Perth Businesses Draw Up a List of Urgent Demands; Number One Is ‘People’, Number Two Is ‘People Who Have Brought Money’

By our High Street Correspondent

Perth city centre businesses have set out a list of things they say need to happen urgently to keep the High Street alive, from cheaper parking to filling empty shop units.

Traders have been worried about footfall for a while, and with Christmas coming, they want shoppers to remember that Perth has shops, and that the shops have doors that open.

“It’s very simple,” said the owner of a gift shop near St John’s Kirk. “We’d like people. Ideally people with wallets. We’re not fussy. We’ll take people from Dundee. We’ll take people from Fife. We’ll take people from Dundee who’ve moved to Fife.”

Parking was a common theme. A café owner on South Street said customers regularly told him they would love to pop in but “couldn’t face the car park”. “I’ve been in that car park,” he said. “I see their point. It’s like Narnia, but with a ticket machine.”

A florist said her personal demand was smaller. “I’d like the man who stands outside my shop every Saturday looking at his phone to come inside once,” she said. “Just once. He’s been out there since 2019. I’ve seen him get married.”

The Perthetic, in a spirit of civic duty, sent a reporter to walk up and down the High Street three times on Saturday afternoon. He bought a sausage roll, a birthday card and a scarf he did not need. He says he has never felt so useful.

The real story: Perth businesses set out urgent demands (The Courier)