PM David Cameron has called in Queen of Shops Mary Portas to help save Britain's High Streets. Ideas already being bandied about include dropping parking charges, tackling traffic and putting a cap on the number of supermarkets or chain stores.
If you had to give Mary one piece of advice, what would it be?
Dropping parking charges seems like a good idea especially for smaller cities and towns. It encourages shopping.
Larger cities probably want to avoid congestion hence the high parking charges.
The whole thing sounds like a Cameron publicity stunt. It will probably be forgotten about in two weeks time.
Och Aye the Noo and Irn BruTouring Scotland is for you
I think aboloshing parking charges all together will be a massive step in the right direction for people coming back to the high street! Our local charges are absolutely ridiculous, £12.00 a day!!
I do also think that limiting big chains will have an impact. Sadly, our high street is becoming emptier and emptier as our local businesses go bust. Just last week our local sports shop went, and the butchers is looking shaky.
I think the best advise will be to get the right balance between local shops and the big chains. If people can no longer purchase the same goods as they previously have done, they will just visit another high street where they can!!
from local experience in Greenwich London (2012 to become a 'Royal Borough') we have enormous problems outside the VERY touristy central area. Dropping parking charges won't help,there's not enough room for the cars that want to park anyway. More cycling facilities would make things more attractive to locals-make local shopping even more eco-friendly which it is anyway, and government publicity to promote that. Traffic control measures?-may help but notoriously slow to be actioned in any helpful way (we've had traffic free areas on the table for years without it happening, as we're a route through into central London for commuters-lucky us!).
Control growth of supermarkets? It ISNT happening, they're too powerful and adapt to changing politics like a chameleon changes colour (or should i say a skunk emits noxious gas?). Note the rise of M&S Food, Tesco Express etc, to capture the last remaining piece of small retailers profits having had the bulk already. I'm sure many of you have seen this locally to you- we have all of these so called 'convenience stores' now.
I feel what could help lies in the hands of local councils who up until now have shown little interest in such matters. They need to tackle the following
1: Control rents-greedy landlords are a serious problem, we've ONLY survived as a travel agent by buying the freehold years ago.
2: establish a partially central partially local government funded training scheme which ALL potential small business owners have to QUALIFY from before they can apply to run a small shop. This certificate would have to be displayed on the premises, and updated every say 5 years.
3: centrally control the number of certain professions allowed within a locality- we have endless estate agents (nothing against them honest, but 10 within 100yds?), hairdressers/manicurists (speaking as a 'number 3' man do we need ALL of them?) most go bust within a year anyway. take away restaurants- ALL that's bad about local shopping-dirty,grimy,rubbish/litter producing,unhealthy, and used by passing motorists who have no interest in local shopping. If rents were lower more crafty type shops could flourish, as they do in markets (central Greenwich has a thriving weekend craft market)
4: Forcibly use large open unused spaces for markets such as farmers markets-brings more people in- we have a huge derelict area where a district hospital was knocked down 10 YEARS AGO! This could have been used as a valuable local resouce to attract shoppers-like stalls for local artists, students in arts/crafts/textiles etc.
In a nutshell we need INNOVATION, we cannot pussyfoot around with things like parking charges, it need RADICAL change and a complete re-think at central level with central and local government involvement. There'll be a lot of lobbying against it, (the big firms have a huge investment at stake in their dominance/control of our spending patterns), but it's the only way things will change, and if one of the political parties picks up on it, we have to vote and show it's important to us.
NUFF SAID?
Just another though, I dont think there can be any set blue print to this. It will vary town to town!
agree on that Dave. Important that local councils are involved as they know the local conditions, but if there's not a central govt blueprint i can't see anything happening, so local input important at planning/consultancy stage but if we don't formulate a national policy it could all be ignored locally anyway.
Limit the amount of charity shops. They don't pay rates, so makes it impossible for genuine businesses to open up units. Councils should encourage innovation and support it and give assistance to business that do not already feature on the high street. Example, small market town once had a travel agency, that closed down, now there is no one even though town is very affluent. Potential new agency business put off by lack of support from council and freeholder not wanting to negotiate on price, outcome, still an empty premises.
onyerbike - I think we have come to a mutual agreement here! A definitive goverment action plan which will enforce changes locally is a good move.
If only we ran the country!!
travelling cat-i have mixed feelings on charity shops, on the one hand they offer something useful that isn't available 'out of town', but on the other i take your point it shouldn't make it difficult for small business to compete. i think my plan (see long winded essay above!) would help limit the number of charity shops as they can dominate a high street. I agree about stupidity of leaving premises empty when a business such as a travel agency would be useful-see my notes on greedy landlords! also we have had (in Chislehurst) an empty shop in a prime location which used to be Chislehurst travel. the freeholder also owns a double-fronted chemist there. why is he allowed to leave this shop empty for what has been certainly over 10 years possibly nearer 15!! Again central government policy could prohibit this from happening, freeholders have an obligation (or should be made to have an obligation) to provide a vibrant high street even if it means dropping rents or allowing community projects to use the premises (like local art groups or students as exhibition space) that would make freeholders act more responsibly to their local community rather than looking on shops as purely income/tax avoidance/asset appreciation.
Dave-yes mate we SHOULD run the country, nobody else seems to be!! and i expect this Mary Portas will be paid 'loadsa money' out of our taxes to come up with the same conclusions from her study, but will they EVER be implemented?
Penalise and investigate so-called vertically integrated companies that are simultaneously wholesalers, suppliers and retailers giving themselves, their own brands and their "carefully selected" favoured partners and direct clients preferred trading terms and prices and then NOT offer the same exact prices and terms to other trade competitors and partners.This is not real competition so consumers do not really benefit. Clear violation of competition laws.
Change legislation so that the first-trade principle is applicable to all forms of commerce - online and brick walls.
Regulate large and all online businesses so that they have the exact same tax, labour and fiscal responsabilities and obligations as those competing with shops located on the high-street.
Incentives and benefits for local community shops that provide a social intercation, a livelihood, with employment and services for their local communities instead of a dilution of al forms of social responsability and tax benefits that mainly serve large corporate interests.
Abolish all forms of public local council managed spaces and their parking fees in rail stations parks, hospitals, and especially the high streets. If parking not sufficient, create more parking spaces. This way people may actually think about using public transport and the in-town shops and services. Out of town premises waste fuel and their parking lots should be taxed for making their clients wasteful.
Serious small business tax and local council rate reduction or ablish payment for self run businesses. Incentives for creating jobs at this level - so stop taxing labour, all the obligations we have to shoulder as small enterprises and frustrate eventual job opportunities.
Small is beautiful attitude so local products and incentives for individually owned shops offering diversity and locally sourced products and not the clone high streets shops strewn across the country, that all look the same, offering the same exact shite that is produced globally.
Cheaper fuel for delivery trucks to small businesses.
Last but not least - serious commitment to rental rates reviews as the high street chains have inflated these beyond the possibility of it being viable for most small businesses to strive and compete.
The best personalised service we will deliver.
how about they invest money into their local towns where i am working my town has;
5 travel agents - all the big ones (t.cook/thomson/f.choice/coop/g.places)
around 10 banks and building sociteys
7 betting shops
7 charity shops
so why would people come to my town with just mostly that?
I'm a homeworker, so no rent to pay. BUT I have contacted local council to enquire about a local shops rental cost ( empty for over a year) and they wouldn't move on price, which is £9000 per annum. That's before utilities, shop fit, council tax etc etc. So why o why can they not rent out empty shops for a fixed 12 month contract with a sliding scale rent increase over a set period? Not rocket science Mary!