East Sussex town's high street in turmoil due the 'pandemic, cost of living crisis and sky rocketing inflation'

These are the reasons given by Lewes District Council as to why more than a third of Lewes shops are now just empty buildings.

A resident posted on Facebook earlier this week a video of three empty shop buildings standing next to each other on the East Sussex town’s road, with the caption: "What a sorry sight for our beautiful town -- three shops on the High Street all boarded up .. no wonder people go elsewhere to shop...And what does it say about Lewes?"

The Lewes High Street has seen a 7 per cent decline in its number of retail stores alone in the two years after the Covid lockdowns, with a growing number of abandoned premises found on School Hill and in the Precinct and Cliffe shopping areas.

According to Lewes MP Maria Caulfield, business owners believe the lack of parking and recent price increase in parking charges in the town centre have been the major reasons for the decline in the high street. Shop owners had also previously claimed the new location of the Lewes farmers market in Friars Walk car park is impacting on the business of independent traders in the Riverside building.

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The Conservative politician says she wants to work with the district council to get a reduction in business rates in the town, similar to the Newhaven Enterprise Zone, to attract new companies to the area.

Ms Caulfield said: “I have tried to reach out to the leadership at Lewes District Council in Lewes to see if we could work together to get a reduction in business rates as we managed to do in Newhaven with the Enterprise Zone there, where the suspension of business rates is bringing new businesses to Newhaven and helping existing ones. Unfortunately I have not heard back from the Council on this and they too seem to have left Lewes town for Newhaven.

Ashley Price, the president of Lewes Chamber of Commerce, agreed with Ms Caulfield’s comments, adding: "Maria Caulfield MP is right, retailers report to the Chamber they are hit hard by high rent and rates and by expensive and poor on- and off-street parking. Parking bays get removed without replacements provided or consultation on how the removal will affect retailers in the immediate vicinity.

"We also have had the Westgate car park shut for some months due to the wall needing to be repaired. The Farmers Market was moved to the car park during the pandemic and then the government changed the licensing laws meaning that the Market cannot move back to their previous position on the precinct, without affecting the businesses which now have outdoor seating in the same area.

"The Chamber has initiated a regular meeting with the Leader of the District Council, councillor Zoe Nicholson, and the Mayor of Lewes, councillor Matthew Bird, both of whom have been very keen to hear the plight of retailers, and we are working together to see what can be done to help ease the immense difficulties facing businesses.”

However, the chamber stressed that Lewes was still a ‘vibrant area’, with more than 60 local independent shops across the High Street, Cliffe High Street, The Needlemakers and the Riverside. The town also has four empty premises which are currently under offer.

Ashely Price said: “Rather than saying the town is a sorry sight, people should be praising how wide a range of shops we have."