Everybody and his wife has an opinion on what should be done to revive the UK’s High Streets and retail.
They range from the defeatist “the High Street is dead” thanks to online shopping to the Portas Pilots that have given 27 towns in England approximately £100,000 each to try out new ideas.
We’ve had the pop-up shop idea, policy changes on planning, calls for a review and reduction of business rates and calls for the scrapping of town centre parking charges.
Now Bill Grimsey, former Chief Executive of Wickes has decided to do what he calls an alternative review of the High Street, after calling all of the above “tinkering at the margins”. He believes what’s needed is a complete solution encompassing health, education, housing and leisure as well as shopping.
K2 Business Rescue agrees.
People define the High Street in different ways but what’s really needed, we believe, are integrated communities that put less emphasis on shopping as a destination activity.
For example it used to be the case in the City of London that there was nothing but acres of offices. There was nowhere one could pop out to buy a shirt, or a gift, or perhaps a few groceries. That has changed and it’s a principle that can be applied in High Streets around the country.
Stop press: Latest to come from a review of Portas Pilots is a proposal to allow more empty shop to residential conversions in town centre side streets to stimulate footfall. http://tinyurl.com/nj2knoy
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