Speaking with local residents, business owners and councillors a frequent topic of conversation is the commercial mix of the village - which is very topical with the recent closure of a number of local businesses.
Therefore I thought the findings of a Town Benchmarking exercise carried out by Cheshire East Council and partner organisations would be of interest.
David McGifford, Senior Regeneration Officer at Cheshire East Council explained "The purpose is to have a method of measuring a town's performance, help prioritise CEC resource and utilise information to support potential bids for third party funding."
The process, which was undertaken in November and December 2010, involved gathering and analysing data on 12 Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) within Alderley Edge.
Areas looked at included the total number and variety of commercial units, which showed that 46.51% are shops (compared with 54.54% regionally and 53.96% nationally) whilst 11.63% are food and drink (compared to 9.14% regionally and 9.71% nationally).
The retail units were then split between Convenience, those selling merchanidise which is purchased on a frequent basis, which accounted for 45% and Comparison, those selling products which are purchased infrequently, which accounted for 55%. These figures are the same as the regional average whilst Wilmslow differed significantly with only 16% Convenience and 84% Comparison.
The number of independents in the village was recorded at 83%, compared to 74% regionally and 68% nationally, whilst 96% of units were occupied at the time of the exercise compared with 92% both regionally and nationally. In Knutsford 72% were independents whilst in Wilmslow the figure was only 39%.
Data was also collected regarding retail rents which can provide an indication of how attractive the village is to businesses. Not surprising the retail rent in the centre of Alderley Edge is £42 per sq ft compared to £29 regionally and £37 nationally. Wilmslow's rents were even higher at £57 per sq ft.
Whilst our rents are high the footfall counts are lower than average which of course is another important factor in attracting businesses to the town.
During a 'busy' period the number of people, whether they be residents, workers, visitors or shoppers, in Alderley Edge was recorded as 84 compared with 107 regionally and 143 nationally - interestingly the comparitative figure for Knutsford was 131. The findings showed there was no difference between a quiet and busy period in Alderley Edge as 84 people were also counted during a 'quiet' period compared with 91 regionally and 99 nationally.
The study also looked at car parking availability and usage in Alderley Edge. In total 693 off street and on street car parking spaces are available for public use, 72% of which are in designated car parks whilst 28% are on the street.
Data collected showed that 78% were occupied at the busiest time, compared with 88% regionally and 83% nationally, whilst at the quietest time only 59% were occupied compared to 70% regionally and 75% nationally.
The number of illegally parked cars were also recorded with 6 found at a quiet time, compared with 6 regionally and 8 nationally, and at a busy time 24 illegally parked cars were noted in the village centre, compared with 11 regionally, 9 nationally and 3 in Wilmslow.
A full copy of the Market Town Benchmarking Alderley Edge report can be downloaded here.
David McGifford told me "Please be aware that this is the first time this exercise has been undertaken and we are looking for towns to embrace the methods of measurement and generate this information locally to help them understand their towns and maybe we can jointly develop initiatives to resolve issues that are backed with statistical evidence.
"The statistics should all be collected over a similar period to allow for accurate regional and national comparisons - September / October is the targeted period for this year. Last year we were faced with towns not totally embracing this project and some towns statistics were captured later than hoped for."
