Clone Town Britain

nef coined the term 'clone town' to describe a phenomenon which is transforming British high streets. Real local shops have been replaced by swathes of identikit chain stores that seem to spread like economic weeds, making high streets up and down the country virtually indistinguishable from one another. Retail spaces once filled with a thriving mix of independent butchers, newsagents, tobacconists, pubs, bookshops, greengrocers and family-owned general stores are becoming filled with faceless supermarket retailers, fast-food chains, and global fashion outlets. Many town centres that have undergone substantial regeneration have lost their sense of place and the distinctive facades of their high streets under the march of the glass, steel, and concrete blandness of chain stores built for the demands of inflexible business models that provide the ideal degree of sterility to house a string of big, clone town retailers.

nef has launched the High Street UK project to fight back against the attack of the clones. We've also developed policies and recommendations to support communities, including changes to planning law, limiting the market share of big supermarkets and creating Community Land Trusts (CLTs).

As a member of the Local Works coalition, nef played a vital role in the creation of the Sustainable Communities Act, which came into force in October 2008. The Act provides a channel for local people to drive central government assistance and action to improve and protect the economic, social and environmental well being of their area. Encouraging your councillors to use the Act will help stop the spread of Clone Towns and help support independent businesses.