Tram reprieve has got Leith Walk's trade back on track

Published on Wednesday 20 October 2010 16:18

TRADERS and business leaders today said the reprieve from tram work has led to a sharp upturn in confidence in one of the streets hit hardest by the disruption.

&#149 Kathlyn Caparoso's K&L Filipino convenience store is among several new stores to have opened recently in Leith Walk

New figures show that there are now a dozen fewer empty shops in Leith Walk than there was only three months ago.

The ratio of empty shops has fallen from 17 per cent in March to only 11 per cent now as business starts to pick up again on the street since tram work halted at the turn of the year.

A diverse range of more than a dozen retailers have moved into the street in recent months, including a Filipino convenience store, a Mexican takeaway and a Russian food shop.

The main 'business champion' for the area said that the growth in new shops opening is a sign that the strong promotion of the area is paying off.

Businesses in the street say that there has been a noticeable improvement to trade and confidence since the tram work came to a halt earlier this year.

Graham Russell, who was appointed as a 'business co-ordinator' for Leith by the Open for Business campaign - part-funded by the city council, Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and tram firm TIE - said: "Without doubt, business confidence has started to return to Leith Walk. My experience in retail is that these things suddenly accelerate and that acceleration is due to the work that has been going on for a year and a quarter now."

Mr Russell compiled the figures, based on all 288 businesses between Elm Row and the Foot of the Walk, as part of a quarterly audit.

In March, 49 ground-floor units were vacant, which has fallen gradually ever since and is now at only 31, or 10.8 per cent of all units. Since July, 12 new businesses have opened.

The promotion of the area has included a series of "I Love Leith" banners, which have featured The Proclaimers, Irvine Welsh and former boxing world champion Ken Buchanan, a major blitz on graffiti and fly-posting last December and the opening of a new "Business Hub" within the McDonald Road Library in April.

When asked if the reprieve from tram work had helped bring new confidence to the city, Mr Russell said: "Everything of a positive nature has to help businesses and I am pleased to see it has had an effect on Leith Walk.

"Leith Walk is now receiving positive comments again. People won't open up shops unless they can see that there is a future.

"They are coming here because they see there is a future as a thoroughfare from the city centre to the Waterfront."

During the first stage of tram work, many firms in Leith Walk said that trade had been decimated because their shops were difficult to drive to and pedestrians found it difficult to even cross the road.

Leith Walk trader Gordon Burgess, also chairman of the Leith Business Association, said: "We are now trying to get the goodwill back into the business.

"It takes a long time to build goodwill and when you have had the problems we have had it does go."

With doubt continuing about when the tram project will extend to Leith, Mr Burgess said that opinion in Leith Walk remains split - but admitted that trade has improved since the work stopped.

He said: "Would people in Leith still want it to come down here?

"A lot of them wouldn't because the respite has been a welcome relief, although a lot of them would want it finished because of the pain we've gone through to get this far.

"If it went to a poll, it would probably be split."

Councillor Tom Buchanan, the city's economic development chief, said: "These figures are extremely encouraging. They demonstrate a resurgence in retail confidence on Leith Walk and also the success of the wider 'I Love Leith' project, which continues to provide valuable support to the existing business community through increasing inward investment and trade in one of our most cosmopolitan neighbourhoods.

"In particular, the Leith Business Hub, which offers practical and free business support on a weekly basis, has been oversubscribed since opening in April and is clearly contributing to this positive trend."

Further research is currently being carried out on why some of the new firms have opted to open in Leith Walk.

Among the new businesses that have opened since March are Los Cardos, a Mexican takeaway restaurant, and K&L, Edinburgh's first Filipino convenience store, which opened its doors for the first time last month.

K&L owner Kathlyn Caparoso said: "We have lived here before on Albert Street and we know it is a good area and that is why we wanted to find a shop on Leith Walk.

"There is free parking for up to an hour outside as well, so it is good for our customers.

"It is very multicultural as well. We sell not only to Filipinos but also to people from Thailand, China and Japan, so it is good to be in a multicultural area."

However, she has not experienced tram works on her doorstep - and admitted she does not know what to expect if they return.

"Since we opened the shop there has been no problems with trams," she said.

"I think it is already finished here but it doesn't matter to us."

WHAT'S NEW?

Businesses to have opened on Leith Walk in recent months...

&#149 Urbane Furniture: furniture store

&#149 Cafe 9 (fitting out): cafe

&#149 Photoprintz Digital Solutions: photo shop

&#149 K&L: Filipino convenience store

&#149 PolyPak Continental Foods: food store

&#149 Russian & Baltic Food: food store

&#149 Braiding World: hair salon

&#149 Cashino Gaming: amusement arcade

&#149 The Mens' Walk: barbers

&#149 Naihas: takeaway restaurant

&#149 Punjab'n De Rasoi: social enterprise cafe

&#149 Scott Micro: computers and repairs

&#149 New Punjab Food Store: food store

&#149 Edinburgh Halloween & Firework Factory

&#149 Elm Rose Deli: delicatessen