‘Bournemouth is an incredible town’ but with shops closing and the plight of big-name brands it ‘could soon look apocalyptic’.

‘The scenery, the nature, the beach is fantastic, but you've got to have something for the locals, too’.

These are the words of a local man who has witnessed the steady decline of the high street over recent years.

Rupert Davison wants to raise awareness of the issue and has posted a video on social media showing scores of empty units.

The 35-year-old believes the town ‘needs its soul back again’ and that the community can rally together to make the situation better.  

“Over the past ten years, there's always been a reason or excuse,” Rupert said.

“There's always something to blame, but I'm not convinced, and I feel online usually takes the brunt of the blame. But as I've seen in Winton, Wimborne and Westbourne, it's actually still thriving.

“What's going on?”

Bournemouth Echo: Rupert Davison outside an empty unit in Bournemouth town centre.

Rupert works in marketing and runs an online events community but said it’s sometimes hard to find things to do with businesses closing.

In the last three years, Beales, House of Fraser, H&M, Wilko and Lidl have all disappeared from the town centre.

Rupert would like to see more independent shops open with better use made of the empty units, particularly former department stores.

“Let's try and turn it around if we can,” he said.

“An indoor market I think would be fantastic because as we know, the weather in this country can be very temperamental.

“I've noticed in London there's department stores, empty ones, but like what we've got, except they actually do stuff with those. So, they've turned [them] into food halls with new brands, new independent businesses starting up there.”

Rupert is calling on landlords to slash rents so businesses can thrive, and for the council to cut parking costs to encourage people into the town centre.

Bournemouth Echo: An empty unit in Bournemouth town centre.

He said: “I think a lot of residents are understandably upset because Bournemouth is an incredible town. The scenery, the nature, the beach is fantastic, but you've got to have something for the locals, too.

“Bring back a greengrocer, bring back a bakery, a cheese shop.

“It's just like stuff that we used to have that you can buy online, but people like talking to people. Less big brands, more family-run, independent stuff going on.

“As a community, we can all rally round each other and make this better.”

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Rupert’s video featured 35 empty units, but he said there are plenty more shops showing the scale of the problem.

“There's lots of empty spaces, so use them as pop-up businesses, eateries, exhibition space, social space, community space, a little mini museum, a board game bar. You've got this space. So, use it, do something with it,” Rupert said.

“Don't let it go to waste. Because it's a beautiful town, but there’s more to Bournemouth than the beach. There is a character here.”

Bournemouth Echo:

Rupert is hopeful that the town centre will turn around soon and won’t get any worse.

“I really hope it doesn't get worse than this because it's going to look like The Walking Dead. It's going to be apocalyptic,” he said.

“It needs variety, it needs independence, it needs character, it needs its soul back again.”

“As a community, we can all rally round each other and make this better

“It needs variety, it needs independence, it needs character, it needs its soul back again.”

The Daily Echo has been speaking to residents, shopkeepers, councillors and more concerning the state of the high street.
Scores of shops have closed for good, meanwhile, big-name retailers have moved elsewhere.
Bournemouth has been described as the jewel of the south coast, but what does the future hold?
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