A change of focus to save our town centres

Much has been written about the struggles of the British high street, with many commentators primarily forecasting its death knell as a result of the growth of e-commerce and the on-line shop.

Brent Forbes, commercial director at Petty Commercial Property.

These challenges don’t mean the end of the high street, but they do highlight that it is essential for all stakeholders in the health of our town centres to recognise the threat and to adapt in order to continue to attract people.

The way to do this is to offer something that can’t be replicated online.

More enlightened developers and local authorities are achieving this by adjusting the planning emphasis, allowing a greater mix of retail, leisure, food & beverage outlets (F&B), office and residential and creating an “experience” of visiting a town centre.

It can’t be denied that F&B operators attract people and nationally they now account for almost 15% of total unit take-up in the last 12 months.

By relaxing the number of F&B outlets traditionally allowed it has helped address the decline in footfall which has a positive knock on effect for other businesses on the high street too.

Couple this with securing key anchor tenants and the opportunity to use retail and old office space as much needed housing and the look and feel of our high streets could be saved. Planners and local authorities should see town centres as places for the community to live, meet, socialise, work and shop. In Burnley we’ve managed to use all of the above to good effect. By changing our perception of what a successful town centre looks like, and refocusing on flexibility and “placemaking” we have the opportunity to create vibrant hubs, which cater for our diverse commercial, leisure and social needs.