Author Archives: Iain Nicholson

So what’s your town or city centre’s real vacancy rate…? It’s a question sparked this week by finalising Initial Data Reports listing the units that look empty for 3 #highstreet locations after running #TheVacantShopsAcademy ‘audit’ there. Next step is to … Continue reading →

There’s much conversation in #placemaking about the role of #markets and especially indoor versions in #highstreet regeneration, and it’s been a feature of a number of recent out & about visits and ‘audit, engage’ work with #TheVacantShopsAcademy. What are the … Continue reading →

Third town centre out & about in ten days took me for the first time to the attractive place that is Abergavenny, just for a look-see in this case rather than a #TheVacantShopsAcademy ‘audit’. Reflecting on these recent three, and … Continue reading →

History & heritage. #highstreet. Out & about in Monmouth with #TheVacantShopsAcademy and thinking – not for the first time in a place – about how those two elements work together. There’s sometimes a perspective that the first is for visitors, … Continue reading →

Really enjoyable #highstreet #placemaking out & about in Chepstow. A town with awesome visitor attractions, a mix of #indie and national brand #retail, #hospitality and services, encouraging evidence of new investment, and signs all around the town centre that it … Continue reading →

Really enjoyable time at the Warwickshire Towns Network #placemaking conference in Warwick, with chance to be out & about in an attractive, largely #indie, heritage town centre. An opportunity also to share #TheVacantShopsAcademy ‘audit, engage, encourage, promote’ approach to tackling … Continue reading →

Day 2 of our #TheVacantShopsAcademy out & about running ‘audit, engage’ in 8 South Gloucestershire #highstreet locations – Kingswood and Hanham this time – and picking up the theme of uses mix in a place. Interesting to see some of … Continue reading →

First of a series of out & about days in South Gloucestershire #highstreet locations. Downend and Staple Hill first and a real strong sense of their #indie #retail and #hospitality group, mixing the new with established, traditional with of today. … Continue reading →

Hugely enjoyable #highstreet #placemaking out & about in Reading town centre this week. It’s a place that mixes history and heritage, #retail, #hospitality & more, national brands and a strong #indie group, some of them very long-established. It also has … Continue reading →

One of the things that makes tackling #highstreet empty shops issues commissions sooooooo interesting and inspiring is the variety. In a single #TheVacantShopsAcademy day out & about this week… New lettings taking shape, the first signs of refurbishment getting underway … Continue reading →