High street shops need greater support or they will be swept away by booming out-of-town retail parks, business leaders have warned.
As Christmas sales figures show strong gains, particularly on Boxing Day, for large shopping centres situated on the outskirts of towns, the data is not showing the large number of small shops in town centres that have not had such a festive holiday, according the Forum of Private Business (FPB).
While Manchester's Trafford Centre, Kent's Bluewater and Sheffield's Meadowhall Centre all opened their doors for record numbers of people over the festive season, the untold Christmas tale is that these giants are acting like giant hoovers, sucking up trade from local high streets, FPB chief executive Nick Goulding claims.
"The retail parks are parasites on communities," he said.
Goulding stressed that small, independent shops cannot compete with the draw of these large retail parks, which are nearly towns themselves.
"Our concern is that the money spent in retail parks disappears straight out of the community and the region providing only a few low paid jobs," he said.
"Whereas when money is spent in local shops it is retained in the community to drive growth and prosperity."
Goulding added that the nation's independent shops are closing at a rate of 50 a week, robbing many small towns of their distinctive character, and a bumper Christmas for the retail parks, such as the one just ended, only exacerbates the problem.
Local councils need to step up, he said, and improving parking is just one way that they can begin to help many struggling business owners.
"The Trafford Centre has had a great effect on Altrincham," said Gordon Frankland, owner of the Hale Bookshop in Hale South, Manchester.
"Parking is the principle reason, as parking in Altrincham is expensive and enforced in a petty, officious way and that pushes shoppers to the Trafford Centre. People are going to Altrincham less and spending less."
