The last independent shoe shop in Birmingham will close this month 40 years after opening

The last independent shoe shop in Birmingham will close this month 40 years after opening.

The family-owned business, Sims Footwear, “can’t hang on any longer” and will close on 18 April as the high street becomes uninhabitable for independent retailers.

Paul Lamb, 62, the founder and owner of the store, is very sad to announce the closure of his last shop which has been situated in the Great Western Arcade for the past 25 years.

He said: “It’s pointless trying to do what we’ve been doing, we just can’t hang on any longer.”

Over the last two decades, the brand has boasted stores throughout the city centre including an accessory shop in New Street Station and a shoe shop on Stephenson Street prior to the opening of the one in the arcade.

Mr Lamb explained the decline in his business began back in 2003 with the opening of the new Bull Ring and criticized the management of the high street.

He said: “We’ve had 15 years of nobody doing anything about what’s happening on the high street, just watching it and hoping it will get better.”

Having outlived all of the previous independent shoe retailers in the city, Sims Footwear is now forced to follow suit after the continuation of declining footfall and increasing business rates.

This April sees business rates rising again for small shops on the high street.

This will potentially double the rates for some businesses, leaving them with little choice but to close their doors, and reducing the high street to rows of empty and boarded up buildings.

Mr Lamb’s wife, Kathy, 60, who also works in the shop said that she is “extremely apprehensive” about the business’ closure.

The burdens of business rates makes it impossible for shop owners to compete with online trading and its popularity.

Sims Footwear will continue to trade online after the shop’s closure, however Mr Lamb confesses that it’s not where he saw his business going.

He said: “We’ll give it our best shot but we’re a small fish in a big sea.”

Many of Mr Lamb’s regular customers are devastated by the announcement of the shop’s closure.

One customer, William Asquith said: “It’s an awesome store with a wonderful team, another casualty of the tough times on the high street.

Mr Lamb explains that without reform to business rates, small businesses will not survive and the high street will continue to deteriorate.