Category Archives: News Centre

So 60 local councils now have £125m between them… “…to bring prominent long term vacant or derelict buildings back into productive community or commercial use.” Given our focus on tackling high street vacancy it was the most exciting of a … Continue reading →

What are the most intriguing empty buildings in your town centre…? The ones you’d most like to see back in use. It’s maybe because they’re landmark / heritage buildings. Perhaps they’ve been vacant for ages or in the worst state. … Continue reading →

Just the twelve towns to visit in the next six weeks then… It’s one of the joys of this job. Getting to see new locations and meet local teams working hard to make their place the best it can be. … Continue reading →

Here’s why I’m so optimistic about reducing the number of empty shops in our town centres and dropping the long-stuck national highstreet vacancy rate into single figures. The bit that gets missed from the (still mostly) gloomster reporting and analysis … Continue reading →

Can a strikingly-restored shopping arcade be a new anchor for your town centre. What about a refurbished market. Or the local college or university taking on a large, landmark building. Maybe a community gallery and art space – like Platform … Continue reading →

It’s super encouraging to be getting upbeat updates from local teams we’re working with on reducing the number of empty units in their town centres… …to hear about the projects and initiatives they’re exploring and getting underway. They’ll likely not … Continue reading →

Two really interesting tackling highstreet vacancy conversations this week… One for print, the other broadcast. …and the question. “Could our ‘audit, engage’ approach work there, specifically in this case for London, Ontario.” It all reminded me of commission conversations with … Continue reading →

How much is reducing the number of empty highstreet shops in your town centre featuring in your ‘Pride in Place’ programme planning…? For sure, if you have more than say one in ten vacant, they’ll impact on resident and visitor … Continue reading →

It’s been quite some week across places we’re working with on tackling highstreet vacancy. And the list of updates shows a really important part of the story, that while the focus is on getting empty units back into play and … Continue reading →