Author Archives: Iain Nicholson

Hands up who has a unit or even a whole building in their town or city centre that’s been empty for five years. Any for 10 years…? What about 20…? It’s a question I asked attendees at an interactive workshop … Continue reading →

It’s a brilliant city centre… …so enjoyed our time in Bradford for the Association of Town & City Management’s sunny Summer School #SS25Bradford, with place leaders and managers from around the country. A huge amount happening, more in the pipeline. … Continue reading →

Looking ahead to an exciting week in the conversation about how much of a role arts & crafts, creative, culture can play in our town and city centres… …in lots of ways, but in particular for our focus on tackling … Continue reading →

What happens when a national brand targets your town or city centre for a new store or venue. Working on tackling #highstreet vacancy, as we are now with 36 different locations, we’ve many agent connections and so regularly see and … Continue reading →

What would you do with these 4 empty units… …well maybe not this exact set as they’re images from a recent town centre walk-see, and there maybe things happening behind the scenes with them. But it’s a conversation we’re having … Continue reading →

Should we pause the knocking down thing in town and city centres…? Just to allow a moment to review, take a tackling #highstreet vacancy-focused ‘place partnership’ team inside the empty units, explore the barriers and options to occupy and, importantly, … Continue reading →

One of the reasons I’m so optimistic about the future of our town and city centres is the people… …council colleagues, BID teams, #property agents, landlords, businesses, community leaders, cultural organisation members, shopping centre asset managers and more, working hard … Continue reading →

It’s always interesting to return to a town you’ve not been in for a while… …especially one that added a new #highstreet or uncovered, single street shopping centre, to its existing one. And so, just for a walk-see, to Didcot … Continue reading →