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.

PROMOTING LOCAL PRODUCE IN SUPERMARKETS

Given the increased interest in local shopping, which was discussed in yesterday's Daily Post column, I thought I would revisit an article I wrote back in December 2005 for the same newspaper.

It specifically examined how an Irish supermarket, Superquinn, encouraged greater purchasing of goods and services in Ireland through developing a new type of loyalty card.

Could it work here in Wales?

Well, as far as I can tell, something like this has never been tried in the UK but I am sure that one of the supermarkets could trial this for a period to see if consumers can be encouraged to buy local.

"When I lived in Dublin during the mid 1990s, I was astounded, on visiting my first Irish supermarket, to find that Irish goods were being promoted above and beyond the call of any retailer’s duty. 

Perhaps this was because I had been fortunate enough to visit a ‘Superquinn’s’ outlet, which has a superb record of promoting Irish produce. 

For example, everything sold in the shop – from food to toilet paper to clothes – that was produced in Ireland was highlighted with a Shamrock logo on the shelf front. This makes it far easier for customers to identify Irish products, which is a major complaint within many other stores. 

Moreover, Superquinn’s have a policy of using only Irish products in the fresh food areas and runs many promotions that are specifically focused on increasing awareness of Irish ranges, such as an “Irish speciality food festival” and extra bonus points on your loyalty card for buying Irish goods. 

And if that is not enough, just to let you know how much you are supporting the local economy, the receipt you receive at the checkout prints an “*” beside every Irish product purchased and, the sum at the end of each till receipt is divided into the total basket spend and the total spent on Irish products. 

Of course, the Irish have a long history of targeting the sale of home products within their own market. For example, Guaranteed Irish Ltd – an independent non-profit company - has its brand placed on Irish goods as diverse as children's books, bags of sugar and even software packages.

The focus on promoting Irish goods seems to be making a difference. For example, recent research has shown that whilst value remains the key priority for shoppers in Ireland, almost 40 per cent of them would pay up to 10 per cent more for Irish goods, so there is scope for supermarkets to promote Irish goods and benefit from this in terms of price.

To date, no similar campaigns have been run in within any Welsh supermarkets, even though I have raised the issue with the ‘big four’ during the last decade. Certainly, the promotion of Welsh produce within many of our supermarkets and shops is woefully inadequate, especially given that we are a manufacturing nation. 

Perhaps there are ‘state aid’ issues around the Assembly promoting Welsh goods in the same way that the Irish Guarantee scheme was stopped by the European Commission. Nevertheless, there is nothing stopping our economic policymakers from opening a dialogue with some of the major stores in to promote Welsh goods in a more constructive way. 

Indeed, the challenge is to ensure that, like the Irish, we have a symbol identifying Welsh produce (such as a red dragon symbol) and that we know exactly how much we spend on Welsh goods at the end of every shop. 

After all, if we give the Welsh consumer more information about the source of their purchases, we may well see more Welsh goods being bought in our shops with considerable spin-off for our economy."

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.