SHOPS in Flintshire are bucking the trend as high streets nationwide struggle financially.
Mold and Saltney are celebrating not having a single empty shop on their high streets while new figures show seven of Flintshire’s eight towns are below the national average for empty space in their town centres.
Results from the Local Data Company for October show Saltney has not a single empty shop in the whole town centre.
Saltney town mayor Richard Lloyd said: “I’m very pleased that business is coming to Saltney. Having Morrisons here is obviously helping, it looks nice around there now.
“It’s all got to be good for Saltney, having shops empty brings the whole town down.”
Although not matching Saltney’s zero figure for empty units, the results show Mold, Buckley, Queensferry, Holywell, Flint and Shotton all have less than the national average of 14.3 per cent of ground floor commercial units empty.
Only Connah’s Quay is above average, with 18 per cent of its town centre shops vacant. Town centre manager Lisa Fearn said: “We have a couple of units that I know are available.
“There are also a couple that are in discussion with potential new businesses wanting to occupy them and we have a new large unit just opening as William Hill.”
In Mold there are no empty shops at all on High Street, although there are some vacant in the Daniel Owen Precinct.
Dave Hill, town centre manager for Mold, says the town’s “phenomenal” success shows the hard work put in by people in the town.
“All the time I’ve been here, which is three years, we’ve always had a few empty units at any one time,” he said.
“Now they’re all full which reflects the amazing success of the town and the belief that many retailers have of the opportunities offered by Mold.”
Mr Hill believes the high number of independent shops in the town as well as the weekly market are helping to attract people to the High Street.
“About 40,000 people are in the outlying areas of Mold but there are also a lot of visitors to the town from over an hour away who come for the experience,” he said.
“They visit Loggerheads County Park or Theatre Clwyd and then go to the shops in Mold. We’ve been working hard to market the town as the jewel of the North Wales borderlands.
“I’m not complacent though and would like to see the units in the Daniel Owen Precinct filled.”
He added events such as Mold Food Festival were helping to put the town on the map. We want there to always be something going on,” he said. “The challenge is to get the funding to stage the events.
“If there are any business people who would like to sponsor an event they can get in touch.”
A spokesman for Flintshire Council said: “It is important to note that vacancies are classed as all ground floor commercial units not currently in use. This could therefore include, for example, units currently being refurbished or redeveloped."