Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, the national retail Pathfinder, has today unveiled a new report and toolkit designed to breathe fresh life into the UK's town centres and high streets.
Gloucestershire LEP launches fresh approach to help the high street Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, the national retail Pathfinder, has today unveiled a new report and toolkit designed to breathe fresh life into the UK’s town centres and high streets. Successful town centres - developing effective strategies offers a series of tools that will empower retailers, communities and local planners to take action and ensure their town centre meets the changing demands of local residents and businesses, and the new 24 hour economy. Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, has been working on the project supported by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with the Association of Town & City Management and other partners. Today the report was launched at an event in Gloucester in front of town centre managers, town teams, LEPs and local authorities. Michael Fallon MP, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, said: "A successful retail sector needs thriving high streets and town centres - and successful high streets and town centres need a thriving retail sector. That is why BIS supported this work to help towns across the country find new ways to keep their high street at the heart of local economies. I congratulate Gloucestershire LEP and the Association of Town & City Management on their achievement."Diane Savory, chair of Gloucestershire LEP, said: “Local communities are passionate about their high streets and town centres. We now need to harness this passion and encourage these areas to develop their own personalities and unique traits. In the current economic climate and with the growth of online purchasing, it is now more important than ever for high streets to find their niche. Our toolkit and report help communities to work together with local authorities, town teams, LEPs and town centre managers to make sure our high streets thrive.” The tools include: · A town centre classification matrix linked to a ‘personality test’ – every town centre can be classified as one of four main ‘personality types’, based on what they do and the perceptions of their visitors: community-focused entrepreneurs; sustainable destinations; specialists; or global celebrities. The classification system helps retail communities better understand their town centre, and informs future vision and plans for revival. · A new type of national performance framework for town centres – this enables better monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of a town centre. It focuses on themes such as footfall, vitality, consumer perceptions and economic characteristics. It also takes into account local, regional, national and global trends which impact on a town centre’s performance. · A town centre performance toolkit – this allows a monitoring and evaluation system to be put in place for any town centre to check progress towards its vision for the future. It is a ground-breaking way of demystifying town centre performance indicators and showing how to get the most out of them. The report also includes a set of exemplars, applying the tools to ten English towns across the four town centre ‘personality types’. To view the documents visit http://www.gloslep.co.uk/sector-groups/retail/high-st-toolkit . ATCM chief executive Martin Blackwell said: "Determining a town's personality type is an extremely useful step for developing strategies for reaching out to existing and potential visitors and customers. We look forward to many towns taking advantage of this unique new tool." Retail Pathfinder status means that the LEP will be the national leader on promoting, showcasing and recommending to government, businesses and LEPs across England on the role that LEPs can and should play to support the retail sector across the country.As the retail Pathfinder the LEP will feed back to the Government department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) about key issues within the retail sector, and to develop and implement joint projects. Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is one of 39 around the UK. It brings together businesses to make the county successful and create jobs. It is led by the business community in partnership with the education and public sectors to help Gloucestershire realise its economic potential. For more information visit www.gloslep.co.uk
Gloucestershire LEP launches fresh approach to help the high street
Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, the national retail Pathfinder, has today unveiled a new report and toolkit designed to breathe fresh life into the UK’s town centres and high streets.
Successful town centres - developing effective strategies offers a series of tools that will empower retailers, communities and local planners to take action and ensure their town centre meets the changing demands of local residents and businesses, and the new 24 hour economy.
Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, has been working on the project supported by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with the Association of Town & City Management and other partners. Today the report was launched at an event in Gloucester in front of town centre managers, town teams, LEPs and local authorities.
Michael Fallon MP, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, said: "A successful retail sector needs thriving high streets and town centres - and successful high streets and town centres need a thriving retail sector. That is why BIS supported this work to help towns across the country find new ways to keep their high street at the heart of local economies. I congratulate Gloucestershire LEP and the Association of Town & City Management on their achievement."
Diane Savory, chair of Gloucestershire LEP, said: “Local communities are passionate about their high streets and town centres. We now need to harness this passion and encourage these areas to develop their own personalities and unique traits. In the current economic climate and with the growth of online purchasing, it is now more important than ever for high streets to find their niche. Our toolkit and report help communities to work together with local authorities, town teams, LEPs and town centre managers to make sure our high streets thrive.”
The tools include: · A town centre classification matrix linked to a ‘personality test’ – every town centre can be classified as one of four main ‘personality types’, based on what they do and the perceptions of their visitors: community-focused entrepreneurs; sustainable destinations; specialists; or global celebrities. The classification system helps retail communities better understand their town centre, and informs future vision and plans for revival.
· A new type of national performance framework for town centres – this enables better monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of a town centre. It focuses on themes such as footfall, vitality, consumer perceptions and economic characteristics. It also takes into account local, regional, national and global trends which impact on a town centre’s performance.
· A town centre performance toolkit – this allows a monitoring and evaluation system to be put in place for any town centre to check progress towards its vision for the future. It is a ground-breaking way of demystifying town centre performance indicators and showing how to get the most out of them.
The report also includes a set of exemplars, applying the tools to ten English towns across the four town centre ‘personality types’.
To view the documents visit http://www.gloslep.co.uk/sector-groups/retail/high-st-toolkit
ATCM chief executive Martin Blackwell said: "Determining a town's personality type is an extremely useful step for developing strategies for reaching out to existing and potential visitors and customers. We look forward to many towns taking advantage of this unique new tool."
Retail Pathfinder status means that the LEP will be the national leader on promoting, showcasing and recommending to government, businesses and LEPs across England on the role that LEPs can and should play to support the retail sector across the country.
As the retail Pathfinder the LEP will feed back to the Government department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) about key issues within the retail sector, and to develop and implement joint projects. Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is one of 39 around the UK. It brings together businesses to make the county successful and create jobs. It is led by the business community in partnership with the education and public sectors to help Gloucestershire realise its economic potential.
For more information visit www.gloslep.co.uk
