For sometime people have been bemoaning the fact that Sutton High Street struggles to compete with the size of Croydon and the more upmarket Kingston and Epsom for shopping. With little direction for so many years, major retailers saw little benefit in coming to Sutton.

Before Christmas, I thought that it was a sign of the times that a Pound shop could be undercut by a “99p” shop. The pictures opposite show the two stores proudly sitting as bookends at the top and bottom of the High Street respectively.

Now, however, a Pound shop in Poole has closed down due to the competition from a 99p store that recently opened opposite. There are plenty of vacant shops in Sutton. Anyone fancy opening a lucrative 98p store? I’ll nip down to the bank and get a few bags of 2p pieces for change.