Crieff Town Centre

Overview

4.203 The historic market town of Crieff occupies a strategically important location linking the Highlands and the Lowlands of Scotland, as well as the North of England. It has been the centre of commerce and cattle markets for several centuries.

4.204 More recently in the 19th century it was a fashionable destination for tourists and visitors from Glasgow, Edinburgh and further afield, keen to enjoy the hydrotherapy facilities of what is now the Crieff Hydro Hotel. Although much of the original townscape was ransacked and destroyed in the early 18th century, many of the rebuilt buildings stand proudly today, providing a rich, varied and beautiful townscape for its circa 7,500 residents.

4.205 There is lots to like about Crieff, from its built environment, history and heritage, friendly people, independent businesses and location near to many leisure and tourist destinations as well as some of the country’s finest countryside.

4.206 In regards the primary research data captured for Crieff, 48 surveys were received from businesses either in or near the town centre (44 face to face surveys and a further 4 online) and of the 1,013 respondents to the household survey, 44 residents said they use it most often for their shopping and service needs.

4.207 The study has also looked at the existing Charrette completed in 2015 and the more recent CAP completed in 2021.

4.208 The aims for the Charrette process are stated as developing a 20-year vision for Crieff. It starts by pointing out (in 2015) that the town recently benefitted from new schools, leisure, health and library facilities. Whilst the vibrant town centre independent shops, galleries and cafes were a key strength, the number of vacant shops was too high. The ‘likes’ identified included vibrant town centre independents, community, connections to countryside, local attractions and heritage. Dislikes included parking, traffic dominated town centre, empty shops and scruffy public realm. Key initiatives included improvements to the high street offer and experience, improve connectivity to surrounding countryside and attractions, and improve parking.

4.209 The more recent CAP covers the period 2021 to 2026 and had an extensive engagement process with lots of resident and community group participants. The ‘likes’ included people and community spirit, surrounding natural environment and open spaces, local economy and amenities. ‘Dislikes’ included the town appearance and environment, the local economy and amenities, roads, traffic and parking. The CAP identifies seven priority themes and lots of detailed actions. These include improvements to the town centre’s offer, appearance, experience and physical environment Other areas included support for local businesses and improved traffic management and parking

Accessibility and Environment

4.210 The core town centre offer is located on High Street, along with its East and West extensions, with its heart being James Square / Murray Fountain and provides a very pleasant environment indeed. The streetscape is very open, the pavements are wide and there are many established trees along with wellmaintained plant beds. There are lots of places for residents and visitors to sit and enjoy the space, which is unfortunately shared with lots of traffic.

4.211 Whilst there are several changes of levels given the sloping nature of the landscape, it’s easy for pedestrians to move around the square as well as the town centre as a whole.

4.212 There are several well maintained and free to use car parks around the town centre as well as plentiful on street paid short term car parking.

4.213 Unfortunately, the town’s train station was closed following the Beeching Report; however there many easy to access bus stops located throughout the town.

Whilst the environment is very pleasant in the core town centre, it has to be noted that there are several high-profile vacant units scattered across the town centre, with the former Drummond Arms Hotel being especially noticeable as well as East High Street containing a cluster of voids. Unfortunately, these units create a visible impression that Crieff Town Centre is currently in decline. The pedestrian experience can also feel negatively impacted by the high volumes of traffic that pass through the town centre, especially HGV’s.

Diversity of Uses and Retailer Representation

4.214 Crieff feels like a big town centre, which is partly down to the high visibility and impact of the offer, multi-floor nature of many of the town’s buildings with retail or commercial units on the ground floor, and also the wide diversity and range of independent businesses selling comparison, convenience, service and food & beverage goods. Indeed, there were 111 retail / commercial units counted in the wider town centre, of which 24 were vacant or seemingly non-active at the time of the review (vacancy rate of 22% in unit terms).

4.215 The comparison goods offer has some strong and appealing stores, including Valentines of Crieff, several other clothing boutiques and interestingly a number of artist and handmade galleries.

4.216 The offer is further supplemented by 3 jewellers, 2 gift shops, 2 craft shops, tartan specialists, home fashion shop, a soap specialist, pet shop, toy shop and a hardware shop. The vast majority of business (95%+) are independent operators. Multiple operators include Spar, Subway, Premier convenience store, Co-op, Bargain Buy and B&M (although the latter two are not part of the town centre offer).

4.217 In regards the convenience goods offer, there are no dominant or recognisable food stores in the town centre apart from Crieff Food Co., which is a high-quality independent food store, gift shop and café. Other attractive elements of convenience goods provision include a sweet manufacturer and retailer (Gordon & Durward), chocolate specialist (McNees) and a deli (JL Gill).

4.218 It is worth noting that there is also a Co-op food store on Union Terrace on the periphery of the town centre boundary, although this seems not to be used as part of the town centre offer, i.e. it appears to be a separate shopping trip.

4.219 The retail services offer in Crieff is good, with several pharmacies, hairdressers and barbers (circa 10), 2 opticians, 2 cosmetic dentists and 2 beauty salons / nail bars. The financial services offer is weak with most of the banks that used to trade in Crieff having closed their premises.

4.220 The daytime food & beverage offer is also reasonable with a reasonably wide variety of food styles available from quality sandwiches and hot food to traditional cafes, destination restaurants and themed specialists (Scottish, chocolate, whisky) and so on. The night-time offer is also reasonable with 8 dine in restaurants open at night counted at the time of the review.

4.221 Although it was not active at the time of this project, we are aware of the popularity of the Crieff Highland Gathering and understand it is a big draw for Crieff and helps to put it 'on the map’ and grow its reputation. The Crieff Hydro Hotel is also a major asset for a draw to the town. Having said that, the surrounding assets and visitor attractions are not well signposted within the town centre. Crieff does have an active events programme, which is planned to grow. Crieff also hosts a monthly market during the summer months on James Square.

4.222 According to Experian Goad, Crieff has 21,804 sqm gross of total floorspace, of which 4,970 sqm is comparison goods and 3,540 sqm is convenience goods. The graph below shows the diversity of retail uses, services, other sub-categories, and vacancies as a percentage of the total amount of floorspace

Customer Behaviour and Views

4.223 According to the household survey undertaken for the study, typically residents visit by car (68%) or walk (29%), and two-thirds stay for less than 2 hours (66%).

4.224 Customers rate the range and choice of shops as average (52%) or poor (30%), the quality of shops as average (47%) or good (34%), and the town centre environment as average (45%) or poor (32%). The rating for parking is mixed, and it’s worth pointing out that most of these ratings are better / more positive than the last survey undertaken in 2016.

4.225 Customers visit because of the food shopping (46%), non-food shopping (45%), the cafes / restaurants (29%), the financial service (12%) and to work/study (11%). They like the fact that it’s close to home / convenient (36%), the attractive environment (13%) and the good non-food shops (12%). Customers would like to have more / better shops generally (24%), see it updated / refurbished (14%), and have easier parking (12%) and less empty shops (11%).

4.226 Customers rarely visit Crieff in the evening (10% visit it monthly, 60% never), but would like to see better cafés / restaurants / pubs (26%), improved security (14%), shops / pubs / venue open later (14%) and a cinema (12%).

4.227 We have selected some key findings from the household survey research and present these in the graphs below. They are focused on customers’ frequency of centre visits post-Covid; average dwell time; the top 5 main ‘likes’ about the centre; and the top 5 suggested improvements to encourage them to visit the centre more often.

Top 5 suggested improvements (2022 vs 2016 Study) 2016 2022

4.228 According to businesses, customers are mainly local residents (100% of businesses said this), tourists / visitors (81%), people passing through (56%), local workers (48%) and students (23%). Businesses are typically well established (71% trading for more than 5 years) but are trading down since before the pandemic (42%).

4.229 The graphs below are based on the findings of the business survey. They show the performance of businesses compared to pre-pandemic trading; the business outlook; the degree to which businesses would recommend the location as a place to trade; and the importance of visitors to the centre.

Current Trading Compared to Pre- Pandemic

Indicators of Vitality and Viability

4.230 Crieff is struggling at the moment and with a vacancy rate of 22%, this is the second highest vacancy rates out of all the study locations. Having said that, many of these vacancies are chain failures and / or strategic countrywide decisions (e.g. banks rationalising their networks). That said, the 2015 Charrette also identified high vacancy rates as an issue for the town.

4.231 Undoubtedly the town seems to have been particularly affected by the pandemic. Although most customers that were picked up in the household survey say they are visiting at the same level of frequency than pre-pandemic (60%), 30% say they are visiting less. As a result, more businesses are typically down than level or up in regards their current trading levels (42%).

4.232 Businesses are typically established (71% trading longer than 5 years) and are happy with the current performance of their business (77%) as well as Crieff as a place to trade (73%). Encouragingly, most businesses would recommend Crieff as a place to trade (69%) and overwhelmingly agree that tourists and visitors are important for the centre (98%). They are however concerned about the future of trading in the town centre (57%).

4.233 Footfall data is not available for Crieff town centre, however the results of the household and business surveys do provide an indication of footfall trends. Based on the survey responses it would appear that footfall levels in the town are yet to return to pre covid levels (indeed they may be some way short of them)

Identified Issues and Improvements

4.234 The following table provides a SWOT analysis for Crieff Town Centre going forward.

Strengths

Distinctive independent dominated offer

Variety of uses in the town centre

Weaknesses

There are many large and high-profile vacant units throughout the town centre

Town centre can feel dominated by the volume of traffic passing through, as well as the speed of vehicles

Quality of many businesses trading in the town centre Lack of links to surrounding attractions

Quality of public realm in heart and parts of the centre

Established town centre offer appealing to residents and visitors

Events and visiting activity

Rich history & heritage offer

Many listed buildings in good condition

Wonderful countryside nearby

Nearby attractions and natural environment

Fabulous spa hotel close to town centre

Visibility of the offer

Lots of available seating in town centre core

The ever popular and famous Crieff Highland Gathering

Opportunities

Consumers want more / better shops generally (24%), update / refurbish it (14%), easier to park (12%) and less empty shops (11%)

In regards the mix and offer, businesses especially want a variety of improvements, including more independent shops (67%), more / better events (44%), more cultural attractions (38%), more shops overall (35%), more visitor accommodation (33%), more / better leisure facilities (29%) and more cafes & restaurants (17%)

In regards the customer experience, businesses particularly want improved parking facilities (58%), more customer toilets (56%), cleaner / tidier (54%), Improved pavements (52%), more / better CCTV (50%), better traffic management (42%), more trees / green space (27%), better sense of arrival (25%), improved signage (23%), more public art (23%) and improved facilities for cyclists (21%)

New broader membership retailer / business association

Create prospectus to target new operators and investors for the vacant units

Facilitate and curate meanwhile uses and operators for the vacant units in the short to medium term

Create the new Crieff Food Festival, plus expand the monthly market program

Encourage more visiting market festivals

Target the lapsed or infrequent consumers that are visiting Crieff less these days than they were prepandemic. Remind them how safe the town centre shopping environment is, and the many reasons to visit the town centre

Target and facilitate a multi brand banking hub for the town centre

Provide support to help businesses adapt and grow

Improve connectivity to attractions and heritage assets

Support delivery of actions and initiatives emerging from the CAP

The quality of the private realm is poor in many parts of the town centre, both east and west

Food store provision in town centre is weak

No active business association

Many of the banks have closed

Threats

Crieff suffers reputational damage as a place to trade within the retail industry due to the current high levels of vacant units

Potential decline in performance as more consumers return to shop at the higher order centres

Cost of living crisis encourages more consumers to shop at out-of-town discount food and non-food stores

High cost of utility bills for small businesses reduces their ability to trade profitably

Healthcheck Summary

4.235 Assessing the health and vitality for Crieff is quite tricky. On the one hand the town centre appeared to be clearly on the ‘up’ five years ago, possibly post the Charrette initiative, extending its offer, improving the customer experience and adding more layers of appeal.

4.236 Looking at town centre and the evidence today, it seems to have gone through a considerable downturn over the last 3 years, presumably accelerated by the pandemic and national trends. It seems to have been unlucky in so much several retailers have rationalised their store networks and / or have stopped trading and closed their units in Crieff. As a result, the town centre looks poor, in decline and facing a considerable challenge to get back on its feet. This is not helped by the ongoing and long term issues impacting on the appearance and experience of Crieff, namely the volume and type of traffic passing through the centre. Removing it would possibly do more harm than good, but minimising its impact by creating other strong assets would be a positive.

4.237 Despite the recent issues, there remain lots of reasons to be positive about Crieff Town Centre going forward. Its environment, history and heritage, location, existing assets and anchors nearby and around it in the area remain positive. We would therefore conclude that if nothing is done, the town centre is likely to further decline. If on the other hand a robust, the CAP initiative can lead to a growth focussed action plan being developed and implemented, then its potential future could be a strong and positive one.

4.238 The town is already providing many of the attributes of a strong contemporary town centre, with multiple reasons to use and visit it. The services and catering offers, along with more leisure uses can be expanded and allowed to grow. There is probably scope for a stronger convenience offer, ideally in or immediately adjacent to the centre of town.