Author Archives: Iain Nicholson

… or at least create more spaces for them.🛍️ And do we need re-adjust the regulations to help #retail…? No wait. Before you start to wonder if I’ve had too much of the holiday rum & raisin ice cream🍦 The … Continue reading →

“Our town has a third fewer vacancies than it did in the spring.” “Wow. Actually, so has ours…!” What about yours…? 🤔 Just two towns reflecting on how the numbers have changed between the dates of our #TheVacantShopsAcademy walk-see in … Continue reading →

#placemaking friends had to endure a bit of a ranting me this week as (yet) another national ‘death of the #highstreet’ headline disrupted one of my timelines. It was especially maddening because I read it while I was in Sunderland … Continue reading →

🔑 New openings, fresh investment, promising pipeline. I ask having been out & about for #TheVacantShopsAcademy in another location – the second in a few weeks – where the headline ‘visibly vacant’ number now looks very different having run ‘audit, … Continue reading →

Are flaws in the business rates reliefs system contributing to #highstreet units staying vacant longer than needs be…? What changes would #placemaking and #property colleagues like to see based on your learning on the ground…? 🤔 The government has a … Continue reading →

Thought it might be of interest to share a digest of some of the emails we’ve had from #highstreet #property agents in the last week. “Hi Iain we sold the property to an owner occupier a few months ago and … Continue reading →

As promised, here’s an early data output from one of the locations we’re running ‘audit, engage’ as part of a tackling empty #highstreet shops issues project which, hopefully, you’ll find is food for thought… Our town centre walk-see there in … Continue reading →

So here’s some #highstreet #property stories you may not be seeing in the headlines…? As ever none of this is to deny that it’s challenging in our town and city centres. We’re still losing businesses that would stay if we … Continue reading →

“Report confirms stats on death of the high street”, ran the headline. One of a frustrating timelines-filling set this week. Thing is tho the stats it set out do nothing of the sort…! We’ve been trying to unravel from quite … Continue reading →

More than half the ‘next steps’ narrative suggestions in our #TheVacantShopsAcademy reports for places we’re supporting to tackle vacancy are less directly about the empties themselves and more around wider #highstreet #placemaking. Very often that’s included ways to bring more … Continue reading →