Changes needed to Scarborough town centre

The Chairman of Scarborough Business Ambassadors has been giving his thoughts on the future of the town centre.

Author: Karen LiuPublished 3rd Dec 2020

The Chairman of Scarborough Business Ambassadors has been giving his thoughts on the future of the town centre.

It's after the news about Debenhams going into administration as well as Dorothy Perkins, Topshop, and Topman which are owned by Arcadia.

Peter Wilkinson said:

"It's very disappointing to hear that news. Could it be turned into a cinema? Perhaps it could but I think that would be a very, very expensive option if I'm honest. It would be good to have a cinema in the town but I'm not convinced that's the right option at this moment in time.

"I think if we were looking at the future then we need to be visionary, creative, have optimism, and energy to commit to the pathway that we're about to embark on.

"I think the high street must become entertaining and an experience rather than just a place to stroll around in pop into occasional shops. The other thing we need to do is we have to have the hunger to make it work for us.

"If you think about Scarborough, we have seven million visitors a year and within that, I believe sincerely we need to change the demographic. We need to ensure that the high street looks entirely different to the way it is now."

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.