Can Mary Portas save our disappearing high streets?

RETAILERS and small businesses across Scotland have welcomed a new study that warns high streets are in danger of “disappearing forever” unless urgent action is taken.

Research published yesterday by the UK government and retail consultant Mary Portas – television’s “Mary Queen of Shops” – said that a third are “degenerating or failing”, with forecasts suggesting less than 40 per cent of retail spending will take place on the high street by 2014.

The report proposes a raft of measures to stem shop closures, including free parking, annual “market days” and changes to planning legislation.

The Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland said the findings ought to “add fuel” to the debate over the future of high streets, and called for intervention at a local authority and national government level.

The Scottish Government said it wants to see “thriving town centres” and pointed to its scheme that removes the business rates burden for tens of thousands of properties across the country.

Ms Portas found that over the past decade, out-of-town retail floorspace has increased by almost a third, while in towns it has shrunk by 14 per cent.

As part of her Portas Report, she proposed new “town teams” to improve the management of high streets, more affordable parking and removal of red tape.

“Our high streets are a really important part of pulling people together in a way that a supermarket or shopping mall – however convenient, entertaining and slick – can’t,” she said.

“Our high streets can be lively, dynamic, exciting and social places that give a sense of belonging and trust to a community. Something which, as the recent riots clearly demonstrated, has been eroded and in some instances eradicated.

“I fundamentally believe once we invest in and create social capital in the heart of our communities, the economic capital will follow.”

But she added: “Those who see high streets purely in commercial terms need a reality check, because, without the engagement and collaboration of local people, many high streets will die and retailers, landlords and local authorities alike will see their investment wasted.”

Ms Portas said the way Britons shopped had changed “beyond recognition” forever, courtesy of online and mobile retailing, and high streets must deliver something new.

“Although some high streets are thriving, most have a fight on their hands, many are sickly, others are on the critical list and some are now dead,” she said.

“We cannot and should not attempt to save every high street but my findings have led me to believe that unless urgent action is taken, the casualties will only continue to multiply.”

She made 28 recommendations which will now be studied in detail by the Department for Communities and Local Government and other Whitehall departments.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the government would review the report and respond next spring.

He said: “The high street should be at the very heart of every community, bringing people together, providing essential services and creating jobs and investment; so it is vital that we do all that we can to ensure they thrive.

“I am delighted that 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 street.”

Andy Willox, policy convener for the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland, said: “While many of the Portas Review’s recommendations are focused on English towns, there’s no doubt this comprehensive report will add fuel to the debate north of the Border.

“For years, the FSB in Scotland has been working hard on this issue and developing innovative town centre policy. If we want to turn around our high streets and town centres, we need to get more economically active people into them conducting a wider range of activities.

“That’s why we made a call in June for more Scottish local authorities to provide suitable and affordable non-retail business space in our town centres. As the report notes, there are no quick-fix solutions, and while a separate Scottish report may not be necessary, action by government at all levels in Scotland certainly is.”

A report earlier this year by Dr Mark Robertson, a partner at Ryden, the largest independent commercial property consultancy in Scotland, found the health of high streets north of the Border was faring well in comparison with their counterparts across the UK.

Whereas the average vacancy rate for town centres at the end of 2010 stood at 14.5 per cent, in Scotland the figure was 12.6 per cent, the lowest of any region.

Nonetheless, he also highlighted a “dramatic fall” in the number of retailers looking for premises over the past decade. In Edinburgh, for example, there were 124 specific requirements made by companies for retail space in April 2000. Ten years later, the number of inquiries had tailed off to just 38.

Paul Rounce, associate in planning development and regeneration at commercial property consultants GVA in Scotland, said the Portas Report’s recommendation that making explicit policy reference to presume in favour of town-centre development would not be enough to deliver development.

He added: “Similarly, the report’s suggestion that only in exceptional circumstance should any out-of-town-centre development be considered acceptable, also has the potential to contradict the sustainable economic development agenda.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said it wanted to see thriving town centres across the country, “and that is why are maintaining the Small Business Bonus Scheme, which has removed the business rates burden for over 85,000 business properties and maintained Scotland as the most competitive place to do business in the UK.”

The key ideas from the report:

• Put in place a “Town Team”, a visionary, strategic operational management team for high streets

• Establish a “National Market Day” where shopkeepers can try their hand

• Make it easier for people to become market traders

• Business rate concessions for new local businesses

• Free controlled parking schemes

• Try to increase high street deregulation

• Make it easier to change the uses of key properties on the high street

• Banks that own empty high street properties should either run them well or be required to sell them

• More use of compulsory purchase powers to encourage redevelopment