LETTER by Sir Bob Russell

FOR generations, Marks & Spencer has been the nation’s favourite chain of department stores, but in recent years it has embarked on the closure of a large number of its stores, abandoning the ethos of its founders and a significant amount of its loyal customer base.

What we are witnessing is the unacceptable face of retail capitalism by here-today-gone-tomorrow bosses with no regard to the rest of the retail community where their stores have been traditionally located.

City and town centre stores, large and small, feed off each other.

M&S are being selfish.

What M&S is doing flies in the face of Government rhetoric to support city and town centres.

The soulless out-of-town shopping malls which M&S have gone to depend on free car parking, which encourages those with cars to drive to them.

As we have witnessed where this has just happened in Colchester, the result is chaos and congestion where a handful of national stores have re-located to create a sterile clone town venue without the atmosphere and enjoyable shopping experience of traditional shopping environments.

The Government can help redress the unfair situation with legislation introducing a Business Rates levy on out-of-town car parks – say £10 per day for each space charged to the shops – with the revenue used to reduce Business Rates on premises in traditional city and town centres.

What M&S and other national firms are doing by moving to out-of-town shopping malls is detriment to other retail businesses.

It is also hard luck for those without cars.