TRANSFORMING OUR HIGH STREETS - BRINGING POWER TO THE PEOPLE

There has been much debate over the future of the high street in North Wales in recent times, including within this column.

With the development of out of town centres and the growth of internet shopping, local stores have never been under so much pressure to improve the consumer experience so to attract greater numbers of local shoppers.

Indeed, there needs to be greater effort on developing an enjoyable experience for shoppers to entice them away from supermarkets and internet sites to their local high streets.

Therefore, the publication of a new report from the Policy Exchange should be one that will be discussed by politicians and policymakers across the region.

Published last month, “21st Century Retail Policy: Quality, choice, experience and convenience”, is a fascinating and thought provoking analysis that goes beyond the normal conventions regarding retail developments and looks to provide radical solutions which could transform and revitalise shopping areas.

Perhaps one of the most contentious is a proposal that local authorities, where local retailers are in favour, should lose power over the management of high streets and that the management of these areas should be shifted to Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) with additional powers.

This would include having responsibility for cleaning, car parking and side road pedestrianisation.

More relevantly, such BIDs would have direct control over most planning both for new development and change of use. However, the council would retain power for major reconstruction and rebuilding, although these would have to be formally approved by the BID.

The BIDs could also place restrictions on the type of businesses within the area (e.g. charity shops or takeaways) and have the power, where there continue to be empty shops, to sanction a change of use into office or homes.

I am sure that the introduction of such bodies would be controversial in the first place but they could, if managed properly, transform the fortunes of high streets across North Wales.

A recent survey for YouGov showed that the three top concerns of shoppers are  the right mix of shops, car access and parking, and lavatory facilities. They also do not care whether a location is in or out of town.

Therefore, as the report demonstrates, you can imagine a BID looking carefully at how the whole consumer experience could be enhanced and responding accordingly, rather than merely keeping to normal planning regulations.

For example, pedestrianising a side street off the main shopping area could make this attractive for a couple of restaurants to move into, whilst a small number of offices created in a specific section of the high street could result in higher footfall for the businesses because of their central location.

The number of charity shops and takeaways could be limited to one per street whilst a couple of the empty shops would be permitted to be transformed into homes to ensure people live within those areas. The BID could also employ a part time caretaker who would ensure the streets are kept clean and deals immediately with any anti-social behaviour that may arise.

Creating such an environment would then bring more businesses into the area, especially those that would capitalise on increased footfall, such as coffee shops. This would create a continuous cycle of renewal and regeneration that would enhance the whole area.

Of course, where there are already well run high streets managed efficiently by local councils, then they should be left alone to develop as they are. However, the people who know best about developing their local areas are those who actually run the shops there.

It would be a massive step forward to be able to give them direct control over their own destinies and, more importantly, help them to revitalise those high streets which can be the heart of the shopping experience within our communities once again.

THE CASE FOR BUYING LOCAL

For those who have been following this column for the last decade, you will know how passionate I am about promoting the concept of local shopping, especially within North Wales where our high streets have been badly affected in recent years by the development of out of town centres.

That is why I loved a recent article that described how a major American corporation was going on the road to promote local shopping to support the economy.

Senior executives from the accountancy software company Sage, which sells mainly to small and medium-sized businesses, are traversing the USA in a large bus to educate consumers as to how important it is to shop and buy services from local businesses.

And whilst this is not entirely altruistic, it is a refreshing change to see a large business actually going out of its way to support local firms.

Indeed, some of the facts produced by Sage on the impact of local purchasing should open the eyes of politicians and policymakers who have, to date, been lukewarm about properly promoting this concept within Wales.

For example, local retailers return up to 68 percent of their revenue to the local economy in the form of locally purchased wages, goods, services, profits and donations whereas larger businesses spend only 43 percent locally.

And local business owners lead by example.

In the USA, entrepreneurs support other local businesses with 70 per cent purchasing goods and services for their businesses locally and 83 per cent shopping locally for their personal requirements.

Perhaps the most fascinating fact come from a study from San Francisco, where it was estimated that switching just ten per cent of spending away from high street chains to local businesses would generate $192 million (or £124 million) in additional economic activity and 1,300 new jobs.


Source: eLocal.com

To some extent, it is disappointing that it has taken a large business to raise awareness of what entrepreneurs up and down high streets across Wales have known for years, namely that shopping at small local businesses boosts the economy.

Nevertheless, this should be a wake-up call not only for those who manage our economies in Westminster and Cardiff Bay but to each and every one of us who bemoan the loss of shops along the high street but who hardly think twice before popping down to our local supermarket to buy most of our food and supplies.

Yes, we all do it and make excuses that it is difficult to find the time to shop locally given the convenience of out of town shopping centres.

But if we don’t make the effort, what right do we have to complain when another small shop closes down?

More importantly, local shops produce quality products that are rarely found within high street supermarkets.

After spending a few days on the Llŷn Peninsula last week, it was great to find the best wine at Gwin Llŷn in Pwllheli, the most exquisite meat at J&D Povey in Chwilog and the freshest bread at Islyn Bakery in Aberdaron.

I am sure the same is true in towns across North Wales and yet we constantly fail to see the superb products and services that we have literally on our doorsteps because, in our busy lives, it seems easier to spend an hour wandering around a supermarket with a trolley than walking up and down our high streets visiting our local shops.

Yet as Sage as shown, changing our shopping habits could make a real contribution to the economic viability of communities across North Wales.

So the next time you are about to pop down the supermarket, think about whether you could go to a local shop instead and help make a real difference to your local economy.

SHOP SMARTER, SHOP LOCALLY

Something for every politician and policymaker in Wales to consider.

A VISION FOR THE WELSH HIGH STREET?

Walking through many towns in Wales, one cannot help noticing the increasing number of shops that have closed as the economic recession and low consumer confidence has taken its toll.

And such perceptions are borne out by the latest statistics on occupancy rates within retail centres, with the proportion of vacant shops across Welsh high streets now rising to 18.5 per cent, one of the worse vacancy rates in the UK along with the North West of England and the Midlands.

Whilst the growth of out of town shopping centres and the massive expansion in online retailing has helped to fuel such decline, it is also clear that politicians and policymakers at a national and local level have largely ignored the high street as a key driver of economic prosperity.

Given such challenges, it was timely that the Welsh Conservatives launched a new policy review last week which examined how the fortunes of town centres across Wales could be revived.

Entitled “A Vision for the Welsh High Street”, its aim is to focus attention on how town centres can provide a stimulus to local economies whilst acting as a catalyst for community engagement. Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies discusses the report below.


As far as I am aware, this is the first time that a political party in Wales has focused on developing specific policies in this area, although it does follow on from a recent report by the National Assembly’s Enterprise and Business Committee into the regeneration of town centres. Of course, there was also the highly publicised Portas Review in 2011 which provided a real wake up call to the UK Government but, unfortunately, its recommendations have only been applied in England.

As such, such a policy document is long overdue in ensuring that we have a proper debate on how the High Street in Wales should be developed in the future.

One of the more radical recommendations from the review is the proposal for splitting the business rates regime in Wales into one that targets small and large businesses separately.

Currently, the multiplier which is used to calculate business rates is the same for all firms, regardless of their size. This is in contrast to both Scotland and England where a higher multiplier exists for bigger companies with the difference being paid used to support lower rates for small firms.

As a result, Wales has the most competitive business rates in the UK for major superstores, but the least competitive rates in the UK for small businesses.

And whilst the supermarket lobby will, no doubt, resist such a move, it is an issue that will hopefully be considered carefully by the Welsh Government within its ongoing review of business rates.

Another key proposal is ensuring that town centres are at the heart of successful engagement with local communities. This will be done through the formation of high street teams involving local businesses, Councils and residents that will act as a focus for engagement and drive participation on the high street.

On a higher political level, the Welsh Conservatives have also called for the Welsh Government to have one Minister or Deputy Minister with ‘named’ responsibility for the high street so as to improve coordination across different departments.

One of the key recommendations of the Portas Review was that local areas should implement free controlled parking schemes so that they can compete directly with out-of-town developments.

Building on this, the report suggests that high streets need to have a “flexible, well communicated parking offer”, using the example of Newport Council which, for the last two years, has operated a two hours free parking scheme within the city centre.

It also reflects the views of the Federation of Small Businesses, which recently noted that small market towns and their outlying rural communities are hit particularly hard by the imposition of parking charges and that in such car dependent communities, free access to the town centre is essential not only for the purposes of shopping but also for social interaction.

Therefore, the debate has started on the future of the High Street in Wales and whilst partisan politics may prevent some of these ideas from being taken forward by the Welsh Government, I would hope the paper will at least get politicians and policymakers talking. Certainly, it is time that the regeneration of our town centres should be seen as one of the key catalysts in reviving local economies and a catalyst in reviving the high street as a focus for the community across Wales.

MARY PORTAS AND REVITALISING THE HIGH STREET IN WALES

Last Thursday, there was finally some good news for the beleaguered high street as figures from the British Retail Consortium revealed that sales in May 2012 were 3.4 per cent higher as compared to a year earlier.

On the same day, 4,500 jobs were saved in 397 stores, including a number in Wales, when Clinton Cards were bought by the US retailer American Greetings. That is not to say that there are still major challenges facing the retail sector. For example, the number of businesses in the UK retail sector going into administration increased by 15 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

These have included household names such as Peacocks, Blacks Leisure, La Senza and Game. Fortunately, as with Clinton Cards, a number of these businesses have been bought out of receivership and, as consequence, jobs have been saved.

Nevertheless, it is estimated that employment in the retail sector has decreased by around 100,000 in the last year and this decline is set to continue unless radical action is taken. That is why the UK Government asked the retail marketing consultant Mary Portas to identify what politicians at national and local level, along with businesses and other stakeholders, could do together to promote the development of new models of prosperous and diverse high streets.

Reporting last December, it made a series of recommendations, including creating a visionary, strategic and strong operational management team for high streets, establishing a new “National Market Day” where budding shopkeepers can try their hand at operating a low-cost retail business and considering whether business rates can better support small independent retailers.

Other suggestions included free controlled parking schemes for town centres, restricting out of town developments, and disincentivising landlords from leaving units vacant. However, to ensure that the report did not merely remain gathering dust on a shelf in Whitehall, Portas suggested that a number of high street pilots should be run to test some of these ideas.

And rather than having civil servants choose which high streets were to benefit from the government’s largesse, towns were invited to put forward their own proposals as to how they would implement their ideas to regenerate their retail sector.

As a result, around 370 high streets submitted applications and last week it was announced that twelve high streets would benefit to the tune of support worth approximately £100,000 each. Some cynical commentators have said that this funding is derisory and the whole scheme was a publicity gimmick at a time when there are far greater economic problems facing retailers. Others have noted that the competition itself has generated real local interest and, regardless of the fact that only around one in thirty applicants were successful, it has enabled communities to come together and plan for their economic futures.

Indeed, you only have to view the hundreds of videos that have been posted on YouTube in support of bids to see local businesspeople demonstrating their passion and conviction for their town centres. The two featured below are from Bedford, one of the winning bids and Burnham on Sea, which didn't win but is already preparing a second bid.

As a result, the failure to win a cash prize will, in itself, probably not stop many of the towns from pursuing their plans, having created a group of stakeholders who have a real interest in the future of their high streets and, more importantly, a strategy for the future.

Unfortunately, as with the start-up initiatives discussed in this column last week, the Portas Review only applied in England and, given the state of many of our town centres, it is a shame that Wales did not participate in such a scheme.

Certainly, given the work already undertaken by Mary Portas, there would be scope to examine this further in the context of Welsh High Streets. Indeed, speaking to a sold-out audience at the world famous Hay Festival last week, the 'Queen of Shops'  said that there was still hope for many town centres in Wales, despite the threat of out of town developments and internet shopping.

And we could start by developing a similar programme to that envisaged for English towns that would enable those with enthusiasm for regenerating our high streets to come together to start a renaissance in the fortunes of many local economies at a time when it is sorely needed.