Small businesses can thrive in the high street
SIR – Even though recent figures suggest the failure of the Save the High Street campaign, following a (somewhat hopeful) grant of £1.2million shared between 12 towns (Letters, November 11), the original report by Mary Portas is worth a revisit.
Commissioned by David Cameron, her report was published back in 2011. BHS was still on the high street, online retailers hadn’t moved offline, Snapchat was only just launching and vape shops didn’t litter struggling high streets.
The retail world moves at an unbelievable pace, but I believe Mary Portas’s aspirations are still relevant, but are sadly unsupported by the Government.
Two of her recommendations that stand out are: addressing restrictive aspects of use-classification and making business rates work for retailers (particularly small and independent retailers).
Towards the end of her 2011 report, Ms Portas advocated three core components for shopkeepers to focus on: experience, service and specialism. More often than not, failure to deliver on these aspects leads to failure of the business.
However, just because retail was the primary function of high streets in the past, it doesn’t mean that it will be in the future. New ways of developing the high street also need to be encouraged.
Owain Roberts
Design Director, Gensler London E1