Town Centres
England’s 1,600 market towns have been hard hit by the recession, with unemployment up by a third more than in the nation as a whole.
Shop vacancies are rising and empty shops are getting harder to let. But towns are fighting back. Town partnerships and town councils are working hard to revitalise their town centres. Action for Market Towns is providing research, lobbying, and helping towns to share good practice.
Here we look at how to strengthen our town centres and grow their role as drivers of their local economy. Click on the orange links below to find out more.
Latest AMT report on Town Centres
21st Century Town Centres Report – practical steps to help your town survive and thrive
Get started
- Take a look at AMT’s Policy Position Statement on Town Centres & Prosperous Places
- Read Rejuvenating market towns: innovation to drive excellence – AMT Chief Executive Chris Wade speaking at the Retail Week Conference on Saving Britain’s High Streets in March 2010
- Download AMT’s response to the government-commissioned Mary Portas review of the high street {opens pdf} and see Towards the 21st century agora – a joint response coordinated by Urban Pollinators to which AMT contributed
Towns-4-Towns – helping towns to beat the recession
Many small towns suffer similar problems and can benefit by sharing solutions, experience and good practice. AMT’s Towns-4-Towns programme lets towns share ideas and initiatives that have worked in their communities in a number of ways:
- Case Studies Database (members only) – more than 250 examples of successful projects
- AMT Forum (public) – share your ideas and ask advice of other towns online
- Towns-4-Towns Exchange Fund (members only) – access this fund to learn from other towns’ successful projects
- Networking Events (public – discounts for members) – go along or have one tailored to the problems faced by towns in your area. Subsidies available.
Your town as a department store
Think of your high street as a department store – and then think through what a department store needs to get right to attract you as a customer. Use this to guide changes to your town centre.
- Read AMT’s 21st Century Town Centres Report – practical steps to help town centres survive and thrive
- Download AMT’s Town Centre Comeback report {opens pdf} – FREE for AMT members, £25 for non members
- Get AMT’s top ten tips for beating the recession on the high street
Loyalty cards give high street a boost
Find out more about this popular tool in a bustling town centre’s essential kit.
- Download our Local Loyalty Guide here – FREE for AMT members and £25 for non-members
- See how we can help you develop and run a loyalty card programme
- Read Encouraging shoppers to spend in your high street
- Ask What are the best local loyalty card schemes? in the AMT Forum
Town Centres & Prosperous Places resources
To help make your town a more prosperous place, we have put together a series of downloadable reports and research papers.
amt-i research and consultancy help for high streets
AMT’s consultancy arm, amt-i offers a range of Town Centre Services to help those working to revitalise and regenerate towns.
- Town Benchmarking – a popular system to collect pertinent data on your town centre at minimum cost.
- Retail Training & Mystery Shopping
- Loyalty Cards & Shop Local
- Car Parking & Signage
- Visitor Surveys & Tourism
Prosperous Places Case Studies
We have brought together a selection of case studies which represent good practice in market towns on the theme of Prosperous Places.
- View the Prosperous Places Case Studies
What next?
Talk town centres in the AMT Forum:
