Issue No.

13 : December 2011

Portas Reports:
The Long awaited Report into our High Streets has been published. As this is a major report and raises many issues close to all our hearts, this edition of View is a Mary Portas Special

A View from the BIDs:

Recognising the growing challenge to town centres, the Coalition Government commissioned the independent Mary Portas High Street Review in spring of this year under the lead of Ed Davey MP, Consumer Affairs Minister in the Department of Business Innovation and Skills. It is clear to all concerned that the scale of the problem is vast and that quick fixes alone will not suffice.

BIDs in a leading role

British BIDs welcomed the focus that this review put on our high streets and in particular on Business Improvement Districts as management and leadership vehicles for the success of those high streets. We were actively engaged in the process from start to finish offering advice, expertise, best practice and case studies alongside our involvement in the various review-led think tank and discussion sessions. In parallel with this, we took a number of opportunities over recent months to engage with our members and partners within the BID industry. One of these was in our Bb Leadership Network Dialogue paper No.2 on the The Future of Town Centres, where we debated all the key issues and stated that manageable outcomes that recognise the scale of the challenge will be required for the review to achieve real traction going forward. In its seven year history, the BID industry has more than proven its ability to add value and leadership to Britains town centres and this has been fully recognised within the Portas report and by government ministers. We highlighted a number of key aspects in our response to the review, all of which, we are delighted to report have been taken on board throughout the recommendations of the report. The Town Team concept from the report is what we do. It is BIDs firmly at the forefront and proving Localism in action. The recommendations well describes the way BIDs operate at a local level. We are naturally pleased to see encouragement for the influence and remit of BIDs along the lines of those mature and advanced Bb Accredited BIDs that operate at a strategic level within their area. Linked to this is support for formally involving property owners in BIDs through an owner levy, the solutions for which we have been leading over recent years. Establishing a register of high street landlords will further assist in its delivery.

Planning
Planning is clearly a key component of managing the viability of town centres and the report supports the principles of Town Centre First policy together with a re-casting of planning use classes to open up the high street and provide the opportunity for more flexible space provision. Parking in town centres is a crucial factor in defining the accessibility and affordability of the high street offer and as such this has been recognised in the report. This is also an area where BIDs are already offering innovative solutions.

Bb View brought to you by

Issue No. 13 : December 2011

Financially, there are challenges in town centres to make the overall offer stack up and support through business rates and other subsidies, particularly to small businesses, has been recognised in the report. British BIDs is also at the forefront or promoting these essential incentives with Government. The concept of Community High Streets has been reinforced through the report by recognising that the success of the high street is not just about retail and that a functional hub must be created to drive footfall to locations. Finally, although reference was made to pilot studies, we would hope to see a greater focus on learning from the exemplars that already exist with the 124 BIDs across the country, together with identifying ways in which we can see further support the growth of this successful concept. We recommend a government guaranteed revolving loan fund to support the set up of future BIDs, which will truly enable the expansion of the Town Team approach across the UK.

Dr Julie Grail

The Report:
Retail expert Mary Portas has set out her vision for Britain's high streets, warning that "after many years of erosion, neglect and mismanagement" they will "disappear forever" unless urgent action is taken. She has recommended a range of planning policy incentives along with a new tax on car parks in out-of-town malls, as well as free parking in town centres to lure shoppers back to the high street. The long-awaited review from Portas, sets out 28 recommendations to breathe new life into Britain's ailing high streets (listed below). She wants to get town centres running like businesses, by strengthening the management of high streets through new "town teams" and encouraging new markets. She proposed an annual national market day where budding entrepreneurs can try their hand at running a retail business. "Why not rent out tables for a tenner and get everyone involved?" Marks & Spencer started as a market stall. Another key point is levelling the playing field with out-of-town malls by ensuring a strong town centre-first approach in planning and encouraging large retailers to show their support for high streets. Portas said: "I don't want to live in a Britain that doesn't care about community. And I believe that our high streets are a really important part of pulling people together in a way that a supermarket or shopping mall, however convenient, however entertaining and however slick, just never can." She proposed "Swapshops" where people can exchange and sell goods for money or services; turning vacant units into schools, gyms and nurseries; and bringing back bingo to the high street. During the last seven months Portas met hundreds of retailers, property developers and town planners including significant input from British BIDs. The recession and changing shopping habits have taken their toll with more than one in seven shops standing empty. Vacancy rates have doubled in the last two years.

Bb View brought to you by

Issue No. 13 : December 2011

The Reactions:
Christine Cross, chief retail adviser to PricewaterhouseCoopers: "Certainly the revival of town markets for both food and non-food would stimulate small producers to focus on the consumer and provide some additional theatre on the high street. The questions are around speed and practicality of implementation. We have already flagged that many retailers are finding they have too much space on the high street, as out of town and online retail grows, and reinvigorating town centres that rely on expensive and minimal car parking is a real challenge. Tax breaks need to be given to chains as well as independent entrepreneurs to stimulate the market." Jonathan De Mello, head of CBRE's retail consultancy: "While some of the proposals seem reasonable, these measures alone will not be sufficient to 'save' the high street. The success of out-of-town centres in recent years is largely down to shoppers voting with their feet, and retailers choosing to trade in such centres as a result. Making it more difficult for these centres to trade which seems to be a key element of the Portas review would be self defeating, as it is unlikely that these retailers will make wholesale changes to their location strategy as a result." David Cameron: "Mary Portas has produced such a clear vision on how we can create vibrant and diverse town centres and breathe life back into our high streets". The government will publish its response next spring. James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores: "Local shops will welcome this important report. It puts the focus on a crisis facing our high streets and sets out a blueprint for government action. We will now work to make sure these recommendations are implemented as fast as possible. Customers want to use their local high street and are increasingly doing so, but rising costs and competition with cheapto-build out-of-town retail parks are skewing the market and making it harder for retailers in town." A Labour party spokesperson: "As well as the longer term problems Mary Portas has identified, the government's decision to cut too far too fast is hurting the high street and the wider economy. If Mary Portas' experience and ideas are to bear fruit in revitalising our high streets which we all want to see then David Cameron and George Osborne must wake up to the damage their economic policy is causing families and traders alike."

The Recommendations:
1. Put in place a Town Team: a visionary, strategic and strong operational management team for high streets 2. Empower successful Business Improvement Districts to take on more responsibilities and powers and become Super-BIDs 3. Legislate to allow landlords to become high street investors by contributing to their Business Improvement District

Bb View brought to you by

Issue No. 13 : December 2011

4. Establish a new National Market Day where budding shopkeepers can try their hand at operating a lowcost retail business 5. Make it easier for people to become market traders by removing unnecessary regulations so that anyone can trade on the high street unless there is a valid reason why not 6. Government should consider whether business rates can better support small businesses and independent retailers 7. Local authorities should use their new discretionary powers to give business rate concessions to new local businesses 8. Make business rates work for business by reviewing the use of the RPI with a view to changing the calculation to CPI 9. Local areas should implement free controlled parking schemes that work for their town centres and we should have a new parking league table 10. Town Teams should focus on making high streets accessible, attractive and safe 11. Government should include high street deregulation as part of their ongoing work on freeing up red tape 12. Address the restrictive aspects of the Use Class system to make it easier to change the uses of key properties on the high street 13. Put betting shops into a separate Use Class of their own 14. Make explicit a presumption in favour of town centre development in the wording of the National Planning Policy Framework 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 16. Large retailers should support and mentor local businesses and independent retailers 17. Retailers should report on their support of local high streets in their annual report 18. Encourage a contract of care between landlords and their commercial tenants by promoting the leasing code and supporting the use of lease structures other than upward only rent reviews, especially for small businesses 19. Explore further disincentives to prevent landlords from leaving units vacant 20. Banks who own empty property on the high street should either administer these assets well or be required to sell them 21. Local authorities should make more proactive use of Compulsory Purchase Order powers to encourage the redevelopment of key high street retail space 22. Empower local authorities to step in when landlords are negligent with new Empty Shop Management Orders 23. Introduce a public register of high street landlords 24. Run a high profile campaign to get people involved in Neighbourhood Plans 25. Promote the inclusion of the High Street in Neighbourhood Plans 26. Developers should make a financial contribution to ensure that the local community has a strong voice in the planning system 27. Support imaginative community use of empty properties through Community Right to Buy, Meanwhile Use and a new Community Right to Try 28. Run a number of High Street Pilots to test proof of concept This is the last issue of View before Christmas and the Holiday Season. The next issue will be available in the first week of January

Bb View brought to you by

Issue No. 13 : December 2011

We wish all readers and contributors our best wishes for the Holiday Season and a Happy (and hopefully prosperous!) New Year

View Editor: ian@thegreenbrain.co.uk

Bb View brought to you by