The underrated UK metropolis with a staggering 300 unbiased outlets – I’ve by no means seen so many | UK | News | EUROtoday

Visit most cities and cities within the UK, and also you’ll be fortunate to search out just a few quirky unbiased outlets nestled among the many likes of McDonald’s, Costa Coffee and TK Maxx. Even in London, smaller, kooky merchants are sometimes confined to hidden alleyways and even market stalls, having been drowned out by multi-million-pound retailers on the excessive avenue.

But Norwich has at all times had the repute of a “maverick city”, so it’s no shock to search out the so-called “capital of East Anglia” does issues slightly in a different way. Its higgledy-piggledy, cobbled streets are stuffed full, row upon row, of unbiased outlets – a mind-boggling 300 in complete, vastly outnumbering the most important names on the excessive avenue. It’s not as if Norwich doesn’t have all of the chains you’d count on. It’s even lucky sufficient to have its personal John Lewis and the massive multistorey Castle Quarter purchasing centre – which, like the remainder of the town, scores nicely beneath the nationwide common for empty models.

Yet someway, Norwich has made room for a whole bunch of unbiased merchants alongside the whole lot else you’d count on in a contemporary metropolis centre, all inside a 15-minute stroll.

It’s a powerful expertise – a real centre for unbiased purchasing, the place eccentric, vibrant, uncommon and unique shops pop up all over the place you look.

It’s hardly identified nationwide, nevertheless it’s troublesome to consider one other metropolis fairly prefer it. Some would possibly identify Brighton or Manchester, however these vastly outnumber Norwich’s 144,000 inhabitants.

Then once more, it’s onerous to consider someplace that matches the town’s free-minded spirit.

During my journey, I popped into a number of independents, together with womenswear, equipment and way of life model Atwin, in Bridewell Alley.

Within seconds of talking to supervisor Sara Kramer, I noticed simply why independents in Norwich usually have the sting over their chain opponents.

She defined that she and proprietor Bonnie Doonan work collaboratively with designers to create merchandise that go well with the shop, somewhat than simply shopping for objects from wholesale suppliers.

“It’s about working directly with our suppliers, having direct relationships with the people we work with, and knowing exactly where everything comes from start to finish,” mentioned Sara.

“It’s not just like a machine, or like Amazon. And I think people in Norfolk really appreciate that.”

Bonnie added: “I think over the past few years, there’s been a real push for people to shop independent locally and support small artisans as well. People really appreciate handmade more than ever.

“Norwich is a really unique and interesting city. There are just lots of creative people in Norwich. And there’s a real community spirit. So much effort goes into creating so many fantastic events in the city as well.”

Atwin’s suppliers embody Hilary Hann, who began her Crop Norfolk clothes agency after retiring from the London College of Fashion.

Stefan Gurney, government director of Norwich Business Improvement District (BID), mentioned the benefit of Norwich is: “We don’t look like a generic high street.”

He added: “It’s quite nice that you feel you can turn a corner and you’re somewhere that feels very different to the last street.

“All the streets are quite small. They’re not big open boulevards. They’re very English.

“It’s very much a city, but not a big urban sprawl like a Manchester, or a Birmingham. There are lots of different nooks and crannies to walk through.

“It’s very much a walkable city with lots of things to discover and lots of different retail fields in it.”

It’s a quintessentially English character that Norwich BID and its members have battled to guard.

“When the crash came in 2008, we understood that there was going to be a change in the way that people use cities,” mentioned Stefan.

“We were very keen to think about Norwich in a different way. We started moving towards the experience-led approach, so it wasn’t just out-and-out retail.

“As a collective, the city’s major retailers, cultural players and local authorities all said ‘we need to think about what the city will start to be in the next 10-15 years’.

“That is playing out now that Norwich is very much not being hollowed out because we didn’t just solely continue filling it with retail. Norwich has that good mixture.”

Of the independents, Stefan mentioned they bring about a “maverick spirit” and a “sense that they will do something others won’t risk doing”.

He added: “They’re passionate about what they do. They’re knowledgeable. They know their product, they know the area.

“They know they’ve got their own ecosystem, but their customer service is second to none because they care about what they’re doing.

“When you talk to them, they’re knowledgeable. They will tell you what they recommend, what is an amazing fit. And they’re not afraid to say, actually, ‘if you can’t find it with me, why don’t you go two doors down?’

“Being part of the Norwich Lanes collective means they support each other.”

As an avid reader, I additionally visited The Book Hive, opened by proprietor Henry Layte in 2009.

The London Street retailer has turn out to be greater than only a bookshop, internet hosting occasions starting from meals demonstrations and even ballet, in addition to spawning two of its personal publishers.

“The reason there are so many independents, I think, is because the people of Norwich love supporting their own and being part of something that’s community-based,” mentioned Henry.

“Norwich has its own very strong independent spirit.”

The 48-year-old has observed an enormous distinction in how supportive Norwich is in comparison with different cities.

“I’d worked in the theatre for years in London,” he mentioned.

“You’d have an idea, and then people would say: ‘Great, do it, and then come back to me.’

“Whereas in Norwich, people go: ‘How can we be involved? How can we get into being part of it?’”

Jack Weaver, chief operations officer for Norfolk Chambers of Commerce, mentioned Norwich has a “vibrancy that other parts of the region don’t have”.

He added: “It feels quite insulated from a lot of the kind of negativity that you see elsewhere in the economy.

“We do have some empty shops, but predominantly it just feels like a nice place to be.

“It’s got all the hallmarks of a really bustling, metropolitan, bohemian place, but without the scale – in a good way.

“In Norwich, we have probably a higher proportion of businesses that have been there for decades, that understand their trade, understand the customer fundamentally.”

While in Norwich, I additionally visited the five-storey division retailer Jarrolds, one of many metropolis’s greatest independents that’s usually described because the “Harrods of Norwich”.

Its 255-year survival is a testomony to the power of unbiased shops in Norwich, even when it has always needed to adapt to outlive.

John Adams, Jarrolds’ managing director for retail, mentioned: “What we’ve been doing over the last five or six years is just trying to reimagine what a department store is.

“One of the challenges you have running a department store is the constant need for refreshing and investing.

“I think why some businesses in the past have perhaps struggled and failed is because they haven’t kept investing in them.”

Alongside wine bars in its personal meals corridor, a seafood restaurant and an eatery providing woodfired pizza and recent pasta, Jarrolds has transformed outdated workplaces into magnificence remedy rooms.

The adjustments helped propel it to the title of greatest unbiased division retailer on the Drapers Independents Awards for the second consecutive yr in 2025.

The independents are drastically appreciated by metropolis consumers, largely as a result of tireless efforts of Jonty Young, advertising supervisor of the Norwich Lanes Association, to organise occasions and promote the realm.

Jane Lardner, 70, who lives in close by Thorpe St Andrew, mentioned: “I’ve lived here about 30 years. I wouldn’t live anywhere else.

“We’re not a big city, but we’ve got lots of amenities for it.

“Norwich is a bit out and is not overrun. It doesn’t feel pressurised. We’ve got a wide variety of shops.

“It’s not going back in time, but it feels a little bit traditional.”

One query I requested many individuals throughout my go to was whether or not Norwich was underrated. Everyone I requested mentioned it was.

“Until people come here, they don’t really know about Norwich,” mentioned Stefan, from Norwich BID.

“Once they come, they ask: ‘Why did I not know? Why have I not been here before? I didn’t realise what a lovely city it is.’”

It won’t essentially be recognised nationwide, however Norwich definitely has an unbiased spirit the place small companies thrive. It’s one thing the remainder of the UK would do nicely to be taught from.