Mary Portas wants Bingo Clubs to make a Comeback

by Pat Levey

Retail expert Mary Portas has stated that one way to get our high streets thriving again is for land based bingo clubs to make a comeback after lots of them closed down due to the smoking ban and some other significant factors.

More bingo clubs is just one idea which Mary thinks will help our ailing high streets that seem to be becoming more and more depressing by the day. A worrying statistic is over 25,000 shops have closed down since the millennium and things are just not getting any better, in fact you could say they are getting worse by the day.

When walking down our local high streets most of us will be greeted with (closed signs) in shop windows and Mary blames too many supermarkets as a significant factor for this. She caught with David Cameron in Camden for a cup of tea, to no doubt discuss what is happening to our once thriving high st stores, which are no more.

Mary Portas carried out an independent review of our high streets and this is what she had to say,  “Many high streets are sickly, others are on the critical list and some now are dead,” she said following a seven-month investigation into the future of the high street. “They have reached a crisis point. Unless urgent action is taken much of Britain will lose, irretrievably, something that is fundamental to our society.”

Her wide ranging report made 28 different recommendations and she also suggested that defunct stores could be turned into gyms, creches and bingo halls to kick start community regeneration as well as a “National Market Day” to drive footfall on to local high streets. ‘Town teams’ and business rate concessions were also mentioned, plus many more.

The lady certainly seems like she know what she is talking about, we can only hope our government sit up and listen before it really is too late. Lots of smaller shops on our high streets are saying – (use us or lose us) which is very true.