Businesses speak about leaving Hardshaw Centre ahead of its final year

As part of town centre regeneration plans, St Helens Council purchased the Hardshaw Centre earlier this year to make way for a new and improved bus station.

Under its wider masterplan, the council also aim to bring new homes, offices, retailers, a market hall and a hotel to the town centre.

The Hardshaw Centre is believed to be shut by September 2023 (Image: St Helens Star)

With high street trends contributing to declining footfall in the town centre, more and more businesses have left the Hardshaw Centre in recent years.

In order to push ahead with its plans, it is believed that the council wants all Hardshaw Centre units to be empty by September 2023.

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The popular Country Kitchen cafe, inside the Hardshaw Centre (Image: St Helens Star)

Cafe to lose its community of regulars

It will be the end of an era, Paul Taylor tells me, as the much-loved Country Kitchen will not be reopening anywhere else in St Helens.

Paul, one of the managers at Country Kitchen, said the cafe was offered another space in the town centre, but the owners turned it down as they now live in London. 

"It will be a shame to leave as it's like a real St Helens institution here", Paul said.

"We've been open for decades and we know all the customers, who love coming in for a chat and telling us about their life.

"During the pandemic, it was especially tough but we did well with takeouts and it was great to see the friendly faces coming back again.

"We're gutted to be losing the communities that come here and those who we've developed our relationship with."

Paul said it will be a real shame for the St Helens institution to leave the Hardshaw Centre (Image: St Helens Star)

Empty shops a result of declining footfall

Another business that is likely to be leaving St Helens is Simply Fashion, a discount clothing store that has been serving customers for more than 15 years.

Manager Lisa Jackson said she has witnessed the decline in footfall over the years.

Although she will likely be searching for a new job next year, she said she is looking forward to the town centre's proposed regeneration.

Lisa, 44, said: "The Hardshaw Centre used to be absolutely rammed when I was younger, and it used to be straightforward to make enough money in the 'good old days'.

"Over the last few years, it has been really hard to keep going and businesses have been gradually leaving all around us.

"We know that everyone is looking after their money more these days, and my boss has even had to get another job to subsidise the business."

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Lisa Jackson (right) and Jill Tillstone at Simply Fashion (Image: St Helens Star)

Some Hardshaw businesses to remain in St Helens

One business that will be staying in St Helens is popular butchers, the Womble Inn.

Operating as a North West family business for almost 50 years, their first St Helens shop was opened in the Hardshaw Centre in 2020, just a week before the lockdown.

Despite the awful timing, the butchers remained open as they were classed as key workers, and they quickly developed a loyal clientele.

Chris Woods, one of the family managers at the Womble Inn (Image: St Helens Star)

Chris Woods, one of the family managers at Womble Inn, said: "Thankfully, we stayed open throughout the whole pandemic, so we became very popular very quickly.

"There used to be queues right down the centre, and I think remaining open at that time helped us build a very good base in a short space of time."

Chris, who said rising electricity bills are his main concern, confirmed that the shop will be moving into another unit in the town centre.

Womble Inn butchers, located on the bus station side of the Hardshaw Centre (Image: St Helens Star)

Speaking about the year ahead, the 54-year-old added: "It's a new venture so you never know what you're going to get.

"But I think it makes sense to have one really busy area, like an old-fashioned town centre, rather than having empty shops across different areas. So hopefully it all comes off.

"We have a 10-year lease with the council, and they have been very good with us. They've kept the rent the same as the Hardshaw Centre and will help with the transition to the new shop."

The Hardshaw Centre's popular snake play sculpture created by sculptor Peter Hand (Image: Stock)

Statements from St Helens Council

In a previous statement, St Helens Borough Council said: "The footprint of the Hardshaw Centre forms a key part of the first phase of redevelopment which will see a wide avenue opening up the space from an improved bus station to the heart of Church Square."

“The purchase of the Hardshaw Centre – alongside purchase of several other properties in the area – paves the way for the creation of new high-quality office spaces and homes, an international hotel brand, a revitalised market hall and an enhanced bus station.  

"It is now nearly 30-years since St Helens Bus Station was last improved to form the current heavily constrained footprint and poor appearance.

"A new and extended bus station that will future proof the provision of bus services and act as an attractive arrival point in St Helens town centre is a core component of the Masterplan, delivering a more accessible public transport network to connect communities across the borough and drive sustainable footfall into the town centre."

An artist's impression of how the new bus station will look (Image: St Helens Council)

The council confirmed that they have pushed ahead with its regeneration plans following extensive consultations with residents businesses and stakeholders.

The adoption of the St Helens Masterplan Development Framework, in February 2022, is said to have had 88% of respondents strongly supporting or supporting its vision.

St Helens Council aim to bring new homes, offices, retailers, a market and hotel to the town centre (Image: St Helens Council)