YEP says: Leeds must find space for Nativity scene for Christmas shoppers

We know how challenging a time it is for our high streets; indeed the Yorkshire Evening Post has carried a campaign this year called Love your High Street to highlight what’s on offer in Leeds and encourage shoppers to visit.

Tough times for retailers are not limited to the town centre though. Even stores in shopping centres, where things like free parking and everything-under-one-roof are often cited as reasons why trade on the High Street is declining, are finding trading challenging. Going out to shops to buy is in decline in general, wherever the shops are, and current thinking says shops have to deliver an “experience” to attract customers.

The pressure is on in shopping centres to attract customers through the doors, so perhaps it’s not surprising that floorspace was booked up fast.

But Christmas is not Christmas without a Nativity scene and it has provided a wonderful focal point for the Churches Together group to raise money and inform the public of Church services for the past decade at Crossgates.

Hopefully a smaller Nativity scene can be produced for future years.

And perhaps Briggate could accommodate the larger Nativity scene next year - it would be a lovely addition to our city centre.

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