much thats really kind! Love to the puppets! 👍👍
Damn, is there anything open? That is definitely not a good sign. Hopefully you are staying safe there. LIKE 78. 👍👍👍
It’s sad hope what they have planned comes to fruition to bring some life back to the high street 👍
Another interesting video Nick, it is sad about the high street, but with parking prices alone, they don't help themselves. Plus the many councils that are complicating the issue by parking being pay by phone only! The Middlesbrough high street really doesn't look appealing with all of the boarded up stores. The government and councils need to lower the costs as surely is better for everyone to have occupants in their stores.
its really sad Nettie, obviously my tv wants to recommend similar content so it brought up a Middlesbrough virtual walking tour from the height of covid two years ago. i watched it and every single shop was buzzing and open even though everyone had masks on! what a rapid decline!
@@GENerationXplorers 😥😥😥😥
Moved out of the Boro in 1972 best move I ever made., Seen the world , live a good life in the North of Scotland. Only thing I miss is cod and chips 😋
Ah we love Scotland, it’s like being on another planet compared to England, particularly the further North you get. Come on now there must be cod and chips up there? or at least a battered Mars bar! (we have those now!)
Us to sunny Western Australia 🥰
Hello น่าสนใจมากเพื่อน ขอบคุณสำหรับข้อมูล Thank you for sharing 😍
Thank you 🤗
Definitely a sad state of affairs what's going on alk over the uk. So many shops closing. Good video thanks for sharing your journey around with us Generation Xplorers, Generation Xperiences
it really is happening everywhere isn’t it? if they have a plan for our towns and cities i wish they would hurry up and reveal it. or are all the MPs blinded by how busy London or their middle class constituency is?
@@GENerationXplorers 🤣🤣🤣
It's sad to see so many closed shops, it's probably because of shopping malls where you can get everything or online shopping. Stores that sell special goods to a small target group probably have the hardest time surviving.
You are probably right Thomas the whole high streets everywhere need a change to bring people back to them! have a great weekend 👍
@@GENerationXplorers Thank you very much, I hope you'll have a great weekend too. I shop a lot on amazon myself, mostly because it's cheaper, but also because I don't have to go from store to store trying to find what I'm looking for.
Well done for raising awareness about this topic. International corporations are taking over local companies all over the world and monotonising it in the process.
Cheers Francisco very true hope you are well? 👍❤️
@@GENerationXplorers I am, thank you. I hope you are too, and looking forward to catch up with you.
@fcv4616 us too bro xx
This seems to be even worse in nearby Stockton. Really sad for Teesside as a whole.
What’s even worse for me is that the council can’t be arsed to knock the buildings down. They’ll just let them stand there with original signage like an eyesore for decades like they have with The Crown
Gosh these retail parks have a lot to answer for, definitely drawing a lot of the footfall away from the nearby high streets.
What a huge building The Crown is, originally a Cinema, then a Bingo Hall before becoming a pub in the 1990s.
Ran by the Stonegate Pub Group until its closure back in 2015. if it’s any constellation the Stonegate Pub Group is now in massive debt with every premises under threat.
you would think that if a building was stood empty for such a period of time that it could be compulsory purchased and turned into a residential or leisure space.
thanks for bringing this to my attention, its really helpful in understanding the greater scale of what is going on.
Yes quite surprise there is no primark in Scarborough, the hotel/guest house back in 2021 or 2022 we stayed in the owners , said to us hopefully there will be a Primark in Scarborough one day
They do seem to require an awful lot of floor space for it to be viable for them. In some places Primark are actually closing smaller branches in the hope of opening bigger ones nearby. There was talk of the Tescos closing in Scarborough centre, Tescos were after a super store on the outskirts. The deal fell through but I think the Tescos is the smallest thing they would consider in Scarborough. It’s a pity as all the residents, including myself are definitely in need of a Primark store!
No crowd all shops shuts have a great day❤
All i really saw were the groups of kids ambling from one vape shop to the takeout whilst giving security guards the runaround.
The whole world is going down....so sad. But very nice of you buying him some food and drink 👍🏽👍🏽
Thank you so much, it was the least we could have done. He is quite possibly the most alienated chap in the UK. Spend a minute in his shows and i can understand every word, very scary and sad.
The Great Buddha once proclaimed “Everything Changes, We Must Except Change, It Always Happens, It Always Will, Embrace It Or Perish.” Whilst I sympathise with your general philosophy on the demise of the High Street, in the 21st Century we have to accept a new way of purchasing the products that we need. The local high street I grew up with is a place of the past, you may not like it but it will not change the fact. My City Centre is strewn with major retail outlets which have gone bust (you mentioned many of these in this film). Yesterday I ordered three items on Amazon and two were delivered last night by 10pm and the other came today by 1.00pm. You can’t compete with that, the Post Office must wake up and realise that JBP require a 24/7 service.
I truly wish I could say that things will eventually get better, however, they wont. Just accept change as it will always happen, for good or worse.
Thank God my time on this planet is nearing the end, like the local shops. 👍
your absolutely right Mike, i showed the early dailies to my mum and she just responded “this is an advert for amazon” and she is right,how can you fight it? lets make better use of our retail space. we need affordable housing, we need local ward shops and we need entertainment and leisure for our citizens. and let amazon run amok, especially if they start to pay Corporation Tax and some of that gets levelled out to funding the inevitable xx
High rental is one of the big issues for many store owners. Running costs at a premium - and many businesses running a webshop on the side. It is a changing world, not to my liking, sad but true. I like shopping, touching, feeling, sizing up, trying out. I am not an online purchaser preferring to go into town. One of the developments too was when retail stores started branching out with not their core product. Go to a supermarket and you can get anything from toilet paper to motor oil. Go to a service station for fuel and buy bread and milk. A chemist ought to stock medicine, a bookshop books and a shoe shop shoes. Stop mixing the merchandise. Anyway, that's my five cents worth. Great video. PS just been to France and now in Germany- same everywhere! Small towns - next to no shops, larger cities lots boarded up. Sigh! In Dordrecht, where I live, many inner city large buildings are being converted to ground floor shop and upper levels apartments to bring people back into town. Oeps another two cents worth 🤣! Have a great weekend. 🇳🇱🙋♀🇳🇿😎
wow thats a great comment, thank you so much, i really didn’t realise this was happening on the mainland too. im back this week on my hols but i will be keeping a very close eye on how towns are faring in europe.
i love your sense that stores should not be branching out, that is a great concept. some kind of policing back in the day where you had to have a license to sell one type of product and whilst that license was valid you were not able to acquire a license for a different product.
that would have solved all our problems in one fell swoop! thank you so much 👍
@@GENerationXplorers negating the need for those licences was in the era of free enterprise. Yep- if we’d had a crystal ball ….!
Gosh its scary to think just how much we should have anticipated this. We were all looking towards AI taking over robots and nuclear weapons. What we should have been looking at is death of our life as we know it from these massive retailers, especially those that had the foresight to go online..
I was born and raised in Teeside, this is not good at all. I have not been back for years and I am told it would break my heart.
Great documentary ✌️❤️
Ah thank you Owen we have so much love for Middlesbrough, its been our go to place for over a decade for retail and cinema. Whilst there are many challenges i love what your council are doing. Its a massive uphill battle but the best leadership is here..
@@GENerationXplorers Scarborough could learn a lot. The reason there's no primani is the council believe it would show the town unfavourably
Very possibly Owen, I genuinely think Middlesbrough is poised to jump through the other side before anyone else else. After watching my home town struggle with indecision since 2018 it’s a real joy to walk around Middlesbrough, a town that has lead the way in reinventing the place. This is where the future lies. Decline after decline, Middlesbrough comes out on top.
Thank you for sharing this video. Wish you good health. Full 18:01
thank you so much thats really appreciated. enjoy the rest of your weekend my friend 👍
It's so sad that there were many store were closed.
It really is but a topic we need to cover! thanks for your support ❤️
M&S bishop Auckland also closed recently. Durham city also lost a branch of cooplands and the only Dicksons branch in the city since covid started. Shame to see respected independent businesses closing, but unfortunately food related businesses rely on passing trade, which took a devasting blow during covid. Thortons became online only during covid.
Your absolutely right, the pandemic really hurt food businesses. Thorntons cites the pandemic and not being able to see chocolate during that first December strict lockdown as the main reason they failed the high street. December is their busiest month and carries the rest of the year for them. they should have received more Government help, Thorntons is sadly missed on the high street.
The old Sports Direct unit in the Hill Street Centre was orignally an Indoor Market which was a much better use for the space. Sports Direct (or sports and soccer as it was back then) originally had a unit in the Cleveland Centre
Gosh thanks Mike, ive just been googling some old archive pictures and stories about it. What a transformation, thanks for the incredible history into the town and pointing me in the right direction. We do need more Markets to draw footfall into towns..
@GENerationXplorers there also used to be an outside market where the empty unit is that you were stood outside of that is used for artist displays (Pineapple Black, née New Look). The space that is now occupied by Home Bargains and Boyes (née Argos) was originally a car park and was used for the outside market space. There was a large block of toilets (roughly where Pineapple Black is ) that were accessed from outside that also led to the indoor market
@middlesbroughmike1027 thanks so much for this Mike. Sadly my knowledge, limited as it is, only extends back to the early 00s. Its amazing to hear about the massive changes the town has undergone. There are some great old photos on the Teeside Archive too..
Grew up in Middlesbrough, shocked that M&S and House of Fraser closed, they were fixtures. My family moved to Coulby Newham in the early 1980s, its suburbia plus Amazon that is killing the downtown. Seems COVID did a number as everyone got used to ordering online.
well I’m hearing great things about Coulby Newham so your family had great foresight to make that move. your absolutely right the COVID really zapped us into the future. it gave us no alternative but to shop online, particularly those run ups to Christmas where they literally shut down everything. I wonder how many years extra would it have taken without COVID? id say another decade at least and in which time the conversation about the future of the high street might have really taken hold with some forward thinking Councils really getting to grips with repurposing the space for leisure or housing!
Consumerism has become out of control since our phones have become "smart"...Give it time and the likes of Schein might even put some Primarks at risk...Maybe its time to rethink what we actually need our phones to do...I hope it works out for Middlesbrough and the high street survives...We can't buy time and i do hope we aren't sleepwalking our lives away with the obsession of buying sh*t we don't need because it's convenient to do it on a phone that's designed to be replaced....Thanks for raising awareness and continuing with this talking point...
thank you so much Nathan for thought provoking content. we certainly can’t rely on shops to get us back into the high street. whilst turning town centres into smaller wards with affordable accommodation and essential local shops only would be the answer it would take planning on a gargantuan scale. Middlesbrough seems to have its eye on the ball in trying to replace the biggest retailers and invite leisure facilities into those spaces. its a risky venture for anyone though and i wonder how many operators have the amount of capital to risk it? if i was an operator id be demanding a couple of years free rates followed by fixed rates for a long term to risk investing there..
What a bummer that even the M&S store closed!! That's awful! Cheltenham has the House of Fraser, Debenhams, Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and Primark. Even the Wilko is still there. I hope it stays vibrant.
Really? Thats incredible Dara. I have heard tell of a couple of Debenhams that are still managing to operate beyond their brand. Selling the buildings they once owned back to the Council and poor sales was the death of House of Fraser, we love the place and we genuinely miss it. Im glad some stores are still succeeding. John Lewis, cough, cough, thats my preferred online retailer, should not admit to it but most of our online shopping is via John Lewis. Sadly all Wilkos will close at the end of the first week in October. Cheltenham sounds affluent enough that a Poundland or a B and M will move in but it will undoubtedly change the tone..
@@GENerationXplorers we already have poundland and B&M. We have it all, except for Harrods and Fortnum and Mason and Selfridge 🤣
Yeah, it is a hard one. I can't recall the last time I went shopping on a high street (or equivalent) shopping strip here. We don't tend to have the big retailers there. It is mostly small local businesses like pizza shops or chemists or small Asian supermarkets. All the big chains moved into the big shopping centres decades ago. But even then if I was shopping for something like an SD card I'd get it on-line. Why pay $100 when I can get exactly the same thing for $50 on eBay or Amazon. I do think some of the big retailers are price gouging themselves out of business. Having said that, the same SD card brick and mortar store, JB HiFi, one our biggest electrical sellers, has been booming for a number of years now and profits rose during covid.
Interesting conversation guys.
Hi Shane, yeah it’s been a really interesting topic to cover we have learnt so much from people commenting from all over the world! Hope you guys are all well 👍❤️
I’m sure when I was a kid I remember hearing about something called the “monopolies and merges commission”……basically the reason why we all have different water companies, electricity companies, train companies. Basically no single company was allowed to completely take over an industry. Or have too much of a share of any industry……so where are they now? Amazon not apply to this?
It’s a great question Sesh, I wonder if it’s because the Headquarters are not based in the UK that the rules of Monopolies and Mergers don’t apply to them? we have been betrayed by the Conservatives who have allowed them to not pay Corporation Tax providing they are investing in infrastructure on British Soil. but how are massive warehouses and robots going to help the British people or the independent traders that have to try and compete against them? there are some great documentaries on CZcams about just how badly they treat there workers too, this is not a company that should be given carte Blanche to steamroll the UK..
@@GENerationXplorers yes the conservatives have destroyed Teesside…..but Labour were in power while a huge amount of industry closed aswell. Teesside traditionally is a huge Labour voting area…..it’s full of tradesmen and huge companies and unions. When I was growing up (I’m 44), nobody voted Tory, and even if they did they’d not admit it in a crowd. Nobody was interested in politics, it was a case of vote Labour because they are the party of the working man. So when we got our labour government eventually, surely life would change. Our industry would come back. The working classes would get a better deal on taxes……and what actually happened was Teesside was left to rot. Industry shrunk, poverty grew, and we ended up worse off. The good thing now, is it has woken a lot of people up….people now know that labour and Tory puppets are controlled by the same puppet masters. Anybody who thinks labour are better than Tory’s, or Tory’s better than labour, are unfortunately brainwashed into thinking they aren’t both as corrupt and controlled as each other.
Great video again guys, although I have to admit I didn't understand a word the homeless fella was saying 😂 Middlesbrough does certainly seem to be a proud town, you can tell that from their football supporters, and hopefully they get through the other side. Interesting that Sunak has given Amazon massive tax breaks but there's supposedly no money to help the needy or to give pay rises to the 'heroic keyworkers'
Thanks Matt, i did have to edit a lot of the conversation with the homeless fella on this occasion. Its a pity as his xenophobic views and harsh language probably mirror the majority of people overlooked on our high streets, particularly the 6000 British homeless that will be sleeping rough this winter. I’ll have to work out how to rate my content so as not to offend any advertisers. Amazon are managing to get tax breaks in every Country and given Americas change in political stance it seems strange to me that tax breaks afforded initially by Trump have also been agreed by Biden. Will Amazon get away Scott free with destroying high streets the world over? MPs need to witness first hand what is happening in our working class towns and cities and policy needs to be set to hold Amazon and other Etailers accountable for the damage they are doing. Any money collected should be directed to levelling up and regenerating all towns and cities affected!
@@GENerationXplorers yeah unfortunately the media and others make the immigrants the scapegoats so the politicians and the big companies can do what they like. Amazes me that less than two decades ago the banks lost all our money and then we had to bail them out with our taxes yet people still vote them in to govern our country 🙈 I'm pretty sure the MP's know exactly what's going on and couldn't give a toss tbh!
Great well researched video. In the 1970’s and 80’s the centre of Boro was absolutely packed with shoppers.
gosh I know, it makes me really sad. I couldn’t use any of it but there is so much great archive footage of Middlesbrough right into the early 90s being the Mecca for retail.
it certainly was for me even into the early 2010s when it was the only place I knew of to do some great high street shopping.
I really hope the plans for the town come to fruition re leisure and reinvention. I will be visiting again to do a follow up and unlike other places I have visited im hopeful for Middlesbrough.
@@GENerationXplorers explore Linthorpe Road, lots of good businesses and it’s where all the students in the town shop
Oh wow, thankyou, ive taken a note of that. Genuinely love Middlesbrough, would nice to give it an even bigger positive spin on our next visit 👍
Cooplands a weird one my local one also shut. People don't have a reason to go into town anymore.
Middlesbrough like most towns are just full of bookies, charity shops and cash converters. Poverty rules the town now it's not a nice place to shop anymore Stockton nearby has exact same problem. It's government really that hasn't invested in people's future no leadership. I remember being in school 20 years ago and they had a massive opportunity to train people to be the Facebook's, CZcamss of the future we were ahead but they just let it slip. They needed to keep the country a high skill economy but no one was watching the ball.
oh I do love a good Cooplands, imo the best of the high street bakers, although some branches of Thomas give them a run for their money. surely all high streets big and large need a good bakers?
great comment about missing out on opportunities. maybe we were all warned about this change and offered investment into the future in a timely fashion. but we missed the boat and now we lament the state of our high streets. very sad!
thank you for great comment 👍
So many closed shops in York also, and pubs
Hi there, we didn’t think York would be affected but you are not the first to say, thank you we will be in York covering Christmas and other bits! so we’ll ‘Check it out’ 😂👍 cheers
Sad to see but it’s the same everywhere in the Uk Nick
In Europe though it’s not as bad ??
Why ?
Great Vlog about some real issues
Best regards to Jill
Simon 🤠🙏🏼🏔️
Thats a great point Simon.the USA point to the Malls and the close of the mom and pop shops in the 80s, Australia are going through that trend now. canada are suffering massively at the moment because North America have put a massive levy on any company trading in Canada, most North American retailers are vacating leaving massive gaps on Canadas high streets.
Yet in mainland Europe? Im getting nothing, no feedback other than what is happening in the UK is a real shock. Well we are back there this week so will be very eagle eyed..
@@GENerationXplorers will be interesting to see your observations Nick (Europe tend to be more traditional (shops with gramma home cook family time ect ) the Anglo Saxon hence Australian Canada US is coin 🪙 first ?? Just an observation of mine
All the best guys 🤠🙏🏼
born and raised in pally park, town was excellent till i was about 25 yr old, things changed, looking back i wouldnt have changed anything, i now live in redcar but wont shop in boro,hate having to go there
wow Tracy i bet you have a few great stories about growing up in Pally Park, by all accounts it sounds quite notorious. May I ask, how is Redcar coping? when i covered Scarborough a while back i had a few comments suggesting that it was a similar state of affairs on the high street there..
@@GENerationXplorers no, no great stories, all bad tbh, and redcar is like marmite, i love it now but its trying hard to bring in tourists, its growing, add the mighty redcar to your list , you will find the good stuff there,
@@tracylane8098thankyou Tracy, will have to give it a visit and get a feel for the place. It must be a decent place to live, not only are you close to the marvellous Cleveland Hills you have that great A66 that can get you from one side of the country to the other in a relatively short amount of time, sadly Scarborough boasts no decent roads and no hills (to go with its dead town centre).
See you soon 👍
Thanks Adzey 👍
Hi Nick and Jill,
OMGoodness, I love your content we all related to directly or indirectly.
Not only local businesses, but frontline/big detailers already suffered enough. PPL easily forget how we all became one to help each other during the pandemic. Businesses fail. Also they cannot find work force and fail to run business. Some restaurants already cut business hrs. I hope we can bounce back somehow...but considering our new generations with electric devices. What can you see? Blue Origin owned by Jeff Bezos build rockets and rocket launchers competing against Elon Musk K7S had to blur it in one of his vid as requested. I think your vid inspires PPL to have opportunities for open-discussion, with no judging. Thank you for being such an advocate. You have guts to bring it on the table. Love YOU, two.
Ah thank you so much Ms Kayak, we are huge fans of your content too. Its sad to see what is happening, its a massive case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer and you would think that only one type of Government would lead us in that direction but no, each political party, in America or here in the UK are helping to fund these massive corporations that are destroying our day to day lifes and town centres x
Well said, Nick @@GENerationXplorers
Taking back in time when the town was really booming there was no large shopping centres but housing pubs and small businesses and shops .the retail boom came and greedy councils bought them out and built huge shopping centres,now not fit for purpose,and they can do back as they bulldozed it all away
Spot on. it started in the late 80s and early 90s when these massive retail units were built to satisfy their greed. like you point out there isn’t anyone that could house them now in todays retail market. the sooner they get to bulldozing them the better. sadly they are likely in the hands of greedy landlords that have had them past down to them and the value to them is what they perceive to be the top market price on the building.