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| Don't abandon retail. People will always want the High Street | Don't abandon retail. People will always want the High Street |
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| No one has explicitly said it yet. But the suggestion that it might be time to give up on retail is starting to get louder. The latest Local Data Company report, entitled Too Many Shops makes it clear that we need to bring forward the prospect of alternative uses. Local authorities are already starting the process of turning empty shops into homes. And this week a Greater London Authority debate suggested councils would have to kill some high streets to save others. All this defeatism is against a background of growing indifference in Westminster. Where Government once loudly vowed to save the high street, there's now only the sound of wind whistling down an empty lane. Since the reshuffle of Grant Shapps there hasn't been one single high street announcement from Government. "Business needs champions, more than ever," David Cameron told the country six months ago. Yet, at a time when retail, the UK's largest private sector employer, and one that contributes 20% to GDP no less, is hemorrhaging confidence, there's not so much a show of support from ministers as a resigned shrug of indifference. The recession has taken its toll here in the north west and retailers are angry at the lack of real action by Government to support the high street. In the region with the highest number of empty shops in the country no one is impressed with the Government committing less to its flagship Portas Pilot policy than Jordan Henderson's transfer fee to Liverpool. Equally, no one is under any illusion that the high street model of today is sustainable. There are 46,000 empty shops and that's way too many. Yes, the model of yesterday has gone and town centres will never be the same in an era of omni-channel retailing. But that's still no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater and give up on retail. | No one has explicitly said it yet. But the suggestion that it might be time to give up on retail is starting to get louder. The latest Local Data Company report, entitled Too Many Shops makes it clear that we need to bring forward the prospect of alternative uses. Local authorities are already starting the process of turning empty shops into homes. And this week a Greater London Authority debate suggested councils would have to kill some high streets to save others. All this defeatism is against a background of growing indifference in Westminster. Where Government once loudly vowed to save the high street, there's now only the sound of wind whistling down an empty lane. Since the reshuffle of Grant Shapps there hasn't been one single high street announcement from Government. "Business needs champions, more than ever," David Cameron told the country six months ago. Yet, at a time when retail, the UK's largest private sector employer, and one that contributes 20% to GDP no less, is hemorrhaging confidence, there's not so much a show of support from ministers as a resigned shrug of indifference. The recession has taken its toll here in the north west and retailers are angry at the lack of real action by Government to support the high street. In the region with the highest number of empty shops in the country no one is impressed with the Government committing less to its flagship Portas Pilot policy than Jordan Henderson's transfer fee to Liverpool. Equally, no one is under any illusion that the high street model of today is sustainable. There are 46,000 empty shops and that's way too many. Yes, the model of yesterday has gone and town centres will never be the same in an era of omni-channel retailing. But that's still no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater and give up on retail. |
Let's consider for a second the benefits of UK retail. It's a big employer, counting for 10.5% of all jobs. In terms of youngsters it accounts for 40% of all under 20's employment. It's a sector that spends 12% of the UK's total investment in training and one that delivers value for money, with goods on average 5% cheaper than the Eurozone and clothes 20% cheaper. It's valuable to the Treasury too. Retailers make a substantial contribution to the Exchequer paying £18billion from the four largest taxes alone. They use fewer Corporation Tax exemptions than other sectors and pay 28% of all business rates. There was a time when the economist Adam Smith said government should listen to our nation of shopkeepers. If Government today were to heed this advice they'd be told in no uncertain terms that bringing in the biggest business rates rise in 20 years during a recession was a foolish policy that could only do great damage to the high street. With reduced consumer spending, too many failed local authority regeneration efforts and counterproductive car parking rises, increased overheads in the form of unrealistic business rates has made retail simply no longer viable in many places. But that doesn't mean the alternative use brigade can proclaim a new beginning for our high street. If the costs have become too prohibitive for retail on our high street how do we think alternative uses can make it pay? Yes there are soft deals to be had. However, this is not sustainable for landlords in the long term. They are businesses too. Too many social enterprises and not for profit organisations with alternative uses will impact upon the nation's coffers through reduced rate income. This will ultimately impact upon front line services. | Let's consider for a second the benefits of UK retail. It's a big employer, counting for 10.5% of all jobs. In terms of youngsters it accounts for 40% of all under 20's employment. It's a sector that spends 12% of the UK's total investment in training and one that delivers value for money, with goods on average 5% cheaper than the Eurozone and clothes 20% cheaper. It's valuable to the Treasury too. Retailers make a substantial contribution to the Exchequer paying £18billion from the four largest taxes alone. They use fewer Corporation Tax exemptions than other sectors and pay 28% of all business rates. There was a time when the economist Adam Smith said government should listen to our nation of shopkeepers. If Government today were to heed this advice they'd be told in no uncertain terms that bringing in the biggest business rates rise in 20 years during a recession was a foolish policy that could only do great damage to the high street. With reduced consumer spending, too many failed local authority regeneration efforts and counterproductive car parking rises, increased overheads in the form of unrealistic business rates has made retail simply no longer viable in many places. But that doesn't mean the alternative use brigade can proclaim a new beginning for our high street. If the costs have become too prohibitive for retail on our high street how do we think alternative uses can make it pay? Yes there are soft deals to be had. However, this is not sustainable for landlords in the long term. They are businesses too. Too many social enterprises and not for profit organisations with alternative uses will impact upon the nation's coffers through reduced rate income. This will ultimately impact upon front line services. |
| If we want to see diverse high streets with great shops once again at the heart of our communities then Government seriously needs to take a radical approach to business rates, which are proving to be a hindrance to entrepreneurial drive. We're becoming a nation that takes a lot in taxes but gives nothing back. It's no surprise that chains like Kurt Geiger are now looking to expand overseas because of unreasonably high business rates. For their store in Gateshead they pay £160,000 in business rates. The chief executive explains: | If we want to see diverse high streets with great shops once again at the heart of our communities then Government seriously needs to take a radical approach to business rates, which are proving to be a hindrance to entrepreneurial drive. We're becoming a nation that takes a lot in taxes but gives nothing back. It's no surprise that chains like Kurt Geiger are now looking to expand overseas because of unreasonably high business rates. For their store in Gateshead they pay £160,000 in business rates. The chief executive explains: |
| It basically makes the store completely unviable. For a comparable store in the US and Germany, we would pay local taxes of just £10,000. | It basically makes the store completely unviable. For a comparable store in the US and Germany, we would pay local taxes of just £10,000. |
Not so long ago I spoke to a retail trendspotter who works for a major department store chain. He laughed at my question about whether the Internet would signal the end of the high street: | Not so long ago I spoke to a retail trendspotter who works for a major department store chain. He laughed at my question about whether the Internet would signal the end of the high street: |
| Nonsense. People will always want to go to the high street because they want to discover things and they want to be with people in a bustling environment. You can't try a dress on over the Internet. You get the 'wow moment' when you pull it off the rack. | Nonsense. People will always want to go to the high street because they want to discover things and they want to be with people in a bustling environment. You can't try a dress on over the Internet. You get the 'wow moment' when you pull it off the rack. |
Retailers know this. But they know high streets have to offer a lot more than they currently do to win customers back. To do this we need Government's help to tackle empty shops. The new minister with responsibility for high streets, Mark Prisk, was formerly a small business minister who should be acutely aware of the needs and pressure on small businesses. If he brings this understanding to his new ministerial job along with a sense of urgency then there is still hope for high streets. It's time to move on from competitions and carrots and look at sustainable policy to keep our nation of shopkeepers trading. | Retailers know this. But they know high streets have to offer a lot more than they currently do to win customers back. To do this we need Government's help to tackle empty shops. The new minister with responsibility for high streets, Mark Prisk, was formerly a small business minister who should be acutely aware of the needs and pressure on small businesses. If he brings this understanding to his new ministerial job along with a sense of urgency then there is still hope for high streets. It's time to move on from competitions and carrots and look at sustainable policy to keep our nation of shopkeepers trading. |
| Paul Turner-Mitchell is a passionate campaigner for North West retail, whether it be taking 'shop local' campaigns to Downing Street, getting his local council to introduce free car parking or setting up an independent flagship local emporium of independent retailers. The owner of Rochdale's 25 Ten boutique writes columns for Drapers and Retail Week and was also a contributor to Mary Portas' high street review. He was recently included in the Drapers 2011 top 100 Powerlist as one of the most influential people in fashion. | Paul Turner-Mitchell is a passionate campaigner for North West retail, whether it be taking 'shop local' campaigns to Downing Street, getting his local council to introduce free car parking or setting up an independent flagship local emporium of independent retailers. The owner of Rochdale's 25 Ten boutique writes columns for Drapers and Retail Week and was also a contributor to Mary Portas' high street review. He was recently included in the Drapers 2011 top 100 Powerlist as one of the most influential people in fashion. |
| Read the Guardian Northerner's current two-part debate on the north-south divide and the UK economy here and here. | Read the Guardian Northerner's current two-part debate on the north-south divide and the UK economy here and here. |
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