Photographer snapping empty shops to illustrate ‘unsightly’ areas in Notts

A Nottingham man is taking photos of empty shops to highlight “unsightly” areas around the city.

Ash Wroughton, 46, is aiming to photograph as many abandoned, independent shops as possible and explain why so many have closed over the years – which he describes as a “serious issue”.

The Gotham resident came up with the idea because he believes the city has been badly affected by “unsightly” empty properties.

“I’ve seen it growing for the past ten years. I’m trying to distinguish why the shops are empty,” he said.

He is researching the rate of rent in areas across the city, to work out how much the shops were paying before their closure.

However, Nottingham City Council says the city’s rate of empty shops is below average.

The authority says it has been working to decrease the number of empty units around the city and says there are factors which it can’t control affecting local businesses – such as the recession and proliferation of online shopping.

Figures from May 2016 show that, out of 1,414 retail units in the city centre surveyed, 1,253 (88.6 per cent) were let: either occupied or awaiting occupancy.

And 36 of the 161 vacant units were “not available for occupancy” because they were undergoing or awaiting redevelopment.

As a result, the authority says 9.1 per cent of shops were unoccupied, a percentage lower than the national average of 12.4 per cent vacant, inner-city shops.

Ash’s street photography and findings will be published on his Facebook and Twitter pages and website.

“I hope to accompany each photograph with information about each building from doing research on the shops,” he said.

“As such, I’m going to do as many shops as I can locate and, ideally, I’d like to know the last occupants – whether they were independent or whether it was a national chain.

“I’m trying to find out the rented rates at the time and I want to try and find out if there’s a link between the area of where the shops are located and if the areas are an issue.”

Web designer Ash has been a keen photographer for the past ten years and took the first photos of his project a fortnight ago.

He says the feedback he has received thus far has been good, giving him the incentive to carry on with the project, which he aims to finish in two months.

He added: “There’s a difference between standing over the road from an empty shop and taking a photo, and waiting there for something half-decent to happen outside the shop.

“I don’t just want to take photos of empty shops; I want them to be visually appealing for people.

“Even as simple as somebody rolling past in a wheelchair, it adds more than an empty shop.

“I’ll be going all around the city and the surrounding areas. Today I’m going to the top of Derby Road.”

Last month, The Golden Cage costume shop, which was on Derby Road, closed after operating for 47 years.

“I can’t understand why there’s a number of empty shops because that area’s heavily populated with students,” Ash said.

Councillor Nick McDonald, portfolio holder for business and growth, said the authority has worked hard over the last few years to make Nottingham “a great place for businesses and shoppers”.

He said empty units are normal with businesses coming and going and landlords redeveloping – but it becomes a concern when the proportion of empty shops becomes “excessive”.

Cllr McDonald added: “In Nottingham, the number of vacant stores has decreased since its highest point in 2012, with the number of empty shops available to rent in the city well in line with the national vacancy rate (12.4 per cent).

Cllr McDonald said the authority is providing grants and support for start-up businesses and has invested in parts of the city with high numbers of independent shops – such as Hockley and Derby Road.

He added prospective improvements, such as a planned £75 million revamp of the Broadmarsh Centre and its surrounding area, will improve the southern part of the city by bringing “more businesses to this area”.

Since May last year, clothing store American Apparel, formerly on Bridlesmith Gate, and the BHS shop, which was based in the Broadmarsh Centre, have closed.

There has, however, been an influx of eateries and bars: such as Red Dog Saloon, Victoria Street, MOD Pizza, Long Row, Stonebaked Pizza Co, in the intu Victoria Centre, Be at One, Victoria Street, and Rizzoli, intu Victoria Centre.