Middlesbrough town centre described as ‘tumbleweed town’

The closure of Next on Linthorpe Road has been described by some as another nail in the coffin of Middlesbrough town centre. For others, this particular coffin is already six feet under, with opinions on the situation ranging from bad to worse when people chatted to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Crossing under the A66 and walking up Linthorpe Road on a Tuesday morning provided a reminder of the sheer number of units that are unoccupied. Arriving just before 9am meant returning a bit later to check if some shutters were down because shops hadn’t yet started trading for the day, or if they were closed for good. In the vast majority of cases, shuttered shops on Linthorpe Road stayed that way as the day went on and did not open for business.

A sole beer bottle sat on the high street, with initially very few people about, although this did pick up as time went on, with a queue forming outside a bank and a few people sitting on benches. People who stopped to chat were universally negative about the current state of the town centre and weren’t much more optimistic about its future prospects.

Retired Angela Harrison, who used to have a curtain business, said there’s nothing in the “tumbleweed town” and she’d much rather go to Teesside Park or Newcastle. The 62-year-old recited a story from years ago, when her (then) five-year-old granddaughter had told her that she didn’t want to walk down “that horrible road”.

Angela said Linthorpe Road was in an even worse state now, commenting on how it should be thriving with the university so nearby. Numerous people raised concerns about drug taking, drinking and begging, detailing their own experiences.

50-year-old Alison, who lives in Darlington but works in Middlesbrough, described the latter as a “dump” and said she wouldn’t walk along it on a winter night. She described Darlington as a “paradise” in comparison.

Alison suggested knocking the rents down and giving businesses a chance, she also believed that the decline had worsened over the past nine years.

Approaching Next, now closed for good, the shop appeared desolate on the inside, when peering through the shutters. A ladder could be seen on the trading floor, but no clothes in sight, while a sale sign was still visible, close to the entrance. A short while after, a bashing noise could be heard and upon inspection, a sole person was doing some manual work inside.

Audrey and John North spoke to the LDRS outside of the now shut Next. Audrey said that the town now looked unrecognisable. The pair left nine years ago and moved to Durham and both agreed they wouldn’t want to move back to Boro, with John saying the state of the town centre was “a sign of the times”.

It was recognised by some people that most high streets are facing similar challenges and problems. The concept of the declining high street is not unique to Teesside or even the north east, with major chains and local favourites closing up left, right and centre, up and down the country.

Tees Valley Conservative Mayor Ben Houchen did however recently say that Middlesbrough is the biggest problem in the Tees Valley, from a regeneration point of view. A 56-year-old employee at McMahon’s greengrocers, which is located next to the former House of Fraser, said that once the big shops have gone it’s too late.

She thought that a smaller town centre was needed, which is something that the council’s director of regeneration has previously spoken about. The employee, who has worked at the store for 24 years, said that situation had progressively worsened.

Andrew Briggs, 24, of tattoo and piercing studio Sacred Fury, described the state of Linthorpe Road as “terrible”, adding that he didn’t know about Next closing until “the last possible minute, like literally two or three days before”.

As well as listing the well-known closures such as House of Fraser, Debenhams and M&S, Mr Briggs added: “If you walk through the Hill Street as well, there’s quite a few empty things in there. It’s just terrible because then you get all this anti-social behaviour and you think where’s it coming from, it’s because there’s nothing for people to do.”

The tattoo shop has been open for approximately four months and is located in the former Body Shop store. Andrew said: “We’ve noticed how quiet the town is. Days like yesterday, and even Saturday, where you expect things to be busy, it was really quiet.”

The studio is one of the streets successes, having just been crowned best tattoo studio in North Yorkshire by Englands Business Awards. On future prospects, Andrew added: “We’re a little bit worried, I mean tattoo studios are one of businesses that can’t really close, because you can’t take that online… so we’re not too worried about us closing up on that front.”

However, he added that if the tattoo parlour is going to be one of only a few shops left open, it will be harder for them.

David Craggs, 77, who has lived in Middlesbrough his entire life, believed that the main mistake made was not turning either Captain Cook or Dundas into a car park, describing parking as a “menace”. He argued that the only thing that could save the high street now would be “peppercorn rents” on a street market, something like £10 or £15 for a stand. He himself had worked for 40 years as a market trader.

18-year-old Abdul Ghani, who works in Fone +, rattled off a number of stores that have closed further down Linthorpe Road, closer to McDonald’s, mentioning stores such as EE and Poundland’s branch inside the Cleveland Centre. He described the town as “dead” and thought that cheaper rents were needed.

When Next closed earlier this month, Middlesbrough Labour Mayor Chris Cooke said that whenever big names are lost, it is “regrettable”, adding that his thoughts were with affected staff, while highlighting that the closure is part of a national trend linked to the “dominance” of online shopping and changing customer behaviour.

Looking to the future, he said: “We’ve got to get the mix right – that will be a combination of retail and leisure alongside providing new places to live.”

The Middlesbrough mayor was keen to highlight the positives in the town centre such as STACK and the new Odeon Luxe, while adding: “We welcome thousands of students every day as the proud home of Teesside University, Middlesbrough College and the Northern School of Art.

“As a council, we are continuing to repurpose Captain Cook Square into a leisure destination. It offers entertainment, food and drink for people of all ages and will soon welcome a boutique cinema, offering more choice to families. We’re still attracting interest and investment from regional and national brands that want to open in Middlesbrough. We also boast brilliant independent businesses and I would urge people to support them as much as possible.”

Meanwhile, an Middlesbrough Development Corporation spokesperson responding to the findings from Linthorpe Road, saying: “The MDC has a plan to breathe new life into Middlesbrough town centre through Crown Square, building on our strengths in our digital and innovation sectors. This is only the beginning. We recognise the challenges Middlesbrough faces, and this is why we’re taking action to improve not only Linthorpe Road, but the whole town centre and Middlehaven.

“The masterplan makes it clear we want to drive growth in the town – and have more people living and working in the heart of Middlesbrough. This will be key to both attracting and securing the shops and businesses people want to see, while making the town safer – another of our aims. That’s why the region’s police and crime commissioner is on the development corporation board, along with Cleveland Police’s chief constable as an independent adviser, providing a key link to policing and giving valuable insight.

“We’re working with our developers, businesses, the university and the council to do everything we can to adapt and ensure the town centre realises the potential it has.”