Eight new Academy locations…

Excited to be heading out this week to visit the first of 8 new locations we’ll be delivering #TheVacantShopsAcademy tackling #highstreet vacancy approach.

8️⃣ They’re a mix of town centres with headline empty shops rates in the mid-teens and those with smaller numbers but some tricky long-time vacants the local teams are keen to get support in guiding back into play.

At the heart of our approach in all of them will be emphasising that it’s not “just an agents-landlords thing”.

🗝️ Places that are reducing empty unit numbers quickest and most sustainably are those that have a tackling vacancy-focused ‘place partnership’ with all the key stakeholders working together.

Businesses, community, council(s), BID where there is one, chamber, creative & cultural organisations, media where it’s up for being positive, all have a part to play alongside commercial #property agents, asset managers and landlords at the various stages of the process – ‘audit, engage, encourage, promote’.

📉 We’ll be drawing on experience from places that are already on the case and have seen a significant drop in their headline vacancy rate…

…and very much look forward to reporting from our new locations, to working with the teams there and supporting them to make a difference on this key #placemaking issue.