Your help is urgently needed!
Independent local traders are dying, or at least their businesses are. Our diverse collection of High Street shops are gradually closing down, creating an environment of boarded-up shop fronts whilst American-style edge-of -town superstores thrive becoming your only "choice". Stand at Clevedon's Queens Square next to Morrisons and count the number of closed down shops.

Your spending has the power to change the world, and certainly the landscape of your high streets and town centres. Supermarkets are dominating the marketplace for a reason: they are very convenient. However if you buy everything from supermarkets, you may well find one day your local butchers or fruit and veg shop has had to close down. Did you know that over £1 out of every £8 of UK retail sales is spent at Tesco and its share is continuing to rise? As much as we appauld the other major supermarkets for stocking certified organic food, biodegradeable packaging, etc... we are also concerned that our local shops and independent traders are struggling to survive. Without them we will have town centres that are all clones of one another. This is not speculation. It is all too apparent. In the five years up to 2002, 50 specialised stores including butchers, bakers, fishmongers and newsagents closed every week. In May 2005 the IGD (UK retail analysis) revealed the loss of 2,157 unaffiliated independent convenience retailers, compared to only 1,079 the year before.

While we cannot offer a full business directory for all the local and independent shops across North Somerset, we can help point you in the right direction so you are more aware of the choices available.


farmers markets | links to local shops | supermarkets