The closure of the St Giles Centre is undeniably a devastating blow to Elgin town centre.
Losing so many jobs and businesses in one go from any community is painful, but even more so for one as tight-knit as ours.
I’ve heard a lot of emotions this week, including confusion, anger and despair, and they’ve all been aimed in various directions.
Quite right too. All the St Giles Centre businesses, I presume, were running successfully thanks to hard-working staff only to be told they now had nowhere to trade.
There’s a lot of blame to go around.
- Why was the unpaid business rates bill allowed to reach the level it did?
- How did the landlord realistically think the situation was going to resolve itself if he didn’t pay?
- Could there have been a better resolution for businesses and staff if the enforcement by Moray Council was handled differently?
They’re all reasonable questions, but they all focus on how we got into this position.
What’s most important now is how we as a community deal with it and move forward.
St Giles Centre was at heart of High Street
There’s no getting around it, the St Giles Centre was at the heart of the High Street.
It was a focal point with many national chains as well as local independent retailers and was the entrance point to Elgin for many through the bus station.
Apart from that though, it’s undeniably the biggest retail building in the town centre.
I’ve heard a lot of stories this week about how certain retailers have been valued for specific reasons.
For me, I’ve valued the staff at O2 pointing out I could save about £12 per month on my phone bill.
I’ve enjoyed looking through the wide range of picture books Waterstones have with my daughter.
And I was particularly grateful for Box Brand bailing me out with a gift idea for my wife this Christmas.
When these stores close we lose the personal connection of face-to-face retail and the intangible value that brings to a customer.
Big businesses will place a value on being in Elgin in terms of a monetary cost versus income, but there’s so much more to it than that.
What should happen now with St Giles Centre
It’s the biggest question that is being pondered now. What is going to happen with the St Giles Centre after next week?
The best outcome for the building and the town is that it passes into the hands of a landlord with the energy, vision and resources for it.
The current owner has made it clear all he is interested in doing is locking the door and throwing away the key.
Who is going to pick the key up? And what will their intentions be for it?
Personally, I think it’s clear retail can still be a part of any future for the St Giles Centre building.
There were still 13 businesses trading there when the closure was announced. Clearly not enough to fill all the units, but a significant number nonetheless.
If the building could be reconfigured to retain space for retail alongside another purpose, then I think the St Giles Centre can still have a bright future.
There’s no shortage of space. There are two floors above the retail units that are not even open to the public.
We’ve seen very recently at Poundland the phenomenal demand there can be for new accommodation on the High Street.
And Moray Council has made no secret of its desire to attract a major hotel operator to Elgin.
What is critical is that someone with a vision for the building emerges soon. Elgin can’t afford to have the St Giles Centre empty forever.
What we can all do for Elgin town centre
In the meantime, it’s within the power of all of us to make a substantial contribution to Elgin’s future following the St Giles Centre closure.
We can all shop local and support the businesses we have, whether they be locally-owned or national chains.
Contrary to the opinion of some, there are still dozens of vibrant and successful businesses in our town centre.
The critical shortage of available space for the St Giles Centre tenants is evidence of this.
What we can all do is get out and support the businesses we have, give locals the confidence to take a step with their own start-up and show national chains it’s worth supporting our town by creating jobs here.
All of us have the power to make that message real. Let’s make it happen.
David Mackay lives in Elgin and is a journalist with the Press and Journal.
Read more from St Giles Centre
- St Giles Centre firms face paying THOUSANDS in storage and removal fees as they search for new homes
- No shops, more than two years late and a bankrupt developer: The saga of how the St Giles Centre in Elgin finally opened
- How the St Giles Centre tried to fight back against retail parks with expansion plans
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