New shops bring about trade revival in street

All of the shops are now occupied in the street, which also houses the popular Coles Restaurant.

Candle City has opened in the former bookshop opposite the Silverless Street junction; and Micola Nevile fashions has opened in a former nail salon, which closed down a few weeks ago.

In recent months the street has suffered mixed fortunes, with the closure of the former 2XS wine bar, the loss of Anthony Spranger's bookshop, after he retired, and the closure of Kingsbury Hill House School.

The school brought a twice-daily footfall of parents and au pairs who passed by and called in at the shops at the lower end of the street.

Trade dropped last July when the school closed, its owners Michael and Judith Innes-Williams saying it was no longer viable.

The re-opening of 2XS as Godots bar brasserie by Gary and Lesley Powell has been a great success, attracting customers new and old from when they originally ran the restaurant as Bentleys some years previously.

Candle City, owned by Lynn Weeding and David Chamberlain and managed by Erika Campbell specialises in candles and candle accessories.

Its proprietors claim to have 75 different fragrances of candle available.

In her second week of business, Micola Nevile, who ran the former V iV M factory shop in the High Street, said she was doing well with her range of women's fashions.

Although Marlborough is claimed to be top-heavy with women's clothing stores, Ms Nevile believed she had found a new niche with a range of what she describes as "smart casual wear", some of it with a Bohemian touch.

Mayor Hilary Cripps said she was pleased to see that all the shops in Kingsbury Street were occupied.

She said: "All too often people look upon Marlborough as just the High Street when there are lots of other shops in places like Kingsbury Street, The Parade, Hilliers Yard and Hughenden Yard.

"It's good for the town and for our visitors to see that there are no empty shops in Kinsgbury Street."