Epsom must unite as ‘one town’ to build itself a reputation as a late-night entertainment and shopping venue, according to its business development manager.

Adam Worley said the changes to evening car parking tariffs, approved by councillors on Monday night, making it cheaper to park for longer in the evenings and overnight, were a "very positive" step towards creating a late-night offering for Epsom.

In April, a maximum charge of £1.50 is to be introduced after 4pm on Mondays to Fridays and after 6pm on Saturdays in The Ashley Centre, Town Hall, Hope Lodge, Depot Road and Upper High Street car parks. 

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Mr Worley, who was only appointed to his role in August, said the change is part of a wider strategy - a 'one town' approach - to ensure people know that the town is 'open for business' every evening.

The 27-year-old told the Epsom Guardian: "The offer needs to be there for people to come.  The stores that people want need to be open and car parking needs to support that and the change in habit of people coming in the evenings.  This is the first step of that."

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He said restaurants and pubs, such as Wetherspoons, clearly already part of the evening economy in the town, have indicated that they would be willing to highlight and promote the increase in retail trading hours - something which will benefit them by bringing more people into the town in the evenings.

Mr Worley added: "There are still ongoing discussions between the business community and the council.  There are a lot of questions which need to be answered as to how it will be implemented. 

"The Federation of Small Businesses is very keen to be involved so any schemes don’t have an adverse negative effect.

"The offer is to encourage late night opening every day.  As a business community and the council we need to develop awareness of the scheme to make sure people are using the town.

"The key to that is putting on events in the town and activities which draw people in and encourage residents and visitors into the town so that it drives the footfall to increase the scheme from the business community."

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Mr Worley said that it will not be a case of all the retailers in The Ashley Centre and smaller businesses in the town all opening later at once. 

He said the larger retailers, such as Marks and Spencer, Boots and Waitrose, are the ones with the ability to absorb the overheads associated with the longer trading initially while footfall increases, but should then act as a "catalyst" for other businesses to come on board.

The BDM said: "The large companies are very keen to open their doors and they have the greater ability to absorb the financial costs of opening longer because of the national structure of their businesses.  Those businesses opening late will then act as a catalyst.

"If smaller businesses open too long too quickly it will affect their overheads.

"Between now and April, I will be working with the council and the businesses to put in place a marketing campaign to help launch the late-night opening so that it works in tandem with the small businesses which are able to stay open. 

"The key is getting the message out there.  If shoppers are aware more businesses will naturally want to be involved and support that."

"This is the first step of a long road. Now we all need to work together as one town to market the scheme together.  Now the hard graft will really begin."

Mr Worley said that an overall "greater experience" needs to be offered to visitors to the town in the evening in the form of late-night activities, markets and roaming entertainment.     

He said that it is not just the shops in The Ashley Centre which will be the focus of Epsom’s late-night offering and that shops in the high street such as TK Maxx and Wilkinsons, which already open late, as well as smaller, boutique offerings in Upper High Street, will also be a key part of the strategy.

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Mr Worley said he would have preferred there not to have been a decision to increase the charge for an up to one hour stay at Depot Road, Upper High Street and Hook Road car parks, from 80p to £1.

He said: "Ideally it would have been beneficial for 80p to remain as it’s important to ensure that footfall is increased throughout the whole town, that we don’t forget about the Upper High Street and other areas." 

Mr Worley said that there was "limited concern" from the business community that the change could affect footfall in the other areas, but that the council has said that it has conducted robust modelling which shows it would not have any negative impact and "we will have to wait and see".


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