{"id":1117193,"date":"2026-07-29T02:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1117193\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T02:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:00:14","slug":"merrie-england-closure-a-loss-to-the-high-street-says-brighouse-business-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1117193\/","title":{"rendered":"Merrie England closure a &#8216;loss to the high street&#8217;, says Brighouse business group"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">THE closure of a long-running cafe chain has been described as a &#8220;significant loss&#8221; for a town, with local business leaders highlighting the challenges currently facing high street retailers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Merrie England, which operated seven cafes across Yorkshire, announced on Tuesday that it was closing after 60 years in business, citing rising costs and falling customer spending.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The closure affects its well-known sites in Huddersfield, <a data-ylk=\"slk:Halifax;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk\/local-news\/halifax-news\/?ref=au\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Halifax<\/a> Borough Market, and Brighouse.<\/p>\n<p>Closure of any long-established business is &#8216;regrettable&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Gary Taylor, of Brighouse Retail Independent Shopkeepers (BRISK), said the end of Merrie England comes at a difficult time for traders as redevelopment and pedestrianisation works continue in the town centre.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mr Taylor said: &#8220;As you may be aware, Brighouse is currently experiencing a period of change while the town centre pedestrianisation and redevelopment works are underway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The closure of any long-established business is regrettable, and The Merrie England has been part of the town for many years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Its closure represents a loss to both the local retail offer and the wider high street.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Businesses facing growing pressures<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mr Taylor said businesses were facing increasing financial pressures both locally and nationally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He said: &#8220;Like many retailers across the country, the business was operating in a challenging environment, with increasing operating and overhead costs alongside wider pressures affecting the retail sector.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;These factors are widely understood to have placed significant strain on high street businesses.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He added that a number of Brighouse traders had also reported falling customer numbers since town centre improvement works began.<\/p>\n<p>Footfall &#8216;reduced&#8217; during redevelopment works<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mr Taylor said: &#8220;Since construction work began, footfall in the town centre has reduced. This is a situation being reported by a number of local businesses, with some traders in Phase One indicating reductions in trade of between 40 and 70 per cent, alongside continued pressure from rising costs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The comments come after Merrie England cited rising costs, higher business rates, energy bills and reduced customer spending when announcing the closure of all seven of its Yorkshire stores.<\/p>\n<p>Call for free parking scheme<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In response to the challenges facing retailers, BRISK is supporting a town-wide petition calling for between 30 and 60 minutes of free parking in <a data-ylk=\"slk:Calderdale;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk\/local-news\/calderdale-news\/?ref=au\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Calderdale<\/a> Council car parks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mr Taylor said: &#8220;We believe this measure could help improve accessibility, support local businesses, and encourage continued visits to the town centre during the redevelopment period.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">BRISK believes the measure could help support trade and reduce the risk of further closures while regeneration work continues.<\/p>\n<p>Looking to the future<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Despite concerns over the impact of the redevelopment works, Mr Taylor said local businesses remain committed to the long-term success of the town.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The businesses within BRISK remain committed to the long-term success of Brighouse. The redevelopment is progressing, and our focus is on working constructively within this context.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We also believe there is value in learning from other market towns that have undertaken similar schemes, in order to support positive outcomes for Brighouse.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He added that BRISK is seeking continued engagement with Calderdale Council and believes practical measures, such as short-stay free parking, could help maintain a viable town centre throughout the redevelopment period.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE closure of a long-running cafe chain has been described as a &#8220;significant loss&#8221; for a town, with&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1117194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5008],"tags":[282307,748,393,304479,4884,31779,44637,304478,161067,304480,304481,74565,16,15],"class_list":["post-1117193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-england","tag-brighouse","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-gary-taylor","tag-great-britain","tag-local-business","tag-local-businesses","tag-merrie-england","tag-mr-taylor","tag-redevelopment-works","tag-street-businesses","tag-town-centre","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117000799758564212","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1117193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1117194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1117193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1117193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1117193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}