Portas Review: The chance to breathe life into Britain’s high streets

nef (the new economics foundation) welcomes Mary Portas’ recommendations to rejuvenate the UK’s struggling high streets:

A breath of fresh air

• The review recognises that small, independent outlets are disproportionately beneficial to local economies and have a multiplier effect. It is right to call for the government to adopt a ‘town centre first’ approach.
• High streets should no longer merely be seen as places to shop, but somewhere for culture, leisure, learning and social opportunities. In the past nef has called for a land registry of commercial property and we are pleased that the review outlines a raft of measures to bring empty properties back into use, allowing for imaginative community use of vacant lots.
• A National Market Day would spotlight the many benefits markets bring to local communities. nef’s analysis of Queens Market in East London found that it generated over £13 million for the local economy, with an employment density (employment per square metre of space) double the rate of food superstores. 99% of retailers were independent businesses.

There are only a few missing pieces of the puzzle to transform our ailing high streets into diverse economic clubs that encourage local enterprise:

The missed opportunity

• Healthy local economies need strong checks on supermarket power. Big retailers, especially the four big supermarkets, suffocate markets. They need to be adequately restrained to create an open economy. Those steps mentioned in the report do not go far enough: a moratorium on further edge and out of town supermarket developments would help, as would caps on store size and market share.
• For independent and small retailers to survive and thrive they need a local banking system that understands and supports them. nef’s work on finance and banking has revealed the need to rebuild a local banking infrastructure, similar to that in place in Germany, for a true local economic revival.
• New high streets need to be environmentally sustainable. We need to redesign our high streets and relocalise our economies along green lines.

Elizabeth Cox, Head of Local Economies at nef, said:

“The Portas review is a breath of fresh air and we fully support the passion and vision Mary has for rejuvenating our ailing high streets.

“Today’s report recommends a wide range of initiatives that will support small, independent retailers and make our high streets more dynamic, flourishing places which will benefit our economy and communities.”

Andrew Simms, nef fellow, and author of Tescopoly said:

“The review is bursting with creative ideas to revitalise and re-imagine Britain’s high streets. However, the big supermarkets lurk like a shadow over this report’s ambitions.

“Experience suggests that more checks and balances are needed to keep the retail market open for new and local enterprise – to achieve there could be a new ‘Supermarket Restraining Order’ based on size, market share and number of stores, where there is the danger of dominance and to prevent market suffocation.”