“We’ve got more empty shops in Ryde than we had a year ago, that should concern us” – that is the message being delivered to Ryde Town Council.
The public body was asked how it communicates with Ryde’s business community and residents by a member of the public, Paul Wyatt, who suggested creating a panel to find out what firms are up against.
He told Ryde Town Council (RTC) the town must have a ‘vibrant centre’, attract new enterprise, and protect existing businesses.
Mr Wyatt said:
“How does Ryde Town Council communicate with the business community and residents?
“We were told that the town hall was setting up a new Ryde business association…to my knowledge, nothing has happened…which is very sad.
“You have lots of committees… I would have thought by now we could set up a committee… to start making inroads into finding out what businesses are up against, what ideas they’ve got.
“It looks like the town board isn’t coming up with anything. We’ve got more empty shops in Ryde than we had a year ago, that should concern us.”
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Outgoing Ryde mayor Diana Conyers responded:
“I take your point entirely. You’re right that part of the problem has been not knowing quite what the neighbourhood board is going to do.
“Before the board came into existence and there was a business association here, there was a representative from the association that was nominated to attend town council meetings, and he was our contact point, and we did engage with him for quite a while.
“It’s all in limbo, let’s hope we get something coming up.”
Allan Bridges, business development manager at Ryde Town Council, said:
“I’ve got a bit of an update on that because I had exactly the same question of the neighbourhood board.
“This week I asked Pete Fellows (strategic manager for the regeneration team at the Isle of Wight Council) and they have a presentation going to their comms committee on Tuesday so at that point hopefully we should know more.”
Since the meeting, Chair of the Ryde Neighbourhood Board (RNB), Steven Holbrook, has said his independent partnership is keen to work with local businesses and pointed to the launching of a new initiative – ‘We Love Ryde’.
“Created in response to public feedback and following an open process, We Love Ryde will promote and represent local businesses and help them engage with the board.
“We want businesses at the heart of future decision-making so please get in touch with your ideas, via We Love Ryde when it is launched soon, or directly with the board.
“We Love Ryde is one of the initiatives made possible by our initial capacity funding, which has helped us put the right governance and delivery structures in place.
“With much of that groundwork complete, we’re now moving into the next phase, when significant funding will be available for local projects.”
Mr Holbrook said this includes a community grant scheme offering up to £100,000 this financial year to support local projects.
He added that details of the first round will be published shortly and the board welcomes applications from across the community, including local businesses.
The RNB was set up as part of the government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods, renamed the Pride in Place Programme in September 2025. Earlier this year, the board unveiled a vision to invest £19.5million of Whitehall funding in Ryde.
County Hall acts as the accountable body for the RNB, meaning it is responsible for managing public funds and ensuring compliance with government requirements.
Stop approving large out of town shopping units. Or commit them to the correct rates for their square footage to match the loss of that square footage in the town.
No doubt all those extra homes in West acre park will have occupants that will not step foot in Ryde high street because of the huge “super” markets on their doorstep. The centre of Ryde has now moved away from the Union Street area.
While I believe that high streets should have a thriving shopping area, two things are true, you cannot keep putting up business rates and you cannot effectively stop motorists driving to your high street because you continually put up parking charges. purchases are more expensive in the high street in any event than online and if you add in parking charges I am not coming and I assume nor will anyone else. Before anyone shouts tax the online sellers, look at how much amazon pays in taxes each year..
Very few of the small businesses/shops pay any rates + hospitality ie pubs/restarants get preferential treatment (see links below if you want to check)
Why can’t the shops group together & offer their customers a discount on parking ? Even better, a loyalty bus scheme
I don’t live in Ryde and like some of the shops there (apart from the touristy stuff) I often bus or use the train to avoid the hassle & expense of parking. Parking & walking or just walking is good too …. (For the majority, obs not disabled)
As for cost – Hursts are often cheaper or at least as competitive as their online counterparts and other small shops have interesting stuff that you wouldn’t stumble across online….
It would also help if start ups researched their products first to see what sells & did some costings, rather than blindly hoping that “if you open a shop, they will come”
https://www.gov.uk/find-business-rates – enter street & town (most single business RV under 12,000 don’t pay rates)
https://www.gov.uk/business-rates-relief – Relief for higher rated hospitality & other sectors…
It’s not hard , reduce business rates, stop charging for parking.The council won’t get any income from empty shops, anything is better than nothing.Its not the whole solution, but it would help. Just stop fleecing everyone.
Ryde town council are a joke, they allocate the thick end of a million pounds to vanity projects and then bemoan the fact that shops are closing quicker than they are opening, have you done anything to financially support crippling business rates, have you considerted free parking, no, but you can spoend 344, 000 pounds supposedly on admin, sooner these hobby councils are done away with the better.
There will be even more when Reeves as finished.
That is their plan to finish off small businesses.
Ask any shop keeper, closed shops are the result of the councils greed for council tax and rates rises, as well as the governments greed for insurance costs of employees increases
It is all being orchestrated by the Governments bosses.
It’s a case of councils not understanding buisnesses and their problems.
Very few councils really care about the need for a good selection of shops and other buisnesses in order to attract foot flow into towns
I was, before I retired, a small business consultant to the countryside agentcy so I do have some knowledge of the problem.