Every week Kevin publishes his very own “Kev’s Column” online. This week he takes a look at the recent discussion around two fast food chains closing their restaurants in Torquay Town Centre.
This week social media has been full of comments about how there has been another “blow” for Torquay Town Centre as Burger King closed and Pizza Hut announced it will be following suit.
It is safe to say Torquay Town centre is not what it once was. A number of shops have been empty for years, with some showing little sign of ever being used again. As the economy recovers more generally our key high street is, on the face of it, lagging behind.
There are many reasons for this trend, which was compounded by the recession of recent years, but they fundamentally boil down to the change in how we use our town centres and the nature of shopping, in particular the growth of online outlets. Yet the latest closures strike me as being fundamentally different to the decline of retail in the town centre.
Over the last few months a number of new eateries have opened in and around the Town Centre, Harbourside and Sea Front. These include the two new restaurants at Abbey Sands, the iconic Rockfish on the Harbourside and most interestingly of all given the recent news, a new Burger Restaurant on Torwood Street.
The scandals of recent years around what is in our food, plus the popularity of TV programmes that tell the story of food from farm to fork, are changing the tastes of many people. Consumers are looking for more information about the food they eat and what quality it offers. This is good news for the growth of smaller restaurant or food businesses that offer a unique product, but does mean that some will move away from options that are seen as providing less reassurance.
It is disappointing that two more units will soon be empty on Fleet Street and there needs to be a real Masterplan developed for breathing life back into Torquay Town Centre. Yet the loss of two fast food chains should not be made out to the biggest blow we have seen, when there are many other signs that Torquay is seeing a growth in its restaurant offer.
A Burger King or Pizza Hut does not make Torquay unique or bring people to the bay to visit them. Yet some of the restaurants and food businesses that have recently opened are and will. What we need to do now is find the ingredients that will make our Town Centre a unique retail offer that, like a good dessert, is too tempting to resist.