The report has been welcomed by Action for Market Towns, which submitted evidence and ideas to Mary Portas’ team and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.]]> Press release, 13 December 2011

Queen Canute or High Street Princess?  Action for Market Towns responds to the Portas Review of the future of the high street

Mary Portas today published her independent review of the future of our high streets, setting out her vision to breathe economic and community life back into our high streets.

The report has been welcomed by the national charity Action for Market Towns (AMT), which submitted evidence and ideas to Mary Portas’ team and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

Read a detailed response to the report here – including examples of recommendations from the report where AMT has already made significant progress.

AMT’s chief executive Chris Wade said:

“AMT welcomes the Portas review and is delighted to see that so many of the ideas that we submitted to support the development of more prosperous and diverse high streets have been included in Mary’s recommendations.

“The report recognises the unique importance to communities of town centres – and the need to intervene and re-invent them for the 21st Century.  Its rhetoric about learning from, rather than blaming, multiple retailers is realistic and we are pleased to read of the recommendation for a more level playing field through planning regulations – which AMT has long called on the government to adopt.

“It’s good to read that Mary’s recommendations are very much in tune with AMT’s 21st Century Town Centres Report published recently. The call for towns to have a Town Team: a visionary, strategic and strong operational management team – echo AMT’s evidence, as we have helped to establish and support many market town partnerships.

“The recommendation for an explicit presumption in favour of town centre development in the wording of the National Planning Policy Framework is a suggestion that AMT put forward in our response to the draft NPPF – i.e. maintaining the ‘town centres first’ policy approach which means that retail and leisure developments should look for locations in town centres first, and only if suitable sites are not available look for edge of centre and then out of town centre sites.

“And the suggestion that retailers should report on their support of local high streets in their annual report, links to AMT’s work on local loyalty cards, for example MyCard, a loyalty system that enables retailers to gather detailed information singularly and collectively about their retail performance and high street performance – and rewards retailers, town centre partnerships, and consumers, too.

“The report is realistic in recognising that it will not hold back the tide in some failing high streets but it can stem the decline in those that are still thriving.  It highlights issues and draws together existing good practice often published in previous reports.

“Will the government, local authorities, retailers and communities pull together this time and make these ideas work?”

Interviews & press enquiries

Chris Wade, AMT Chief Executive, is available for interview. For interviews or press enquiries, contact Jamie Veitch on 07904 272 200 or at news@towns.org.uk

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. Action for Market Towns (AMT) is a national charity committed to the vitality and viability of our small towns.
2. It has a national network of members and works with Town Councils, Community and town partnerships, emerging Local Enterprise Partnerships, Local Authorities, and independent  / selected partner businesses
3. It offers training, consultancy, national advocacy and a range of other services to more than 400 members.
4. AMT worked with a wider network of organisations to ensure that the Portas review was informed by imaginative ideas and practical solutions.
5. For details of the broader group of organisations involved in the town centres network, visit http://reviveourcentres.ning.com/
6. For press enquiries please contact Jamie Veitch on 07904 272 200 or email news@towns.org.uk

What next?

• Read the full response including examples of recommendations from the report where AMT has already made significant progress, here
• Download the 21st Century Towns Report here
• Come to our forthcoming Town Centre Solutions and Towns Alive! Thriving alongside supermarkets events for practical help and ideas to improve your town centre

Read AMT's detailed response to the report.]]> Retail guru, Mary Portas, today published the report detailing the conclusions and recommendations following her independent review into the future of the High Street.

The work comes at an opportune moment with a focus nationally on strengthening communities and getting them more involved in the way their towns, villages and neighbourhoods are planned and run via the Localism Act.

The town centre has traditionally provided a focal point for communities but in recent years has suffered and in many cases declined as a result of issues such as recession and competition from out of town and internet shopping.

Action for Market Towns works with small and market towns on understanding their town centre offer, and welcomes this review which has repositioned the spotlight onto this topic at the national level.  In particular it is in tune with AMT’s thinking on:

• The need for greater effort through partnership working to create town centres that not only survive, but thrive
• The unique focal role that town centres can provide for a community and the need to intervene and re-invent them as flexible, civic spaces that are about more than simply retail
• The relationship between multiples and the traditional town centre in terms of learning from multiples but levelling the playing field through planning

The review highlights key issues facing town centres and draws together existing good practice.  It is very much in tune with AMT’s 21st Century Town Centres Report and other work.  There are lots of examples of good practice that illustrate how we can encourage more people into the town centre in innovative ways: simple ideas such as

• the life-size Advent Calendar in Stone, Staffordshire
• cooperation between businesses in Suffolk Heritage Coast Market Towns Initiative
• partnership and retailer training in Southam
• benchmarking all towns in Cheshire East and promoting Love Local Life loyalty card

The Review has been realistic in recognising that it will not hold back the tide in some failing high streets but it can stem the decline in those that are still thriving.

Amongst England’s 1,600 small towns it is important to know which is which:  AMT promotes benchmarking as a tool for understanding how a town is performing against previous years, and against other, similar towns, but more is needed, and it’s not just about retail.

Our work with Urban Pollinators and others to develop the report, ‘Towards the 21st Century Agora’ highlighted the need to explore the role of the town centre in a much broader sense:  the need for them to be multifunctional social centres, not simply competitors for stretched consumers. They must offer opportunities and experiences that do not exist elsewhere, are rooted in the interests and needs of local people, and will meet the demands of a rapidly changing world.

Mary Portas’ Review has brought this together and the challenge is now for government, local authorities, retailers and communities to pull together this time and make it work.

For AMT’s part, we are already making progress on many of the recommendations highlighted in the report.  We’ve categorised some of the key ones as follows:

Local Focus and Animation through Town Teams

Recommendation 1. Put in place a “Town Team”: a visionary, strategic and strong operational management team for high streets

AMT favours this approach and it very much builds upon the work that we have been undertaking in helping to establish and support market town partnerships.

In addition, AMT’s consultancy arm, amt-i, works proactively with retailers, residents and town councils to establish town centre partnerships.

For example, we have been working with Princes Risborough Town Council in their quest to understand how other towns have engaged with local businesses to fund town centre regeneration and increase footfall to their towns.  The project has involved assessing what work needs to be undertaken in the town to lead regeneration. The project has various strands including public realm improvements and studying local governance and will inform the development of their strategic plan for 2011/12.

For more information about how to set up a partnership in your town or town centre, contact us.

• Why not take one of our Partnership MOTs where we can come to you and tailor a session on your needs and next steps?

Recommendation 10: Town Teams should focus on making high streets accessible, attractive and safe

Traditional town centres increasingly face competition from out of town shopping and the internet. They must find ways to encourage people back onto their high streets.  A key step to achieving this is making them more attractive, safe, and accessible to a range of users.

Our overall National Action for Market Towns Award winner in 2011 was Mold in Flintshire who showcased their Mold Spring Clean. As well as litter picking, more than 80% of the river was cleaned, bollards painted, benches refurbished, and planters refreshed. It improved the attractiveness of this Welsh market town for the benefit of the community, businesses and visitors and involved over 800 volunteers.

If you are wondering how you might develop a Town Team and objectives for one, we have developed a toolkit that can be adapted for exactly this purpose.

• Go to our Town Action Planning toolkit

Engage positively in future planning

Recommendation 24: Run a high profile campaign to get people involved in Neighbourhood Plans

AMT has been supportive of the Localism Act and in particular the focus on getting local people involved in the way their towns and neighbourhoods are planned for the future.  We are currently working with a series of towns and partnerships to help them understand the opportunities posed through Neighbourhood Planning and how to put one together.

• A useful first step is our Community Plan MOT and we can tailor this to suit your needs

Recommendation 25: Promote the inclusion of the High Street in Neighbourhood Plans

The town centre can provide a positive focal point for the whole town.  Many of our members have undertaken projects that centre on the high street.  For example ABC – A Better Caterham won a regional award in this year’s Annual Market Town Awards for their project ‘Shabby to Smart’.  The project had three parts:

• Clearing and cleaning up the town, following generations of neglected and redundant items on pavements and public realm areas.
• Upgrading a core area of the town, removing railings and clutter in a pioneering pilot study agreed with the Surrey County Highways. The area retains dropped kerbs but borrows from shared space concepts at much lower cost while enhancing visual appeal and maintaining or improving safety.
• An economic boost through a town loyalty scheme, to encourage local trade.

It’s a great example of how a partnership – perhaps a Town Team! – can work together to improve the town centre, make it more attractive and bring in greater footfall.

• For more ideas like this, why not take a look at our case studies database of good practice?

Recommendation 26: Developers should make a financial contribution to ensure that the local community has a strong voice in the planning system

Communities and Local Government are currently consulting on the Community Infrastructure Levy and how this should be distributed. As it stands a meaningful proportion of monies from a new development will have to be spent in the local area where the development is taking place.  What this meaningful proportion actually amounts to is not clear.

AMT will be contributing a response which will include a push for the meaningful proportion to be sufficient to make a difference. In addition, AMT suggests that it should go directly to the Town or Parish Council or neighbourhood so that they receive budget to undertake other projects related to improving the community.  There might be scope for any Town Team also to apply to use this money.

• Find out more in our Localism section on the website

Presumption in Favour of High Street for development

Recommendation 14: Make explicit a presumption in favour of town centre development in the wording of the National Planning Policy Framework

We welcome this recommendation and put forward a suggestion to this effect in our response to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – ie. maintaining the ‘town centres first’ policy approach which means that retail and leisure developments should look for locations in town centres first, and only if suitable sites are not available look for edge of centre and then out of town centre sites.

• Find out more about the NPPF

Recommendation 15: Introduce Secretary of State “exceptional sign off” for all new out-of-town developments and require all large new developments to have an “affordable shops” quota

We are often contacted by towns who are worried about the impact that a large out of town development will have on their existing town centre and retail offer.  Complimentary to the previous recommendation, this could provide a useful way of providing communities with a greater opportunity to debate the issues concerning them and ensure that new developments really have been thought through with the aim of contributing to the sustainability of an existing business and residential community rather than taking away from it.

AMT published a report exploring the impact of multiples on town centres and strategies for coping.

• Find out more about our Town Centre Comeback report here

Multiples and independents work together

Recommendation 16: Large retailers should support and mentor local businesses and independent retailers

Our Town Centre Comeback report explores how to work proactively with both multiples and supermarkets for the greater good of the whole community.  AMT would welcome greater input from the large retailers in sharing good practice and creating new partnerships with independent stores.

Recommendation 17: Retailers should report on their support of local high streets in their annual report

Vibrant town centres of the future require a strong foundation of partnership working and sharing of ideas.  Many towns are already using loyalty cards as a way of rewarding return custom and sharing good practice.  Some schemes go one step further and record the data relating to spend so that the shopkeeper has a greater picture of their retailing pattern.

My Card is an example of this which enables retailers to gather detailed information singularly and collectively about their retail performance and high street performance.  In addition, My Card enables a fraction of spend to be deposited directly into a local charity or town partnership.

• If you are thinking of setting up a loyalty scheme then take a look at our Local Loyalty Guide

Innovative solutions to promote the broader community role of the town centre

Recommendation 4: Establish a new “National Market Day” where budding shopkeepers can try their hand at operating a low-cost retail business

AMT is supporting Independent Retailer Month planned for July.  Giving people the opportunity to test out their retail skills is also a welcome approach and there is much experience to build on here.  Huntingdonshire District Council was a regional winner of the 2011 Action for Market Towns Awards for their project ‘Make it Your Own Market’.

The programme combines free advice on how to set up your own market trader business with discounts on market stall pitches and the free loan of market stall equipment. It offers tailormade start-up advice for potential market traders and removes barriers.

If you’re interested in starting a market stall business you can attend a 3 hour workshop, completely free of charge. The workshop covers how to plan, structure, research and set up a market stall business as well as the nitty gritty of tax, national insurance and VAT.  Participants get tips on how best to display goods, look after customers and find additional advice and support for a new business.

Recommendation 27: Support imaginative community use of empty properties through Community Right to Buy, Meanwhile Use and a new “Community Right to Try”

AMT supports bringing empty properties back into use and welcomes the concept of a right to try.  We support the work that the Empty Shops Network has been doing – empty shops reused can support new business and old, give space to creative industry and social enterprise alike, and add art, culture, community and fun to our high streets. It’s easy to use empty shops, for community projects or a pop-up shop.

Many of our members are leading the way in terms of bringing unused, and often run-down properties back into use.

For example a former car showroom was transformed by Barnard Castle Vision into NeST Business and Community Hub – an art gallery, cafeteria and hot-desk work-hub for creative and digital businesses. The gallery and cafeteria opened in August 2010, followed by hot-desking space for digital and creative businesses. The project received a regional award in the 2011 Action for Market Towns Awards.

What next?

• Read the Press release, AMT Response to the Portas review, including a quote from AMT’s Chief executive Chris Wade, here
• Come to AMT’s Town Centre Solutions workshop in February to develop a template to ensure the vibrancy of your town
• Come to AMT’s Towns Alive: thriving alongside supermarkets event
• Download the AMT 21st Century Towns report here

The report is based on AMT’s work in developing policy and devising practical solutions in towns across the UK.]]> Press release: 13 October 2011

New 21st Century Town Centres Report explains practical steps to help town centres to survive and to thrive

• New report offers a new vision for town centres
• Explains 5 key practical steps to turn vision to reality
• Outlines NEW approaches to revitalising town centres

Town centres and high streets are under enormous strain. Household spending is falling, shops are closing and public spending is being squeezed. If our town centres are to survive and thrive again, we need to think more radically and more intelligently about their future.

The government has commissioned Mary Portas to conduct a review of the UK’s high streets. Action for Market Towns (AMT) today launched a new 21st Century Town Centresreport, summarizing a new vision for our town centres and outlining some steps we can take to turn it into reality. The report is based on AMT’s work in developing policy and devising practical solutions in towns across the UK.

Download the 21st Century Town Centres Report here

Alternatively, copies for press are available on request from news@towns.org.uk or by calling 07904 272 200.

Key elements of the report – ‘the vision’ and ‘making it happen – practical steps to turn the vision to reality for towns’ are summarized below.

AMT’s Policy Manager, Alison Eardley, said:

“What the future holds for our town centres is a concern shared by the majority of our members especially in light of the recent recession and the continuing strain on consumer spending.

“Action for Market Towns has long championed the important multi-faceted role that the town centre plays and has been working with communities on a wide range of initiatives such as benchmarking, tourism development, retail competitiveness and accessibility.

“We encourage Mary Portas, in her review into the UK’s high street, not only to improve the opportunities available to the independent retailer but also to explore the wider role of the town centre as a focal point for neighbourhoods and social activity.

“Our new report suggests tried and tested practical ways of encouraging people back into the town centre with innovative solutions and promoting a sustainable future for the centres that make our many small towns so distinctive.”

Photographs are available of Alison and of some of AMT’s member towns which have implemented innovative town centre revival schemes.

Key content from the report

The vision:
1. There’s no going back – but that doesn’t mean our towns will die. We need to find ways to turn the crisis into an opportunity.

2. Unique places, not clone towns. Every place is different and any response to the challenges we face must respect and celebrate that difference.

3. Each place needs to be collectively animated by the people who live there or visit it, not just planned or managed.

4. To create and manage town centres that work well in the future we need a multifunctional approach. Successful local centres are about much more than shopping. They are about enjoyment, creativity, learning, socialising, culture, health and wellbeing and democratic engagement.

5. To respond to the challenges we face we need information. We need to know likely future trends and issues. Local centres need to be able to match and surpass the smart information systems of Tesco or Amazon.

6. A town centre is a civic space, not a private one, and everyone has a role to play. Successful town centres will be places where all stakeholders – including supermarkets and multiples, and landlords and local authorities, are aware of their responsibilities and opportunities.

Making it happen – 5 steps to turn the vision into reality

AMT has played a key role in developing tools we can use and practical approaches to turn a vision to reality. 5 key points can be drawn from AMT’s experience:

1. Develop local leadership - To achieve lasting change, action must be led by local people. The Localism Bill will enable resident-led approaches to become more widespread, and AMT has developed a number of resources to help in this process – as well as a brand new ‘Partnership MOT’ and ‘Community Plan MOT’ offer to help communities ensure their local partnerships and plans are fit for purpose.

2. Understand the town – decide what evidence to collect about the town and its competitors. Understand the town’s role within the hierarchy of town centres nearby and its function. AMT has developed a range of tools to help people think through these issues. These range from standalone approaches such as signage audits or mystery shopping, to a comprehensive approach that benchmarks a town against others.

3. Assess the options – then do something! There may be basic issues that could be improved easily. AMT can show how other towns have put improvements into practice. Case studies of its Action for Market Towns National Award winners are freely available here

4. Project manage improvements – draw up your plan of action and ensure it and your vision are widely communicated. It can be helpful to think of your town as a department store with consistent facilities, marketing message and brand. All sorts of activities take place within it, but everyone sees them as part of a whole, and the reputation of the whole place depends on each functioning well. AMT’s Town Action Planning handbook provides a step–by-step guide.

5. Review and sustain - once a programme of improvement is underway, it’s vital to keep it under regular review and make sure it is viable in the long term. Measure improvements using AMT’s benchmarking tools and customer surveys and use a proportion of the increased spending or investment in the town to sustain town centre partnerships or managers.

Collaborate to innovate

AMT is also working with partners to develop two new approaches to revitalising town centres. Both are covered in the 21st Century Town Centres Report.

The first, High Street UK, is a comprehensive approach that is led by local residents; the second, My Card, is a new service designed to increase local loyalty and keep money within the local community.

A range of resources and case studies relating to town centre improvement are available on the Action for Market Towns website, www.towns.org.uk

Interviews and more information

Alison Eardley, Policy Manager of AMT is available for interview.

For interviews or for more information contact Jamie Veitch on 07904 272 200 or news@towns.org.uk

Notes to editors:

1. Action for Market Towns (AMT) is a national charity committed to the vitality and viability of our small towns. www.towns.org.uk
2. It has a national network of members and works with Town Councils, Community and town partnerships, emerging Local Enterprise Partnerships, Local Authorities, and independent  / selected partner businesses
3. It offers training, consultancy, national advocacy and a range of other services to more than 400 members.
4. AMT is working with a wider network of organisations to ensure that the Portas review is informed by imaginative ideas and practical solutions.
5. For details of the broader group of organisations involved in the town centres network, visit http://reviveourcentres.ning.com/
6. For press enquiries please contact Jamie Veitch on 07904 272 200 or email news@towns.org.uk

What next?

• Download the 21st Century Town Centres Report here
• Find out more about My Card – the smart local loyalty programme

Shirebrook has experienced rising levels of unemployment and low aspirations over many years. Recent investment in the town has begun to raise aspirations and new employment opportunities are being offered.]]> Derelict railway building becomes home for new businesses

Shirebrook has experienced rising levels of unemployment and low aspirations over many years.

Recent investment in the town has begun to raise aspirations and new employment opportunities are being offered.

As part of the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative, a BizFizz advisor was located in Shirebrook, with the aim of encouraging local people to establish their own businesses.

The BizFizz programme has been a greater success than predicted, with over 50 local businesses created.  However, success brought its own problem – the lack of accommodation available across Shirebrook for businesses as they continued to grow out of the ‘back bedroom’.

Job creation on the move

With the majority of business premises occupied, further accommodation was needed.  This project aimed to provide appropriately-sized offices in a location where businesses had established their customer base – so in came the former railway ticket office, a derelict building which had been untouched for 10 years.

Construction on site started in June 2008, involving full external works including a new roof – retaining existing tiles where possible, and new windows in line with requirements of the council’s conservation officer – both to restore the original character of the building.

Internally, work has been carried out to restore original features of the building, for example using lime plaster on the walls, provide the required facilities – from new office units, kitchenette, toilets and a waiting area, to heating, lighting, communication and ICT including broadband, and meet all Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) requirements.

A job well done

The project was completed in March 2009 with the premises finished to a high standard, providing high quality, affordable, self-contained accommodation complete with car parking and good transport links.

The local business advisor and a private sector businessman established a social enterprise to manage the centre.

The local business community, railway history interest groups, and Shirebrook Secondary School’s history group have all been involved in the project’s development, as well as providing public information displays for the building’s waiting room that showcase the extensive history of the building and the railway line.

Lead organisation: Bolsover District Council
Key partners: Groundwork Creswell, Potts Parry Ives and Young (PPIY) Architects, Railway Heritage Trust, Alliance for Enterprise, Shirebrook Business Services Ltd

Shirebrook Business Centre won the Business and Economy category and was the overall winner of the East Midlands Action for Market Towns Awards.

What next?

• Join Action for Market Towns for access to our valuable database of case studies (including a detailed study of this Award-winning project and contacts), policy and practice research, and much more (AMT members read the full case study here)
• Find out more about the Action for Market Towns Awards
• Visit the AMT Forum to ask: How can we make best use of redundant buildings?