Repositioning the High Street
Dr Steve Millington Prof Cathy Parker
s.millington@mmu.ac.uk
Presentation Structure
• Introduction
• Repositioning
• Collecting data
• Conclusions
– examples
Source: http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/49738000/jpg/_49738810_3368412.jpg
Anticipating and adapting to change
But how does a place reposition itself?
What are the practical steps it can take?
REPOSITIONING
WHY ARE WE LOOKING AT
REPOSITIONING?
What is repositioning: academic view
• A strategy to:
– counteract decline
• Accommodating
future trends
(Smith, 2004)
– enable places to
identify distinct
capabilities and
develop competitive
advantages
(Kavaratzis & Ashworth,
2008; Edensor, 1998)
– ageing population
– growth of e-commerce
What is your current position?
• Traditional metrics:
– Vacancy rates and pedestrian flow perceived to be
most useful (easiest to collect)
• These do not always reflect actual performance:
– retail turnover (sales)
• Cannot help planning and adapting for change:
– catchment / demographic change
Academic/policy view on strategic repositioning
not reflected by the type of data collected on
high streets in practice
MISMATCH
Number of local authorities surveyed by NRPF
who thought demographic information should
be collected as part of any ‘health check’
1 IN 18
Repositioning in practice
• Local Authorities lack sufficient resources to fulfil
the data requirements of repositioning, ‘Health
Checks’, or even what they themselves
want/need to monitor (NRPF, 2000)
• Lack of evidence / data undermines ability to
challenge OOT development etc. and to ensure
Local Plans are updated in line with structural
changes in retail/catchment (NRPF, 2000)
Repositioning in practice for
HSUK2020 (NPPF, 2012)
• Where is your high street now?
• Are conditions are improving, static or declining?
• Where are you in “a network and hierarchy of centres that
is resilient to anticipated future economic changes”?
• Where town centres are in decline are local planning
authorities planning positively for their future to encourage
economic activity?
The guidance recommends you do
this, but provides little direction on
how: therefore;
SUSTAINABLE HIGH STREETS
NEED TO GATHER OWN DATA
COLLECTING DATA
Vital and Viable Town Centres
(URBED, PPG6 etc)
•
•
•
•
Pedestrian footfall
Diversity of uses and change
Quality of built environment
Recent and proposed
investment
• Accessibility
• Attitudes and perceptions
• Retailer representation and
demand
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Commercial yields and retail
rents
Vacancy rates
Cultural and social events
Leisure and cultural facilities
Town centre residential
population
Employment in the town centre
Street safety
Sense of place
Collecting data: audit
• What data have you got?
In-house
• Who has got data?
In partnership
• What data should you have?
• Where do you access data?
• Do you have the skills to
access the data
• What do you do with data?
Freely available
Commercially available
4
Amount of influence location has over factor
Child-minding centre
Not worth it!
3.5
Opening hours
Get on with it!
Deliveries
Leadership
3
2.5
2
Political climate
Methods of classification
Forget it!
1.5
Live with it!
Spatial structure
Location
1
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
Amount of influence factor has over vitality and viability
5
Consultation: vitality and viability
factors
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
ACTIVITY HOURS
APPEARANCE
RETAILERS
VISION&STRATEGY
EXPERIENCE
MANAGEMENT
MERCHANDISE
NECESSITIES
NETWORKS &
PARTNERSHIPS WITH
COUNCIL
• DIVERSITY
• WALKING
• ENTERTAINMENT AND
LEISURE
• ATTRACTIVENESS
• PLACE ASSURANCE
• ACCESSIBLE
• PLACE MARKETING
• RECREATIONAL SPACE
• LIVEABLE
• ADAPTABILITY
Consultation: repositioning factors
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
ACTIVITY HOURS
APPEARANCE
RETAILERS
VISION&STRATEGY
EXPERIENCE
MANAGEMENT
MERCHANDISE
NECESSITIES
NETWORKS &
PARTNERSHIPS WITH
COUNCIL
• Opening
hours
• DIVERSITY
• WALKING
• Shopping
hours
• ENTERTAINMENT AND
LEISURE
• Evening
/ Morning economy
• ATTRACTIVENESS
• PLACE ASSURANCE
• Market
Rasen servicing needs
• ACCESSIBLE
of •commuters
PLACE MARKETING
• RECREATIONAL SPACE
• LIVEABLE
• ADAPTABILITY
Consultation: repositioning factors
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
ACTIVITY HOURS
APPEARANCE
RETAILERS
VISION&STRATEGY
EXPERIENCE
MANAGEMENT
MERCHANDISE
NECESSITIES
NETWORKS &
PARTNERSHIPS WITH
COUNCIL
••
•
••
••
•
•
•
•
•
•
DIVERSITY
Retailer offer
WALKING
ENTERTAINMENT
AND
Retailer representation
LEISURE
ATTRACTIVENESS
Holmfirth trying to attract
PLACE
ASSURANCE
younger
people to work
ACCESSIBLE
in the centre
PLACE MARKETING
RECREATIONAL SPACE
LIVEABLE
ADAPTABILITY
Consultation: repositioning factors
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
ACTIVITY HOURS
• DIVERSITY
• Range
and quality of goods or
APPEARANCE
• WALKING
assortments
RETAILERS
• ENTERTAINMENT AND
LEISURE
VISION&STRATEGY
• ATTRACTIVENESS
• Ballymena
moving to a visitor
EXPERIENCE
• PLACE
ASSURANCE
economy
– existing
retailers
MANAGEMENT
• ACCESSIBLE
providing
merchandise to
MERCHANDISE
• PLACE
service
touristMARKETING
demand
NECESSITIES
• RECREATIONAL SPACE
NETWORKS &
PARTNERSHIPS WITH
• LIVEABLE
COUNCIL
• ADAPTABILITY
Consultation: repositioning factors
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
• ACTIVITY
Multi/mono-functional
HOURS
high streets
APPEARANCE
• RETAILERS
Connectivity
• VISION&STRATEGY
Liveability
• EXPERIENCE
Walkability
• DIVERSITY
• WALKING
• ENTERTAINMENT AND
LEISURE
• ATTRACTIVENESS
• PLACE ASSURANCE
MANAGEMENT
• MERCHANDISE
Altrincham repurposing • ACCESSIBLE
historic built environment • PLACE MARKETING
NECESSITIES
• RECREATIONAL SPACE
NETWORKS &
PARTNERSHIPS WITH
• LIVEABLE
COUNCIL
• ADAPTABILITY
Repositioning: evidence and data
• Merchandise
– Working with existing
business to adapt
• Activity hours
– Business owners
– Deliveries
• Retailers:
– Attract new entrants
– Removing barriers to entry
• Liveability
– Planning, property owners
– Conservation
– Vision/leadership
Conclusion: places need to…
• Understanding their customers
• Understand their catchment more effectively
• Understand how demographic and other trends
will impact on their centre
• And so ….
Income
Age
Education
Car ownership
Employment
EXAMPLE: KEY CATCHMENT
STATS
Key demographic indicators
Primary Catchment
Neighbourhood LSOA/MSOA
Secondary Catchment 5kms
Ward/LA
Tertiary Catchment 10-20kms
Sub-regional/county level
Outer Catchment
Regional/national
2008 Small Area Estimates – Income (ONS)
http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/HTMLDocs/incomeestimates.html
Congleton
Alsager
Congleton
Alsager
Altrincham
Useful links
Help and training as part of the project
Workshops through IPM Masterclass in Place
Intelligence
CALLS TO ACTION
Masterclass in place intelligence and
forecasting
• Collation, evaluation and analysis of place related
secondary data.
• Production of meaningful information from secondary
data
• Synthesising (displaying) data and dissemination
• Forecasting
• Modelling and scenario planning
• http://www.business.mmu.ac.uk/crpcc/executiveeducation.php
Useful links
•
Index of Multiple Deprivation
– https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/english-indices-of-deprivation
•
Neighbourhood Statistics
– http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/
•
Minimum Distance to Services
– https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/fi
le/246458/OA_2012.csv/preview
•
Historic Census data
– http://casweb.mimas.ac.uk/
•
UK Crime Stats
– http://www.ukcrimestats.com/
Free Mapping Opensource Stack
• http://postgis.net/
• http://www.qgis.org/en/site/
• Boundary data
• http://saspac.org/2012/10/30/2011-censusboundaries-spatial-data-and-lookups/