Poll: Are our high streets too dominated by national chains?

The upsurge in popularity of online shopping and the ever-present threat of huge national chains mean family-run county businesses are under more pressure than ever before.

Are our high streets too dominated by national chains? Vote in our poll and have your say in the comment box below.

Some are still thriving – and cite the support of their communities as a key factor in that. But others are feeling the strain.

And Richard Sheenan, chief executive of Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, said it was very much a case of "use them or lose them".

He said: "There is clear evidence that independent traders on the High Street are a really attractive proposition for increasing and improving footfall in our town centres.

"They add a very high value to the High Street and it is vitally important they are supported by local people.

"There is an old saying that if you don't use it then you will lose it.

"They are a really important vital part of our communities and societies and we have to help and support them in any way we can."

In Mid Wales, the leader of a campaign group says he is boycotting national chains opening in Newtown in a bid to support local businesses.

Philip Glynn, leader of Newtown Now,

has vowed not to use the new William Hill bookmakers or the Card Factory outlet which has recently opened in the town.

He said: "Back in July I supported calls by Jane Dodds, the Montgomeryshire Lib Dem candidate, to support local traders as much as possible and now the Welsh Assembly is urging us to do the same thing.

"But even as the local shops are getting so much attention we are getting an invasion of the nationals here in Newtown. It began with phone shops.

"Then came the William Hill betting shop, the third national chain bookmaker to open on our Broad Street."

Mr Glynn added: "Now we have another national chain opening in the town in the shape of the Card Factory, replacing the former YMCA charity shop.

"I have not used William Hill and I will not use Card Factory and I feel that the Welsh Assembly, by attempting to get us to shop locally, is trying to shut the door before the horse has bolted."

Mr Glynn campaigned against the opening of the William Hill shop, which created six jobs in the town, describing Newtown as the "betting shop capital of Mid Wales".

Traders in Shropshire towns have spoken of their difficulties in competing with bigger and better-backed chains.

Tim Grainger, manager of Temptations, an independent jewellers in Market Drayton, said: "We find it hard to compete with the big names, not so much from a money point of view, but marketing and advertising.

"People know who they are and you'll hear some people saying they'll only go to Beaverbrooks or somewhere like that. But they don't make their own stuff and we buy from the same suppliers, so I don't understand why. The future is difficult for independent shops.

"We're just going to do good prices and the friendly customer service. That's what independent shops are about."

John Murray, manager of Wem Treacle Mine, said: "We've been here in Wem now for many years and of course it is difficult.

"The supermarkets and big chains are selling everything now from nappy pins to cars and we have stuck to our traditional trade.

It's like the loom bands craze, that is a toy shop item but the dry cleaners are selling them too.

"A lot of people realise independent shops need the custom and are very, very loyal."

In the south of the county, Henry Mackley has just opened the Harp Lane delicatessen in Ludlow.

He said much of the town's appeal lay in the high number of independent shops, as opposed to national chains.

"There is a lot of support to try and keep Ludlow independents going – the impression I get is that customers like to shop with us because we're family owned," Mr Mackley said. "With visitors, part of the appeal is that there are a lot of small independent shop."

Mr Mackley said it was a balance that took hard work to maintain and Ludlow was not immune to the threat of big chains coming to town, for example, plans for a major out-of-town supermarket are currently being drawn up.

"It's one of the reasons this proposed out-of-town supermarket is potentially such a problem. It could draw people from what we are trying very hard to keep," he said.

Yossi Glicksman has run the Upstairs Downstairs kitchen specialist in Oswestry for 28 years. And he is convinced that the days of stocking the shelves and waiting for the customer to arrive to buy your products are gone.

"We are up against both the nationals and internet shopping, the latter probably being the biggest worry for us," he said.

"So we have had to ensure that retail is now a real experience, a destination rather than simply a shop. We opened a cookery school exactly a year ago and it is doing very well. We have combined the cookery school with the shop and the one complements the other.

"It brings people in from far afield, from the Midlands, from the Welsh coast, who come into Oswestry for our cookery lessons and then go on to spend a day in Oswestry.

"Upstairs Downstairs has become a destination shop."