ECCOnoob

...... but I say the national minimum wage should be a flat £10 per hour.

 

So, what do you think or suggest on this subject?

I think its mad. You are really saying that the national minimum wage for completely unskilled, service roles or apprentice labour should be equivalent of nearly £20k a year???

Ok, so that means that semi-skilled labour will be seeking at least £15 an hour so that's around £29k a year for every secretary, administrator, office clerk, first line support, payroll, accounts clerk, operator, booker etc....

Skilled trades would have to be upped to at least £20 an hour with supervisors and team leaders getting the same to make their jobs worth doing so that's just under £40,000 a year for them.

Junior management would then of course be demanding at least £25 an hour so all junior management/small store managers/team managers would be looking at around £50k

BOOM! We are already in 50% tax bracket for some people and we are have not even covered qualified professionals, accountants, lawyers, nurses, hgv drivers, train drivers, treatment practicioners, junior doctors, qualified doctors, senior management, executives..... Where would this end.

..Can you see where im going with this. What knock on effect would happen to cost of living, burden of payroll to smaller companies, profits, affect on lifestyles.

Rise one and you have to rise them all. Nobody currently earning £10-15 an hour doing a skiled job or even a supervisory job will be content having their lowest level staff on the same as them. Therefore they will demand a rise, and so on and so on.

Can you not order online?

This would be the half empty Trinity would it ? http://www.shopping-centre.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/6522/Trinity_Leeds_welcomes_10_millionth_shopper.html

So 10m peope have walked through the doors. So what?

What has that go to to do with half the units being empty let alone the impact on the surrounding streets as exisitng stores relocated inside Trinity. Only 46 of the centre's 120 stores are new businesses. That means that potentially Trinity has created 74 empty units elsewhere. Hardly a great impression.

Even your own local rag has raised concerns about the impact of Trinity and its supposed benefits.

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/footfall-goes-up-as-leeds-trinity-opens-but-so-do-to-let-signs-1-5679916

I have already mentioned "The Core" which has been a lame duck stuck on the Headrow for years. It was a pointless precinct pretty much as far back as Schofields Centre days or was it Headow Centre or was it.... that place has rebranded itself more times than Prince. Plus St Johns and Merrion Centres really need an overhaul as they certainly do not fit in with the nice shiny new arena and supposed upmarket trades their neighbours are trying to catch.

Having worked in and travelled through Leeds for years I really dont understand the city's obsession with covered precincts. Trinity, The Core, St J, Merrion, Corn Exchange, The Light, Victoria and County Arcades. All these centres will have had a massive effect on the surrounding streets. Empty premises are springing up all over the surrounding areas and yet despite all those they are still arrogantly opening up more mall units namely, Victoria Gate Centre.

Carry on like this and the only outdoor streets will be connections between the various precincts. You might as well put a huge glass dome over the lot and call it The Shopping Mall.

It cannot carry on like that - something will have to give and all this constant rushing to be first with building and opening everything is going to end in tears. Just take a look at Clarence Dock and "The Gateway"

Meanwhile, Trinity Leeds is up and running. Things get done there.

That would be the half empty Trinity Leeds would it. Just perfect to go along with the half empty "The Core" complex. We then have the shabby looking St Johns and Merrion Centres

With exception to a handful of newbies Trinity is mostly relocated stores from existing city centre locations. I doubt very much that two stores will operate so close to each other so inevitably it will lead to empty units elsewhere.

I certainly would not get too excited about things getting done. I would rather have a completed fulfilled development when the time is right rather than rushing and showing off to end up building lots of thrown together clone precincts which remain half empty.

Grass is always greener and all that.

...or one of the other private car parks with lower rates..... or one of the surface car parks...... or free parking one one of the side streets.... or park and ride... etc.

ONE car park is not the reason the city centre is dying.

Yes NCP is a rip off but it is the nearest and most convenient to all the theatres, O2 and cinema and they will charge what they can get away with.

For future reference Q park has offers for theatres and street parking is free from after 8.30 so you only need to pay for a couple of hours to cover the excess time.

EDIT:

In view of your circumstances I would reccommend Charles Street Q park which is only a short walk away across peace gardens and is so much more cheaper.

 

Full no claims, not a motoring offence nor parking ticket to my name in over 20 years driving. I think i'm perfectly fine thanks.

Well bully for you. What do you want? A bun?

So you have full no claims and never had a motoring offence. So what? Doesn't mean that you are not driving fatigued and recklessly.

Lets see, what about if I chose to have a bottle of vodka every time I get behind the wheel but have never had any claims for 20 years and no offences - that makes me a good driver right?

What about if I always drive with my feet but magically never have a crash - that means I can carry on doing it right?

I dont think so

You keep being all **** sure with your perfect driving.... tick tock tick tock.

Because anyone who drives 280 miles stright without stopping once is completely irresponsible, dangerous and obviously fatigued whether they chooose to believe it or not.

Even at a legal maximum motorway speed limit that's still 4 hours driving non stop. On minor routes it would be even longer.

Safe? Perfectly acceptable? Perfectly credible and realistic? My arse it is.

Where ever you choose to stop, be it a service station / parking layby or other location - some people find facilities useful. If you are on a motorway, the more options the better. Not everyone can or wants to venture off and find things nearby - even if they are only round the corner.

In terms of the topic of this thread I really dont see what all the fuss is about - its hardly chopping down the amazon rainforest is it? Its a piece of land stuck between the M1 and an industrial park. Why not put it to use.

^^^^^^^^^^ what they said.

Plus those parking daily are most likely to use one of £2 - £3 a day car parks.

Besides, a weekly saver on First Buses is anything up to £20 a week so its hardly an extortionate parking fee for the most central areas. Anyone commuting from outside the area will likely pay even more than that each week.

Even as a lifetime non-car owner I can understand how off-putting it can be to pay exorbitant parking charges or to struggle to find anywhere convenient to park.

 

Now if Sheffield city centre had no competition, car owners would just have to grin and bear it. But there is competition, and not just from Meadowhall.

 

I'm sure Julie Dore et al. would have been more suited to running a small Russian town in the old USSR. There, people really did have to do what they were told, rather than exercising their pesky freedom of choice to shop and eat and watch movies where they want (the nerve!).

 

Consumers vote with their feet as well as at the ballot box.

As a lifetime non-car owner you clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

SCC parking charges are LESS than most our neighbours, so that's hardly an issue. Outskirts car parks are as little as £2 all day and even some of the central (including calver street/science park) are just £5 a day.

There are thousands of street, surface and private car parking spaces in the city centre. Even in the middle of the day you will will find a gap so there is hardly a parking crisis.

Any shopping centre with thousands of free spaces just off the motorway is bound to attract more custom. However, a city centre is far more than just shops. People work here, do business here live here, study here, stay here. That's why parking is not free. Why do people go to m/hall? Shop. That's it.

As for your nonsense about freedom of choice? I dont even know what you are trying to get at. Who is blocking freedom of choice? You can drive if you wish. Nobody is stopping you. We have shops, we have bars, we have cinemas. What exactly is being restricted here.

So, you were saying?

I love all these NIMBY responses.

If you asked anyone whether they would want a [....insert option here..] next to their house the answer would ultimately be no.

It wont matter if its a

Power Station

Railway

New Road

New Stores

Hospital

School

College

Church

Mosque

Synagogue

Nature Reserve

Nudist Camp.

You cannot get around the fact that wherever they place it, its ALWAYS going to be next door to someone. It does not mean that their requirement isnt a necessary investment for the future.

The world changes.

20-30 years ago all those people bought nice isolated properties surrounded by fields probably did not expect them to be turned into mass new buyer housing estates usually with a generic chain pub and a Tesco stuck in the middle of it. However they have because the damand for such things became a necessity.

No wonder this country is always so far behind the rest of the world. I know what two initials I would like to say to the NIMBYs

There is another thing to consider with all three. They all offer different things to different people.

The Eurospar for example is not open the same hours as Sainsburys. it closes earlier on a sunday as its restricted by the sunday trading laws for allegedly being a "proper supermarket". From my shopping there it has more of an individual and rare product range compared to Sainsburys in house brand and big players. It also has the take out/coffee bar section and appears to have a proper fresh bakery which would appeal to many over the pre-packed Sainsburys stock.

Sainsburys on the other hand is very corporate and does exactly what is says on the tin. People who already do big shops at larger Sainsburys will probably choose there to keep topping up their Nectar points. Its smaller size means it can keep trading when the Eurospar has long since closed due to it being exempt from Sunday trading.

As for the independant, well there will always be those who will never, no matter what, shop at the big four so they will always keep some (albeit smaller) trade.

Price is also another factor. No doubt the Independant will be much more expensive than the others. In turn, Eurospar (despite its size) is significantly more expensive than Sainsbuys and has far less offers and deals. That was the same in Ireland though - even with the proper massive hypermarket ones. They were always known as a rip off store as compared to Dunnes, Superquinn or Supervalu.

As for Sainsburys, they will have some bargains but they are still (being a local convenience template) will be a rip off compared to a proper Sainsburys store.

Back on topic I must admit that like them or not. All three are still trading and serve a purpose. Anything is better than a sole monopoly.

My comment was aimed at the disgrace of a city center.

Do you suffer a sudden blindness when you walk past M&S, John Lewis, Debenhams, Atkinsons, HL Brown, The White House, Jones, Sa-Kis, Eton, Green and Benz, Ark Clothing and the boutiques in the Forum then??

What exactly do you want?

The "showrooms" are city centre based but aren't most "bulky" goods delivered from distribution centres outside the city centre. For example the cooker we bought last year from John Lewis was delivered from here;

 

http://www.store-locations.co.uk/john_lewis/sheffield-store-s9-1tn.html

Exactly the same as out of town retailers. Dont see many people shoving a cooker or sofa in the back of their cars be it John Lewis or Ikea.

What's your point?

---------- Post added 22-06-2013 at 22:13 ----------

All those bulky goods dealers who are trading successfully like T J Hughes who have er... closed down.

 

Is it not also the case that you don't go to DFS and then load a sofa into the back of your car afterwards?

TJ hughes are very much still open - just moved to a different location.

OK children. wind your necks in.

YOU raised the question of buying not delivery. Distribution warehouses are very different to retail floorspace.

Secondly, John Lewis, Atkinsons, Debenhams and to add to the list BHS, TJ Hughes and TK Maxx also sell "bulky goods" which plenty of people shopping in there seem to have no issue with. Its not mission impossible to carry a bag of bedding/cookware/housewares or even clothing.

All of it can be classed as "bulky" and all of it is purchased in town/city centres up and down the country with no issues.

To be honest, I find carrying a handful of goods (bulky or other) from one end of Meadowhall to the other absolutely no different to walking from Fargate up to my car.

planning policy in sheffield doesnt allow large stores outside the city centre, so the policy is flawed!!!!

 

 

Posted from Sheffieldforum.co.uk App for Android

Except for Tesco Extra x 2, Queens Road retail park, Heeley Retail Park, Meadowhall Retail Park, Kilner Way retail Park, Meadowhall Shopping Centre, Crystal Peaks Shopping Centre, Drakehouse Retail Park, Parkway Central, B&Q warehouse x 3, Asda superstores x 2, Morrisons superstores x 4, Sainsburys superstore, waitrose superstore...

Yes its clear they never allow large stores outside the city

Cant think why. Meadowhall has probably got more CCTV, officers, patrols and security operations than town does.

Presumably many other members of staff will also be heading back to the car park at the same time so I can imagine there will be very few lone persons at risk.

There is no legal obligation for employers to provide car parking and if meadowhall want to make sure their parking is free and available for their customers - that's their choice.

I have no idea how many staff work at Meadowhall but I can imagine that is quite a fair few cars filling up their car park before the customers even get there. Add that to the park and ride people who sneek in too and its not wonder its so hard to find a spot.

Most buses, trains and trams run until at least 11.30 which is long after the majority of the stores close - maybe those people might think twice about whether they need to take the car if they find walking from the coach park so much of an issue.

As others have said most of us who choose to drive into town put up with a walk from our parking spots to the office come day or night. There are very few of us who have the luxury of parking outside our workplace doors and even less for those working in city centre retailers.

Hmm.. The "curtain twitchers" as you put it can perhaps be a touch vociferous and unrelenting in their criticism of the council (but I think many of their points are not unreasonable). However, surely, surely you don't really think that it's acceptable for a public body to give a date when a statement will be released and then say nothing at all. Not even a statement saying "negotiations are taking longer than expected blah blah"

Where did they give a date when a statement will be released?

All I have seen is that Hammersons were given to the end of May to commit or not. Nothing about any statement? Nothing about when we the public will be advised of the outcome?

Dozens of planning applicaiton deadlines close every week but you dont get to know the final outcome until some time later. Job Application deadlines close every week but you dont get an instant email telling you whether you have got it or not.

As I have said before, whatever or not the outcome is, there will be things the council need to do.

Whatever "statement" is produced will need to be properly drafted, approved, legally checked by both sides and then eventually published.

The deadline seemingly was at close of play on Friday. There has only been just over a working day since that deadline.

Whatever Hammerson's response it is going to be a long long letter or formal agreement / proposal / contract which probably has come from some slick city lawyers. Its not going to be written on the back of a fag packet.

That will need to be considered one way or another and any announcement to us will need to be something official and more importantly legally accurate before its published to us.

That's not going to happen in one working day.

I have no problem with people's concern over what is happening with our taxes with this seemingly farce of a project - particuarly those who do have business interests. I realise its important not to have a stagnating city with a dud project.

However, I am sensible enough to know that things are not going to happen instantly and unlike some people on this thread I will hold off my foamy mouthed angry bile against the Council until they have had a sensible timescale to tell us what's going on.

Come back to me in a week or two's time and then I might think differently.

My my what bitter cyncical people we have on here.

The Council has better things to deal with than coming rushing on here to tell all you curtain twitchers what they said.

God sake. The deadline was today. Usually its close of business anyway.

That was just under 6 hours ago. 6 hours. that's all.

Whatever or not has happened did you really expect them to come dashing to the Star or on here to tell everyone.

Whatever or not has happened there could be tens, dozens, hundreds of actions that need to be taken.

Whatever or not has happened a statement (whenever it comes out) will need to be formally drafted, checked, signed off, approved, sent to the media and published. That takes time.

Some people on here need to grow up. Find something else to do with your lives.

In my opinion with these arguments the bottom line is this.

We are a working class city with working class roots.

A handful of high earners prop up one end with the rest of the populus on mid to low incomes.

The shops across the board be in Meadowhall or City cater for that.

The real real poshies might pop into a John Lewis or House of Fraser every now and then and buy something just for round the house or for those casual days out but when they really want to splurge they will be off to some boutique in the middle of derbyshire or have a boozy shopping day with the girls in Manchester or London.

The rest of us will the majority of the time buy from lower end chain stores which is why we have such a heavy supply of them.

Yes, occasionally we will splurge on something a bit more pricey for a special occasion from one of the dept stores or higher end shops - That's how a handful survive but its nowhere near enough to warrant an influx of the quality high end retailers that everyone seems to be demanding (despite knowing full well they will never use them).

Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Chester are cities where, like it or not, there are enough of the first set of people to warrant high end stores being there. There are the stereotypical ladies who lunch, to poncey boys in their ferarris and astons. That's something we dont have enough of in this region let alone city.

I personally think far far too much of our regeneration/proposals/developments be them in or out of town has been based on what OTHER cities have. It smacks of pure jelousy.

That's the wrong thought process. It should be about what WE as a city want. What WE as a city will use and spend out money in. Not just "ooh look what they have..."

---------- Post added 28-05-2013 at 22:05 ----------

Some good suggestions here from people who know what they are talking about:

 

http://www.retailresearch.org/retail2018.php

 

Why is the city centre to receive preferential treatment over the rest of the city? Geographical location is NOT a valid reason.

Personally I think its because it the focus point. Its the first thing that people see. It is still a prominent place where people have to work, interchange, study, visit for business thus it makes it a flagship location.

Since the 70s and 80s the council spent time and effort regenerating whole sections out of the city. Meadowhall happened as did the don valley as did townships and developments such as Crystal Peaks.

Focus was lost about the city and the rot started to set in. In the 00s - thanks to some Millenium funding some parts were improved. The current phases stalled due to the recession. Personally, I would like to see them see it through.

Its too much of a shame to leave it unfinished.

I noted quite an interesting part of the link you posted...

...to turn failing and empty shops into good residential accommodation, create more service/entertainment/leisure outlets, and/or provide offices, doctor's surgeries, classrooms/meeting rooms or other facilities for which there may be a local demand...

That seems - according to the Moor plans, Castlegate and TJ hughes plans that mixed use is on the proposals. Maybe the Council are taking this more seriously than some on here think.

Of course there will , along with an announcement that Elvis is doing 3 sell out concerts at The Arena in July.

OK OK we get it. Another cynical comment (again) about what the Council clearly are NOT going to be doing.

Right, you have made your point - the council are talking a load of crap. Clearly you are convinced that nothing is going to happen with this project, never has and never will and obviously Hammerson has got us over a barrell and have been poking SCC with a stick for a past 10+ years.

So what now then?

What's your bright solution to sort out the decaying city centre in the middle of a global recession and lets face it, in a city where for most of the population anything so much as a Waitrose or a Browns is seen as "posh" "poncey" "rip off" "stuck up".

I dont see Selfridges rushing to open a branch just yet.

PS: Dont bring up the words Ikea or Next because they are not city centre developments which is the topic under discussion here. They would only be of benefit to out of town so are completely irrelevant.

---------- Post added 28-05-2013 at 21:38 ----------

I've no problem with the council having a plan and suppose that I would be disappointed if they did not have one.

 

However, the one they have is inflexible and not fit for purpose.

 

We have a city centre with too many poundshops, Greggs, bookies, mobile phone shops and pawn/money lenders that deters quality retailers from investing. The plan and new proposed masterplan relate only to the city centre and excludes all other areas of Sheffield.

 

We have two quality retailers who want to invest millions but are being driven away by the council because they want to build on wasteland that has been derilict for several years and not the city centre where no suitable sites exist.

 

I could understand the council objecting if there were industrial users lining up to invest where Ikea amd Next want to build but there aren't, haven't been for years and will unlikely be in the future.

 

Its time for the council to go back to the drawing board with regards to its plans for the city and work with quality investors who want to invest in the city. Failing to bring Next and Ikea to the city should not be an option for the council.

If poundshops and Greggs are the only tenants we are attracting what is the council supposed to do? A filled unit is better than an empty decaying one. Also, have you not stopped to think why these pound shops, greggs, bookies etc are booming. Its because we the public are using them and using them a lot.

You cannot argue that these are detracting from quality retailers. Quality retailers know full well that no bugger would buy from their stores even if they did open. I have said before many times. A brand new shiny harvey nics could open up with maybe a Vivienne Westwood next door and all that would happen is that the locals would flood in to gorpe in awe and laugh at the price tags. 6 months later its gone.

We have HAD designer shops in the city before but trends/budgets and people change. There still are a handful left particuarly on division streert and in the forum. However, they are catering for a small market and know how to keep their customer base tight.

As for our quality Department Stores - even they all seem to have stock cast offs of the other more prosperous cities.

Even the great "Meadowhall" with its upmarket end still seems to be a cast off version of other stores in other cities. House of Fraser and Boss particularly seems to be stocked with the reject and seconds that the other franchises didn't want.

What has created this? The Council? The retailers? NO. Its us the consumers. We demand and they supply. If there was a genuine long term demand for something the retailers would get wind stright away and deliver. Its clear that they do not get the impression.

Yes people whinge and moan about there being 27,000 greggs in the city. But the serious point is this - If we were not buying they would have no need to keep opening them.

I can fully sympathise with the Council on the whole Next/Ikea issue. The City Centre which - whether you like it or not - is the flagship for any Council is slowly dying on its backside. To allow two retailers to open further out of town shopping would just be another huge hole in any chance of regeneration.

Its been a tough call but I can fully understand their reasons. Just how can they have a hope in hell of doing anything to try and improve the centre by allowing two MORE attractions to drag people away from it.

Look at what we have and what these two companies would offer.

A giant Next Home and Garden - so that's just a like another type of Homebase or B&Q then and a Ikea so that just like a type of Harveys, CSL, DFS, SCS, Pondsfords, Tesco Extra, Sainsburys, Asda Living, Pondsfords, Barkers, Furniture Village then.

Two more nails in the coffin for the city centre. I get the point about jobs but having these new companies would cause even more closures to the already crumbling city centre high street. So any "new jobs" woud mostly one would hope be filled with the recently redundant.

Really, lets think about the bigger picture here (one assumes the Council already is). With all that lot already witin the city boundaries, plus two under cover malls and at least seven retail parks.... maybe it is the correct time to focus one a centre for a change.

City Hall: generally speciality acts that aren't big enough for the arena.

Crucible/Lyceum: Same above above but slightly different obviously as they are theatres.

Showroom: Cinema that shows alternative type films.

 

If a new cinema is showing same as Meadowhall/Centertainment then what is the selling point, now you have to pay to park in town at night?

 

 

 

As have people's trends. There used to be loads of cinemas in town, and most closed down.

As others have said - to serve the needs of people who live in or near the city, the many people who dont necessarilly drive, those people who work in the city, are visiting the city centre or the many many students who live very close to the centre who may not wish to travel out to Attercliffe or Meadowhall.

Do these cinema goers need their own car park?

There are already car parks nearby with much more capacity than this.

Totally agree.

The theatres are hardly struggling due to their lack of car parking. Neither is the Showroom or any of the other leisure venues.

Gotta love this city. Things get criticised before they have even got off the drawing board stage. No wonder this place never develops.

Sheffielders dont seem to like change. Just look how many people pine on about the days of Redgates, Robert Brothers and cars being able to drive down the moor. The 60s are gone people. Life has moved on.

I came into the city centre on Sunday but but got put off from parking as I thought I didn't want to pay a pound for 15 minutes. I agree with Rob Wison's comment above that parking within the city centre should have something like 30 minutes free period. However, I'm sure this will give the council and opportunity to generate some parking fines when shoppers are slightly delayed getting back to their cars in time.

 

Anyway, getting back to Next, I think it would be great to have Next Home store and IKEA in Sheffield.

Where were you trying to park? Council parking charges are £1 all day on a Sunday

Clearly they didn't but is it much to expect that a chain should get it right first time? Everyone can see from a mile off that you're climbing up on your high horse. You've probably got the phrase "well if you don't complain then how will they know" typed out on a Word Document, just ready to be copy in pasted in to this thread as soon as electerrific confirms that no, they didn't complain. Hope you get great satisfaction from it.

 

Anyway, having said the above, any one who buys KFC full stop is pushing it ; anyone who eats KFC food from the one in town is a tool.

 

Sorry, but it has to be one of the grottiest looking fast food places around. At least the one on Ecclesall Road looks fairly clean (being brand new, it hasn't had time for dirt to build up)

Nothing like jumping to conclusions there. It was a perfectly reasonable question.

I have eaten there many times. I used to work round the corner. 90% of the time the food was perfectly good. I find the Hillsborough one far worse.

As most KFC branches are franchises it can lead to hit and miss service and food. It is not as protocol driven as other fast food restaurants because technically each one is a different. Get it?

What I was going to say is that whenever I have had a bad meal, I have gone back to the counter and they have dealt with it perfectly fine.

From your second paragraph, you are clearly the one with the attitude so maybe you should get off your high horse.

What did they say when you complained to them?