The high street is always in the news. Whether it is regarding the number of empty shops or the efforts of the likes of Mary Portas and the Government to try and entice people to shop there.
But now it seems that not only are the public put off from visiting high streets, but soon delivery drivers will be too. So if there are no delivers that means no stock and no customers – another blow for the high street.
So why are delivery drivers put off from delivering to the high street? According to the Freight Transport Association (FTA), the number of parking tickets being handed to delivery drivers increased by a whopping 50 per cent between 2009 and 2012. This is making it increasingly difficult for companies to make deliveries to high streets “economically viable”.
Some companies have even resorted to employing full-time staff whose job it is solely to contest the tickets issued. Many are overturned once an appeal is launched, but it is just another timely expense that companies don’t need.
Speaking of the increase in tickets, Natalie Chapman, the FTA’s head of policy in London, said: “We used to have a millionaire’s club of companies which received a million pounds of tickets a year.
“We worked with councils to sort out the problem for a while and the club lost its members. Over the last two or three years it looks as if the club is recruiting new members again.”
It is times like these that councils should be making it easier for both deliveries and customers to access the high street. It was recently announced that the public could park on double yellow lines in town centres for 15 minutes max to pop into a shop. But is there any point if the shop won’t even have any stock?
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