600 retail jobs go as hundreds head North

With up to 600 jobs lost in Meath's struggling retail sector alone this year, further job losses have been predicted as hundreds of shoppers leave the county each weekend to shop in Northern Ireland. A survey carried out by the Meath Chronicle found 300 Meath-registered cars parked outside just two Northern Ireland supermarkets last Saturday. A total of 180 cars were parked in the Asda car park at Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, between 9am and 6pm, while 117 were parked outside Sainsburys in Newry, Co Down, during the same period. Last week, IBEC's Retail Ireland group warned that one job would be lost in the Republic for every 150 cross-border shoppers - resulting in the loss of 11,000 jobs this year. Cllr Peadar Tóibín claimed that 600 jobs had been lost in Meath's retail sector this year and warned that many hundreds more will be in a precarious position in 2010. The result of Saturday's survey has led to calls by Meath businesses for shoppers to think of local jobs when they leave the county to go shopping and the cathaoirleach of Meath County Council, Cllr Bill Carey, has urged cross-border shoppers to hold back at least a portion of their spending for the local economy. Meath County Council's economic development officer, Kevin Stewart, said that, unfortunately, he was not surprised by the figures. He urged people to look at the total cost of going North to shop, including travel time and petrol costs, and to keep in mind that every euro spent in Meath is about local jobs. He also said there was a responsibility on Meath businesses to make sure their prices are as competitive as possible. "I would urge shoppers thinking of going to Northern Ireland to remember that it could be your or a neighbour's son or daughter's job that could be lost because of the cross border shopping," said Mr Stewart. Jess Olohan, president of Kells Chamber of Commerce, also urged people to think twice before going across the border to shop. "I hope people will be loyal to their local shops that are there for them all year round and who provide local jobs," she said. "At the end of the day, it is your neighbours and friends that will be out of a job if the money is all going to go up North," she said. Cllr Carey asked people who are going outside the State to shop to withhold at least five per cent of what they intended to spend for their local towns and villages. "It could mean the difference between shops staying in business and letting staff go," he said. He indicated that it would, of course, be much better if everyone did all their shopping or a bigger percentage of it in Meath, but he hoped consumers would give at least five per cent to the local economy. Cllr Toibin extrapolated figures from the Consumers Association of Ireland statistics for 2009, which indicated that Meath would have suffered 600 job losses in the reatil sector this year. "Retailers in Meath are facing into one of their most difficult winters on record. Shops, big and small, throughout the county are being hit by the double whammy of reduced disposable income and increasing exchange rate and tax differentials across the border," he said. He said the only way to offer a fair chance to Southern retailers was to get rid of the artificial differentials. "This can be done initially by reducing VAT and excise in this week's budget. In the medium term, this State and the administration in Belfast need to sit down and create an all-Ireland tax policy. "This an urgent and practical way to prevent towns in the South becoming ghost towns." At last week's Navan Town Council meeting, the Sinn Fein councillor proposed a sales and marketing campaign for local retailers, which would include options such as a mystery shopper who would call unannounced to the participant's shop and survey all aspects of the retail experience, and merchandisers who would advise on optimum shop layout, product positioning and window design. He also called on Meath County Council to provide a grant to shop-owners to paint their shops and/or improve their signage and for professional training to be provided to retailers in the development of a web and social media presence.