Falkirk, for many people, is a stop on the Glasgow-Edinburgh train line but closer scrutiny reveals a town with a rich history, regeneration of the town centre and a vibrant community retail scene despite the influx of multiple retailers and discounters into area.
By Karen Peattie
Towns across Scotland are crying out for investment but if local authorities seeking inspiration to inject life into key towns in their own areas of the country were to visit Falkirk, they would be guaranteed to leave with at least one idea. Quite simply, this town in Scotland’s central belt is changing.
In May, it was announced that the economic fortunes of the town centre are set to be turned around thanks to funding to the tune of £2m from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Regeneration activity in Falkirk town centre, however, started back in 2010 with a Scottish Government Town Centre Regeneration Fund award and Falkirk Council is committed to seeking new investment opportunities to protect and grow one of Scotland’s top historic town centres.
From historic battle site, to thriving 18th century cattle market town to the engine house of the industrial revolution, Falkirk has a fascinating architectural heritage. But the decline of heavy industry and the effects of the current recession have taken their toll, and some prominent buildings are now in poor condition tarnishing the historic character of the town.
The opening of the iconic Falkirk Wheel by The Queen in 2002 brought with it an upsurge of interest in the town and the world’s first and only rotating boat lift, a modern miracle of engineering, has become a global icon and major tourist attraction, boosting the local economy in the process.
Another local attraction is Callendar House, a beautiful 600-year-old French-style chateau, set within the grounds of Callendar Park while the regenerated towpaths of the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals have contributed to the increasing popularity of Falkirk as a great place for families to live with its excellent urban amenities, great road and rail transport links, and rural Scotland on the doorstep.
No surprise, then, that Falkirk continues to attract the major multiples and discounters. Tesco’s fifth store in the town – yes, fifth! – opened on the site of the former Wrangler jeans factory in Glasgow Road, Camelon back in February. Accompanied by the usual jobs claims, the mult would not appear to have caused too many problems for local retailers in the area.
Mark Stevenson, manager of CJ Lang’s Spar outlet in nearby Main Street in Camelon, reckons his customers are somewhat underwhelmed. “I think there’s Tesco fatigue in Falkirk now,” he suggests. “This is their fifth store and it’s no different from the rest, according to my customers. Can they offer better customer service than us? I don’t think so.”
Meanwhile, discount retailer Aldi has announced plans to open its first convenience store in Falkirk, on the former site of the printers of local newspaper, The Falkirk Herald and virtually next door to the new Tesco. Again, Mark Stevenson isn’t unduly concerned. “We’ve already got Lidl and I think their customers will probably be more interested in it than ours.”
The new Aldi will be just a few minutes away from Ajaz Ali’s store in Seaforth Road, Langlees – something of a sore point as far as this long-established local retailer is concerned.
“How many more supermarkets does the town need?” he asks. “There’s practically one on every corner now and they’re killing trade for a lot of local shops. We’re not afraid of competition or hard work but there comes a time when the council really should be calling a halt to all these new stores bulldozing their way into Falkirk.”
Award-winning retail Stephen Carr, whose Nisa store seven miles away in nearby Denny is currently performing well, believes that Falkirk and the wider catchment area – taking in towns such as Grangemouth, Denny, Larbert, Stenhousemuir plus villages including Polmont, Maddiston and Redding – is better placed than many other parts of central Scotland to weather the retail storm.
“It’s bang in between Glasgow and Edinburgh so it’s a popular commuter town,” he says. You’ve got the oil refinery and petrochemicals industry at Grangemouth so while things are generally tough for independent retailers I firmly believe that the opportunities are there if you look for them.
“There’s a lot happening in Falkirk and the greater Falkirk area and I think the local shops need to identify what they’re good at, do that really well and keep an eye open on the opportunities.”
GKR Convenience Store,
Seaforth Road, Langlees
Ajaz Ali
Successfully trading in a predominately council housing area of Falkirk for over 15 years, Ajaz Ali has seen the town’s retail landscape change beyond all recognition – and not for the better!
“There are just far too many supermarkets here now,” he observes. “It used to be that from our area, if you wanted to go to a supermarket, you had a choice of just two or three. Now, there’s practically one on every corner and they’re killing trade for a lot of local shops.
“In our case, there’s a Co-op superstore within about 10 minutes’ walking distance, Tesco within five, another Tesco within about five minutes from our store, a Lidl a couple of minutes away and an Asda in the middle. We can’t compete with them and we don’t try to.”
So what is GKR Convenience Store doing to keep its customers coming back? “We don’t offer many multipacks because most of our customers come in every day to buy the same thing,” explains Ajaz. “We also have a lot of older customers that we help out – it’s not a problem for one of us to nip out with a pint of milk or loaf of bread for someone if they can’t get out of the house.”
While agreeing generally that Falkirk has improved as a place to live and visit over the last year few years, Ajaz remains concerned that its “retail personality” is danger of being lost if there is any further development by the mults. “We’re still surviving because we work hard and offer a great local service,” he points out, “but I can see others suffering.”
Spar, Main Street, Camelon
Mark Stevenson
Pop into this busy Spar outlet at any time of the day on any day of the week and the service is guaranteed to knock you sideways – in a good way, that is. Manager Mark Stevenson runs an extremely tight but happy ship and says that while business is slightly down on this time last year, it is really the weather that has thrown a spanner in the works.
“We are down but the weather’s been so awful you can’t blame people for not going out,” he says. “For us, it’s a case of concentrating on the one thing we know no-one else can come anywhere close on – service. We have a lot of regular, loyal customers, many of them elderly who like to come for a blether and a gossip – and we’re more than happy to gossip!
“Seriously, though, the shop’s known for our friendly staff and great atmosphere. You can spend £1 or £20 and we give everyone the same great service that has helped us win awards and keep people coming back to us time and time again.”
Never complacent, however, and always striving to make improvements across the board, Mark and his team ensure that promotions are always highly visible and well maintained. Keeping the award-winning store in Falkirk’s Main Street in pristine condition is also a priority, particularly when it comes to fresh produce.
“Are we worried about Aldi coming to the area? No,” says Mark. “Falkirk’s teaming with food stores of all shapes and sizes so another one’s not going to make any difference to us given the type of store we are and the service we provide. There are five Tesco stores within three miles of each other and our customers describe the newest one, which opened in February, as ‘just another Tesco’ and say it has no atmosphere.”
According to Mark, the ongoing regeneration of Falkirk is “fantastic for everyone”. A stop on the Glasgow-Edinburgh train line? “We’re much more than that!”
