A petition has been launched to keep the Emett Clock in it’s original position when it returns to the city centre’s Victoria Centre this summer.
The petition was started two days ago by Richard MacRae, Chairman of the Stapleford Community Group, when it was announced that the Emett Clock would return to the Victoria Centre in the summer in a new location.
Its new home will be upstairs near the Disney Store.
MacRae said: “For many years the clock was a meeting place for many thousands of people and you could watch proudly from the balcony – how can you do this at the far end of the centre?”
Video: Shoppers enjoying the Emett Clock in it’s former location ©Tim Griffiths
Many other Nottingham shoppers have expressed their dismay at the decision on the online petition page.
Annalene Tucker-Sterling said: “The clock is a great reminder of as a child going to town with my grandma and sitting there talking to lovely people who used this space as resting place.”
Kathryn Frith said she is looking forward to seeing the renovated clock and wants to see it “where it is loved and it belongs.”
So what is the reason for moving the famous clock?
Lyn Oxborrow, a retail expert from Nottingham Trent University said: “the space in front of a retail environment is the most valuable for trade, so it makes sense to have the public spaces further back or up.”
However, Nigel Wheatley, general manager at the Victoria Centre said the new location will give the clock a “grand position in the centre which people will be able to enjoy for years to come.”
He added: “Relocating the clock has always been an important part of the discussion about the remodelling of the centre and something that we considered carefully.
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