Shrewsbury Business Chamber has praised the work of retailers, office occupiers and the food and drink sector in the town who have adapted admirably to the adverse weather conditions in recent weeks to keep the town ‘Open for Business as Usual ‘. The increased rainfall which has hit Shrewsbury and large parts of the county has resulted in the worst cases of flooding in 20 years. Nevertheless, the flood barriers and other alleviation measures have lessened the impact and ensured that, for example, the Theatre and Frankwell businesses have remained open.
Whilst the Chamber expects that the flooding will have an immediate impact on footfall for the retail trade in the town centre’s major shops, the buildings and stock will not be damaged and they are trading as normal.
Charles Howell from the Business Chamber executive committee commented “the last week has been extra challenging for businesses in the town. Flooding is still relatively common in Shrewsbury, but our councils, The Environment Agency and emergency services teams do an excellent job in mitigating the worst effects.”
Looking to the future, the Business Chamber will be pressing for additional flood alleviation measures in Smithfield Road as part of the ‘North West Relief Road Dividend’ to benefit the town centre. Chamber members have reported on a lack of cohesion and information from the public transport authorities about operating services – especially local buses – as Smithfield Road was closed and so will ask the Councils to review their emergency planning procedures for this sector. This will give for example town centre workers confidence that they will have reliable transport whatever the weather.