Illustrations by Dermot Flynn
I want to put the heart back into the centre of our High Streets, re-imagined as destinations for socialising, culture, health, wellbeing, creativity and learning. Places that will develop and sustain new and existing markets and businesses. The new High Streets won’t just be about selling goods. The mix will include shops but could also include housing, offices, sport, schools or other social, commercial and cultural enterprises and meeting places. They should become places where we go to engage with other people in our communities, where shopping is just one small part of a rich mix of activities.
High Streets must be ready to experiment, try new things, take risks and become destinations again. They need to be spaces and places that people want to be in. High Streets of the future must be a hub of the community that local people are proud of and want to protect.
My goal is to breathe economic and community life back into our High Streets and town centres. I want to see all our High Streets bustling with people, services, and jobs. They should be vibrant places that people choose to visit. They should be destinations. Anything less is a wasted opportunity.
Please read through my full report below, or click here for a summary of my 28 recommendations.
Comments
I’d love to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment below.
Love the idea of promoting markets to first timers. A progression of this idea could be the creation of E-Villages, offering small units for ebay sellers, where they can move their stock out of their homes or garages and actually display them, whilst they are still on sale on ebay, but without the delivery costs, also offering a small open space in the unit for the ebay seller to have an office, getting them out of home and actually engaging with other sellers and customers.
Isn’t this just a progression of digital selling rather than reinvigorating the High Street?
It’s really a great and useful piece of info. I am satisfied that you shared this useful info with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
[...] night before Jason spoke in the debate on Town Centres and High Streets following the Mary Portas review. Jason highlighted the Tesco planning application for Holmfirth and the success of Lidget Street in [...]
[...] review talks about how we need to go back to basics and retailers need to focus on getting their [...]
[...] night before Jason spoke in the debate on Town Centres and High Street following the Mary Portas review. Jason highlighted the Tesco planning application for Holmfirth and the success of Lidget Street in [...]
Dear Mary,
Just to say that our residents in our historic town of Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire are joining together to ensure that our high street doesn’t disappear of the map. Retail outlets, micro industries, local manufacturers, crafters and eateries are uniting together to form a co-operative to showcase our town around the region. We are kicking of our events on the 3rd of March 2012 as a collective body in an event and organisation named Made in Bradford. So far we have over 300 local residents who have committed to this date – either through offering their products for sale, offering voluntary help through skills and services or helping to promote the fact that we thrive to use local products.
Our 10,000 residents are always keen to support similar enterprises and we feel that Made in Bradford is a model for other town’s to follow.
We would of course welcome your comments as to how we could promote our town throughout the region and better still further afield. Bradford on Avon was founded around cottage industries and continues to this day to house creativity and determination to succeed.
I look forwards to your reply and hope to see you at one of our future Made in Bradford events.
Regards
Wellie O’Driscoll
Its like you read my mind! You appear to understand so much about this, like you wrote the e book in it or something. I feel that you could do with some % to pressure the message home a little bit, however instead of that, that is excellent blog. An excellent read. I will certainly be back.
[...] That’s one of the first things the shopping and retail personality Mary Portas states in her ‘vision’ which was presented to the government recently for The Portas Review. [...]
Great reading this report. I think the future is bright for the hi-street, especially if we can make the hi-street move forward as a destination by introducing technologies and embracing interactivity as a part of the shopping experience.
whoa,it’s so wonderful,thanks for the info,it’s nice and helped me make up a good choices..good
[...] are openly invited, around the themes that Mary Portas had highlighted in her report on the Future of our High Streets. We plan to discuss and develop them further with the people involved in running the ‘Love [...]
I do not even know the way I finished up here, but I thought this post was good. I do not recognize who you are however certainly you are going to a famous blogger when you aren’t already. Cheers!
Each town centre has to be considered on its merits and demerits. The problem associated with town centres is one of urban growth and purchasers ability to choose. Unless accessibility and convenience (the reason why stores moved out in the first place) is restored then many kite schemes will be flown. The desire for the traditional centre will be an impediment and is in conflict with the restoration of High Streets.
Compulsory Purchase is available now but high cost (financial and social) is also an impediment.
Attempt to regenerate while degeneration is taking place is deadly concoction and makes the problem worse. The greatest insideous problem of regeneration is that it is considered with political expediency and developer profit in mind and not as the result an honest assessment.
I loved reading this review, especially the part about getting communities and the public involved. I myself take an interest in the quality of products and whether or not that was directly related to the publics spending during this recession, basing my final year univeristy dissertation upon the opinions of consumers about the recession and quality of clothing products in particular. I feel that it is important that businesses on the high street are aware of what the customers want and need in expectation of products in order to help them grow in a productive way for every stakeholder – from Mr Boss on top of the pyramid, to the little old biddy who just wants their value for money tin of beans.
[...] The full report is available to download at both BIS’ website and Portas’ own. [...]
Hi Mary
Having had the privilege of meeting you and seeing how passionate and genuine you are about your work, I can understand why you have so many inspired fans. The report (key points that I’ve read!) portrays realism, common sense and positivity. Just what we need – thanks
[...] January 10th, 2012 Retweet The highstreet and retail in general is going through a tough time, with high street stores and online retailers failing quicker than a celebrity [...]
I wonder what marry porter would think of our local authority in relation to her vision.
I live in east Dulwich, London borough of southark.we have a very successful high street, Lordship lane which has many independent retailers as well as some of the chains, a healthy mix. This street has gone from strength to strength over the years, have known it since the 1970’s. It has had knock on effects as well a nearby street, Grove Vale is a small row of shops which has over the years gradually got better, slower then the main high street but going in the right direction, it has among other things an independent bakers, a music shop, a specialist paint shop with a gallery, a picture framers, cobblers and clothing repairs, wood yard, garden centre and corner shops.
It still has a shop or two empty but it is working well, now the council want to introduce a CPZ controlled parking. We have east Dulwich station in the same road.
We have had a consultation period in which were told if the censuses went against the CPZ it would not be enforced. Southwark have been through the results of the consultation and we have 70% of respondents against the introduction of the Zone.
Yet the council are still intent on introducing the zone.
Local residents and business are very much against the zone, it is very bad for business but also very bad for community, as these zone restrict spontaneous visits to friends and family. Does Mary have an opinion on the use of these zones and the effect on high streets and communities and what does she think of councils dismissing the results of there own survey?
Dear Mary
In support of markets re BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour
I had a very successful fine art gallery in the high street for over 15 years mentoring new artists until the recession. I plugged on for three more years and eventually decided in August 2011 to call it a day, however, I still trade my business on line but its important to keep a presence at various shows to gain a new customer base. I started market trading in October at the new Brewer Street Market Soho, which is a car park, converted into a market every week. To my surprise even with a small footfall sold two paintings. I believe we all need to re think ways in which we trade and wholeheartedly hope and wish that we will all come out the other end smelling of roses.
Babs
[...] (Mary Portas’ review is now on line.) [...]
[...] for the co-production of place. Last June Urban Pollinators coordinated a submission to the Mary Portas review outlining the idea of a ‘21st century agora’ where town centres are defined by their [...]
[...] recent UK Government-sponsored Mary Portas report into how to reverse the decline in the UK High Street found that supermarkets now allocate more [...]
I would like to nominate an honourable exception to the decline in UK high street, Witney.
Some years ago they allowed a small precinct to be built with extensive car parking to one end and the other exiting to the town centre. Later they allowed a large ‘out of town’ Sainsburys to be built, but one corner of their car park exits to the end of the town shopping area. More recently they have built a shopping centre at the other end of town, complete with multi storey car park and a multiplex cinema, once again however it joins to the town shopping area. They have also retained free car parking at all their car parks.
The result; the car parks are always nearly full and there is barely an empty shop to be seen, the only notable exception is a unit in the new shopping centre which is advertised as let to Starbucks but has never opened, for which I will shed no tears.
I think this review is full of common sense but of course common sense is a rare commodity and i can see nothing changing whilst the people charged with regenerating the high street are the same people, or at least people with the same ethos, as we have making decisions now.
Agree with your points. One advantage of on line shopping is the historical searchable database of emails of confirmation/receipts etc. Very useful if you want to look up when you bought an item etc. I suggest that High Street shops offer to email your transaction details to you, this could easily be built into tills I would think – this would also enable email capture for marketing/newsletters etc.
I have the answer to the inbalance between in-town and out of town trading, and an incentive to reduce empty retail units. Please contact to discuss..
Hi Mary, as a young couple with our own successful retail business I was glad to see the publication of the excellent Portas Review and hope the Government recognises the importance of it in our ‘nation of shopkeepers’.
I agree with all the points raised and would like to offer my own reflections on what has/would help us based on my experience so far…
• Initial Business Advice – if individuals (increasingly from public/VC sectors) are to be encouraged to set up their own businesses the concept of this needs to be made less daunting and access to good, current, free online or, preferably, face-to-face initial advice needs to be made available. I got the best advice from my partner’s existing accountant – perhaps (like legal aid) we need ‘accountancy aid’!?
• Free web hosting – I found the getting British Business Online campaign excellent in assisting me with getting the basic online presence my enterprises required.
• Council Rates/Grants – Shropshire Council have been extremely supportive of our new business offering both rate concessions and a £900 retail booster grant on expansion of our business.
• VAT – just having to register for VAT now after 7 months trading having now gone over the threshold. I have to say that this will cost us (despite the flat rate scheme which has been sneakily put up a % and the annual accounting scheme making it easier to administer). We won’t be able to ‘pass on’ all the additional cost to our customers (even at 7.5%) and can only go on the flat rate as many of our (small local) suppliers are not VAT registered. The current £73,000 TURNOVER threshold does nothing to encourage family businesses like ours using small local suppliers who should get some concessions due to the public ‘good’ of these things; doubling it would probably just about achieve this!
• Suppliers – we have found that wholesalers are not very discerning about who they sell to which ultimately means everyone ends up shooting themselves in the foot as inevitably two stockists selling the same goods in the same town is just going to distribute the same amount of trade between them!
• I have to agree about the greed and risk-averseness of landlords – things would be much improved if they somehow couldn’t be rich on paper by having empty properties to let for well over what the real local market will pay for them for years!
• The planning system needs to help tenants/landlords out particularly where change of use is required before a tenancy can begin but also other situations – for example we’d love to save some money by using a wood pellet stove in our premises but there would be so much red tape to do this that our landlord would not be supportive!
• Local Authorities could help out a bit more with the basics – more flexible/relaxed parking restrictions for busy traders (we have been ‘booked’ whilst loading!) and provision of affordable (perhaps even communal) commercial waste collection especially for recyclables.
• Shoplifting is a big issue for independents too – we need access to the sort of systems major high street stores use too!
I do agree that a lot of the success of a retail business is down to the individuals behind it – you do have to see it as a ‘lifestyle’ (and a pretty hectic one with long hours – including outside of shop hours- at that!) but also we are both from non-retail backgrounds and have wider skill sets which we put to use in coming up with a good solid shop concept and in the detail of running it on a day-to-day basis. We are also lucky to be in Shrewsbury – a town with over 400 independent shops which has obviously got the mix right to encourage such a successful thriving sector!
Hope this is of interest and good luck with this!
Tristan Haynes (Co-Director Vintage Shrewsbury LTD.)
Hi Mary,
I think you have hit the nail on the head.
I am chairman of the Lowestoft High Street Traders Association. Lowestoft the most Easterly Town in the UK like many Seaside towns have been facing hard times for many years. Again like manny other towns we have seen our traditional industries close down. With us it was the fishing industry, off shore support and tourist. But unlike many other towns we have the will to turn the tide. We are already organising events to bring people in to the town and with help and support from local and National Government we can make a difference. I attended a Christmas market in the near by town of Bungay in early December it was packed, why? Because Bungay take the effort to put the market on and people make the effort to support it. No good at all will come from sitting on the side lines and complaining about how bad things are. All traders need to get involved in promoting their business and their towns.
Mary if you want to work with a town that is sandwiched between the North Sea and the Norfolk Broads has more historical events connected to it than most other towns and has a growing number of traders that are prepared to work very hard to improve the towns fourtunes then come to Lowestoft we will welcome you with open arms.
Danny Steel.
I agree with comments on ‘out of town supermarkets’ but garden centres should also be included. Planning policies for garden centres should be tightened and policed as it is totally unfair that they get away with using such a large percentage of their floor space for retail items that bares no relation to horticulture. ie cards, kitchen gadgets, china, clothing etc this should NOT be allowed
Many of your 28 proposals Mary recommend increasing rules and regulations not the removal of such that point 5 refers to.
Overall i think the keys are 1. the development of town centres AS OPPOSED not in conjunction with out of town development, i wonder if that is what you mean in point no 15? and 2. the issue of parking charges (point 9) – people will travel many miles to avoid parkign charges, indeed spending more on petrol than they save on parking at free out-of-town developments. Many councils have mistakenly upped parkign charges to try and increase revenues and actually thereby lost income as shoppers choose to travel to avoid punitive charges.
A national market day (point 4) really needs to be a different day in different towns / regions according to local custom and habit not a central dictat.
And the problem with a Town Team is that it will be full of the ‘great and the good’ who spend all their time congratulating themselves on what a great job they are doing, without actually incorporating and involving the grass roots people who live and work in the area they are pontificating about; i shoudl know, they formed such a group in our area but when we suggested shop workers and local residents, upon whom the future of the town depend, they were somewhat shocked and disdainful about it, though later came to accept their inclusion.
The vital current issue that Mary you do raise is what to do with so many empty shops – i think a league table of towns by % units empty might help – but what does ‘administer these assets well’ in point 20 actually mean please? it needs to be – fill them! and the answer to that is reduce stupdily exhorbitant rent and rates.
PDH
I love Mary’s idea about towns – Mary could have a great opportunity to be involved in a revamp of my local town – the plans to update it have been approved, people have had a say recently and the final plans arn’t yet approved – in my view it needs a little more direction. I live in Wokingham, Berkshire – its a lovely town, and I would hate for it to be made into a town that replicates every other town, please Mary get involved before they ruin it, help it retain character, but help it to create a centre where people will be able to meet, socialise and create hustle and bustle.
I think some of your recommendations are good but above all out of town shopping needs to be stopped and they need to bring parking charges for out of town to give town centres a level playing field. Town Centres need to have proper town centre managers and need to work on a BID basis to support town centres to keep them alive. I am happy you recommended that betting shops have another non A2 designation as some parts or poorer places are overun with these and they do kill town centres and make for a bad town centre environment when there are too many of them around. Free parking in town is a must and town centre development and redevelopment.
But the UK has too many shops and as you said before people like WH SMith are rubbish I really agree – I think supermarkets also need to be stopped in their tracks
Until such time as the police apathy towards shoplifters can be addressed, this plan will never work.
I have been a retailer for 22 years, and during that time I have traded from a major shopping centre, a high street shop and a market stall. The major shopping centre had on-site security, and the police, paid for by the shopping centre, and on-site, did their job. There was an alert system which advised of known shoplifters on site, and other related matters, such as forged notes in circulation.
The police in the High Streets are not interested in protecting retailers, and are unlikely to even bother to attend. In the early days of any high street business, it will be targeted by the local thieves – this situation changes only when the retailer can recognise all the local miscreants. At that point, these individuals can be banned from the premises, and they are also aware that the shopkeeper knows who they are, quite probably by name, and could easily pick them out from a line up. Stopping a shoplifter is a process fraught with problems, and the best any retailer can hope for is to get the goods back. The police wil take no action. The worst case scenario, which recently happened to my partner, is that the apprehended shoplifter will turn violent either at the time, or later. My partner caught a shoplifter, and retrieved the goods stolen. The next day, when he was locking up at 6pm, he was set upon by the thief and another individual, beaten and his glasses smashed. He called the police, who, aside from wanting to know his age and ethnicity prior to taking any action, took their time in arriving, despite the fact that my partner told them he was holding one of the individuals who had committed the crime. This individual was arrested, but declared to be too drunk to make a statement. He was also carrying drugs, and has been charged with this, and released on bail until February. The police’s reassurance to my partner was to say that if these individuals were to give him any more problems, they would be in deep trouble. Not too reassuring, eh?
So let us imagine……someone with a good retail idea sets up their market stall in a town square. They are the first to try this. By definition, the premises will be isolated from other retail units. During their first six months, a period when cash flow problems are most likely to occur, they are targeted by every local shoplifter as well as those who are not regulars, but simply help themselves if opportunity arises. Lack of retail experience will make this person more vulnerable than most to any criminals seeking an easy mark. It is highly probable that they will be threatened at some point. And the police will simply walk the other way. Why on earth would you bother?
I would very much like to give up our retail business, as I am tired of having to deai with this kind of problem without any support whatsoever, and I know that many others feel the same way.
HELP HAY-ON-WYE!!
Dear Mary,
Can you please help Hay-on-Wye before this town is also ruined by a large supermarket. As many people know, Hay is a typical “oldy worldy” town with lots of independent retailers, bookshop, historic buildings and ofcourse the Hay Festival!
However all this beauty is under threat now the Council Hay falls under (Powys) aims to strike a disastrous deal with a property developer (Gaufron) to build a massive supermarket right in the centre of town in exchange for a new school. Nobody in Hay wants this to happen but the Council only seems to listen to the developer’s wishes and use this as an opportunity to save a few pounds. There are many other ways to build a new school but this council is not listening to the public and does not care about the impact of a large supermarket on a 1500 people town. As your report describes, a large supermarket will destroy the High Street in our town whilst Hay is an example of what many small market towns looked like back in the days…. PLEASE HELP HAY-ON-WYE to set an example for our country. If Hay-on-Wye is also sold out to a Tesco or an Asda, is there any hope?
Look forward to your reply and support,
Egbert
Dear Ms. Portas, 22.12.11
I sent the attached letter to David Cameron and Nick Clegg today, keep your fingers crossed, for our magical little Town, that somebody listens,
Kind Regards,
John Lawrence
Dear Mr. Cameron and Mr. Clegg,
RE: Proposed Parking Charges in the Car Parks and on the Streets of Castle Cary
Our Beautiful, bustling market town in South Somerset is under attack from both District and County Councils, please help us!
We have a shop in Castle Cary and are residents of the town too. We have been trading for over 12 years and we employ 1 Full time seamstress, 3 Part-time staff and 1 Independent cleaner, (which all helps the local economy.)
We are very concerned that SSDC and the County Council’s proposed charges in the car parks and on the streets, will have a devastating effect on our business, on our staff and on our customers but ultimately, an irreparable effect on this Town. Therefore please consider the following observations and discuss them with your colleagues at both councils:
1. Customers tell us, daily, that free parking is a major reason they come to Castle Cary.
We need every customer we can get in these challenging times and free parking allows us to compete with the ‘Out of Town’ stores that councils have allowed in nearby Shepton Mallet and Wincanton.
2. Based on 20p per hour, the increased cost to our business could exceed £3,000 p.a. to cover our business vehicle and private vehicle and to compensate our staff and cleaner also.
3. Any reduction in trade, combined with yet more increase in costs will tip many businesses in this town into a loss-making position and will lead to empty shops. Of course the recession is tough, as was the VAT hike last year but the thought of parking charges on top of this, deterring our shoppers, will, for many, be the last straw.
4. We all know that empty shops leads to more empty shops and ultimately a Ghost Town, where no matter how much we spend on advertising, people don’t want to come. This, in turn, will effect the whole local economy.
5. When you lose a shop in a Town, it’s not just their products or services you lose;
You also lose their business rates, their local advertising spend, their community support in the form of raffle prizes, donations and sponsorship of local charities, clubs and societies. You also lose a part of the community where local people can meet and feel part of the Town. In essence, you lose a shop or local business and you lose a little bit of the heart and character of that Town.
The Councils argue that they want ‘Parity’ across the County….. But each Town, Village and City will have a totally different set of circumstances, both economically and logistically. You cannot have ‘one solution fits all’……..OR CAN YOU?…..
Maybe there is another way: an alternative to destroying the look, lively trade and heart of our town and others: a radical but tried and tested way….We wonder if there is anyone brave enough in SSDC and Somerset County Council, to try this, or even to suggest it for debate and further investigation?:
“Make all car parks and on street parking, throughout Somerset, absolutely free”
It worked in Windsor ….please don’t dismiss the idea:
“FREE PARKING THROUGHOUT SOMERSET”
We believe it could potentially keep all parties happy:
Shoppers; Residents; Businesses; Staff ; SSDC and Somerset County Council
YES even SSDC and the County Council will benefit because:
Free Parking = Increased Trade (Ask Tescos / Mary Portas)
Increased Trade = More Shops and Businesses
More Shops and Businesses = More Business Rates/ Community Support
More Rates and Support = More funding for Councils, Prosperity and Happiness for all !
Surely this is just good old British ‘Common Sense’ They even get the ‘PARITY’ they say they want! And we get a bit of ‘parity’ with the ‘Out of Town’ Chain-stores with all the free parking councils have allowed them to create!
We have written to both councils asking them not to be remembered as the Councils who didn’t think of the consequences beyond the immediate gain? The Councils who got it wrong? Please, we beg you, help us urge them to reconsider. We realise there are funding challenges ahead, but taxing residents, visitors, shoppers and shop keepers (who are doing all we can to provide employment and to support local good causes throughout this recession), is not the way to do it.
Thank you in advance for taking our views into account and giving us any help with the councils that you can. They are trying to push this through before the summer, just in time for the double dip recession!!, so time is running out and not many people are aware of it. We are doing all we can to raise awareness in the Town.
Yours sincerely,
John & Alison Lawrence
Needful Things, Castle Cary, Somerset.
We have written similar letters to the Town Council, District and County Councillors,
David Heath MP and Mary Portas via her web site. We desperately need your help.
There could be one simple solution to improving Town centres that have been affected by Retail parks and large supermarkets. Give power to the local authorities to levy a charge on the number of free parking spaces provided by the owners of the out of town sites and the supermarkets equivalent to the lost revenue if they provide free town centre parking ( this should be a condition) It would be then up to the Developers/ supermarkets if the passed on those charges
Hi Mary,
I have enjoyed watching your tv programmes about retail and I have learned a lot from them which I have tried to incorporate into my business.
It is my belief that the day you say in business “I know what I’m doing, I have nothing more to learn” you are finished! From that moment the only way is down because you have clearly lost interest.
You’re view of the high street is (in my humble estimation) accurate, and for that reason your input will benefit the retail industry as a whole.
I would however suggest that you have a chat with Sir Stuart Rose, who’s views and ideas are also interesting and valid because I honestly think a united front from you two guys, if listened to by the necessary people ( retailers and government) the british retail sector ,would be unstoppable.
I CAN AND I WILL ( the only philosophy that works)
Kind regards
Peter
As a Specialist Retailer, Bicycles, I have endured the gradual decline of the once thriving High Street, and like many others, can offer many reasons for that. Markets have been superceded by Car Boots, which in effect are the new Markets, and also out of Town Shopping Centres. Add to that High Rents and Rates plus many other sundry varied increases, declining income leaves little for hard working Retailers. It must be difficult to start up and expect the kind of salary and conditions which many employees enjoy nowadays- who will take the risk? Many experienced Business people could write reports which could offer their own experiences as to why its tough on the High Street, much of which would be met with little understanding. A start could be made by putting the business rates back to the Councils which collect them and put this back to help the High Street.
Mary,
I have followed your campaign with interest and find your approach very refreshing as it appears to be interested in the health and viability of established town centres rather than just looking for the the quickest was to turn a buck.
I am an architect who has worked in the Yorkshire & East Midlands region for nearly thirty years. During that time I spent four years working for a large architectural practice on shoping centres, but left after being disillusioned by lack of respect the retail industry had for the areas in which we were placed.
I am currently involved in the very early stages of a project to resurrect a very run down town centre in the north of England. At this stage, I do not want to give away any sensitive information, but would like to know if this is something that you may be able to get involved with the object of adding value to the proposal.
The background to this project in brief is as follows.
The town has suffered along with many others for many years, partly because of the recession, but also because it is an industrial town, gradually loosing employment sources. However, it has plenty of northern grit, a determination to regain its past glory and a lively and enthusiastic group of town centre retailers ready to move heaven and earth to bring vitality back to the town centre.
They had a major body blow earlier this year when a major high street retailer closed down their shop, resulting in significant loss of footfall to the rest of the stores I the area. To make things worse, a planning application has recently been approved for an out of town retail park that provides a number of small stores anchored by a larger store and I understand that the retailer that has just left the town centre is being persuaded to occupy that unit. Unfortunately this will not only reduce visitors to the town centre further, but will also increase traffic problems in an already severely congested part of the town.
The town centre group are well aware of why the major high street multiples are attracted to out of town sites and the way incentives can be provided to attract key businesses to a site. However, they believe that there is an opportunity to work with these commercial realities whilst attracting foot fall in the town centre and thereby assisting in its regeneration.
Although there are empty shop units in the town, even one large enough for a large retailer, most of them are small and under separate ownerships. It is therefore unlikely that a suitable scheme can be proposed within the existing buildings. However, there is a site adjacent to the main shopping street that is substantially in the ownership of the local council, is vacant, accessible and suitable for a major retail park type development. However because of its location it also has the potential to bring footfall to the town centre, making it much more attractive for other retailers and thereby make occupancy of the other empty units much more likely.
I feel that this is a great opportunity for the ‘Retail Machine’ to benefit a town centre in need of help and bearing in mind your current campaign think that it has potential to be an excellent case study illustrating how problems can be turned into opportunities.
I would be very interested to know if a project of this nature would be of interest to you and pleased to supply further information if this would be of help.
Kind regards
Dear Mary,
Myself and my partner opened a much needed deli in our town a year ago, sadly i will be closing the deli to concentrate on online sales ,the outside catering,the veg box scheme,and the homemade frozen meals,all of which can be run from website working from home,without the astronomical overheads i have from having a shop.Our town undoubtedley has a failing high street, with footffall ever decreasing.I blame the council, along with the retailers association.
This is the help we received by starting a new business in our town and filling a shop that had been empty for 18 months.
Our council have charged me triple the business rates of other shops in the same street,despite mine being the smallest shop in the street.I wasnt allowed an a board outside,but i could pay them £330 to go on a sign at the top of the street that nobody sees or reads,many traders put a boards out in the street in our town, but they fine anybody that does it now, my own experiment showed that i made a sales increase of 150.00 in one day of trading by advertising on an a board. I am not allowed to put a small stall up and trade outside my shop, eg selling veg etc.
The council dont have a market anymore,the summer carnival and the late night shopping events were so badly promoted, i as a retailer i didnt even know when they were on , and shock horror everybody closed up shop as nobody came to town.
In our town the independant retailers are closing left,right and centre leaving a mass of empty shops ,but our counci and retailers associationl has a brilliant stratedgy , they fill the spaces with shops that already exsist in our towns case bookmakers we now have 12 yes 12,mobile phone shops 5, 3 of which are next to one another,travel agents,coffee shops and cheap pound shops. They then ran a local competition to encourage new businesses to set up in the town, using incentives like free business rates,advertising and marketing etc.All good i hear you cry-well not quite, what they did was give the shop spaces to businesses again identical to the already struggling independant exsisting retailer,eg another deli,craft shop,coffee shop and tattooist ,in such a small town this has a few effects, it dosent offer any variety of shops for those coming into the town, It also rubs the exsisting shop owners up the wrong way,as they are struggling to pay their business rates and rents,and hence forces them to close leaving -thats right, EMPTY SHOP SPACE!
This type of ludicrous behaviour,alongside rising parking charges,business rates and rents,energy prices and fuel costs is why we have a failing high street, I love your ideas and your concept,but i feel that by the time this is all put into place and up and running it will be all too little too late for our independant retailer.
have worked on the high street for timpson ltd for 30 years and have seen the steady decline in quality of shops in retail, i work in bury greater manchester( millgate centre) , we were once renowned for free parking, and it brought many people to the town, but now its a business its self, high parking charges, £10 in the millgate car park for one day, i can park in manchester for £3 all day, complete madness for a market town to charge so much, but also the business rates are extortionate, especially for small independents, but also i have found over the years the owners of these large shopping centres, especially the leasing department dont help out, would rather leave shops empty rather than cut the rent ! they definately need to change with the times, high rents and business rates, high car park charges dont help retailers, especially in hard times! as a small market town i have seen a slow but steady decrease in the number of people, but also people willing to stay for the day or half a day due to the parking charges, time for a big change in atitudes towards retailers i think !
I have read your report, interesting reading – I will be honest when I saw your appointment by the Government I thought great! another TV Celebrity who is all about their branding not the UK – I am starting to change my views on you and can see your heart is in the cause.
Many of your points, will never ever happen – We have had town centre managers – but budgets cut them in full swing – too many quango’s and Council paid idiots who haven’t got the balls to stand up on the grounds they might lose their jobs.
I have been so busy in my business i didn’t realise you were taking thoughts and recommendations for this report. An opportunity missed
I too have an innovative vision for the high street – a snippet –
Live Work units – our local council compulsive purchased farm land for “live work units” – why spend millions on land and building out of town units – when you can give business startups a flat above the shop and the shop as office, craft workshops ….
That’s the creation of accommodation for homeless or people on waiting lists, a new start-up business with reduction in the unemployed, the possibly job prospects and employment and an empty shop filled. Now that’s a win-win-win…
In our town, empty shops become charity shops – Now I am not against charity – but some people start-up retail businesses in Ross on Wye and they close in 12 months – could be many reasons – but paying full rates when charities get rate free. Do the Council subsidise new start ups – no!!!! they penalise with their blinkered approach to budgets – they “bite their nose to spite their face”
The councillors are old school, don’t get the new way of thinking and how business work in todays climate and decade – they appear to be happy for our town to become a retirement village.
I could go on for hours – but I am fed up watching people setup action groups & steering committees and then do nothing, all talk no trousers – Although the fault mainly lies in the Councils (not the Local councils) but the big time wasting, money wasting county councils.
I think the most important issue is how the high street is going to respond to people shopping online in ever increasing numbers. This issue is bigger than the recession when it comes to high street shopping. The only direct response I can see on this website is that you are selling clothes online since the papers ran with your name last week. Cashing in, in the most ironic fashion! Have i missed the point? Could you use your online commercial interests in a way that could demonstrate some interaction with the high street rather than just taking the custom from the place you are meant to be helping?
Hi Mary
I opened a Green Market in July in Letchworth Garden City (yes, the first Garden City in the world!)after I was asked by a local landlord what would I do with an empty shop mall (only a small are) as it was going to be demolished. As I wanted to help fellow shop keepers I devised a Green Market which only sold handmade, or reuse goods, so that we would be competing with them for business. I offered shopkeepers free stalls and advertised the area every week in the hope I would bring business and goodwill to our town from afar. The market offers an undercover market with low priced stalls to offer local entrepenuers giving a budget place in town to sell their wares. We also wanted to help train people who are unemployed or in employment which is at risk, (especially young people) to get the best out of their products. I give away stalls free to charities, often give stalls away free when I know the stallholder hasn’t made any money. We have developed a great atmosphere and volunteers who believe in what we are doing. BUT since we opened: I have been either ignored by other shops or actually had destructive actions taken to close us down. Posters torn down, blackboards stolen or turned round so no one can read them, been surrounded by 6 shopkeepers absuing me verbally. I asked for street signage from the local council – refused, we were banned from handing out leaflets (in our attempt to get noticed in the town square one day)by the town centre manager, who said we could get fined and moved us on) He later told us we could apply to him for permsission on a given day, but did not tell us when he told us we could get fined he was the person in charge of this) My landlords who are a charitable company have said they can’t help because we are a ‘business’ when I asked for significant signage of our location. Well I now owe £6,000 for the monies I have invested in this project so I am at my wits end. I am having to spend large amounts of money and time on the internet (free ads) to advertise the fact we are here (as we have no signage) Is this the sort of project you are speaking about in your report? If so I would warn anyone with a good community and charitable heart, to make sure they have lots and lots of money or a supportive council before taking on such a venture! This town is dying on its feet (Letchworth), shops close reopen and then close again, very few people even come into town at all, so when we organise an event (28 wonderful unique stalls the other day) very few customers come in . Thank you for allowing me to express my frustrations and have a voice here!
[...] to worry if my own chocolate has tempered correctly! I for one am really interested in the recent Mary Portas report which goes into great detail as to how we might save our High Streets becoming an economic [...]
[...] To view the report compiled by Mary Portas titled “The Portas Review – An independent review into the future of our high streets” CLICK HERE [...]
[...] Re: Bank Street Shops Closing – last one out, switch off the lights! So, has anyone read the Mary Portas Review? Could this work in Rawtenstall, once the Valley Centre has gone? (For the sake of discussion, let's assume it'll be gone by May 2012. | Mary Portas Official. [...]
Town centres are not history and real history means crunch time will be when the global behemoths dependent on cheap fuel are unable to be flexible enough to change to meet big environmental challenges. Their operational capacity and the impact on profits will feel it – and so will we unless we maintain an alternative.
Small businesses are FLEXIBLE in a kind of way the giants are not. They are in a position to provide tailor made items to our extremely diverse society. They have a connection to their customers that cannot be replicted by the giants and provide an outlet (unless priced out) and income base for the vast amount of creativity we have in the UK.
Where would Mary Quant, Biba and our pride in UK creativity be without the original little shops they launched from?
We have plenty of EXISTING Mary Quants and Bibas that have been forced out of the high street. Implementation of this report could make a real place for UK economic growth that’s been choked off by high house prices. Convert to residential and lose those new businesses and jobs? That’s a madness we’ve followed too long – to our cost.
Parents with children with a choice of a warm traffic free environment, such as Lakeside or the Trafford Centre, or a wet cold High Street/Town Centre busy with traffic are more likely to go to the former. Once the car is on the road any extra time involved becomes insignificant.
Loads of good thoughtful analysis and sound common sense in the report.
We have all seen those photos of the high street from the 19th and 20th century – every property occupied with diverse merchandise and barely a car to be seen. Reality is the world has changed considerably and is continuing to change at a fast pace. The high street will NEVER return to those days. High streets as a focal point for retail are history. Against this background I am not quite sure what this review is trying to achieve. We may as well have asked what we can do about all the empty properties in the UK because the high street is a sub-set of a much bigger problem. We are in the midst of a chronic housing crisis so maybe the answer to both problems is to convert once retail units to homes.