Category Archives: News Centre

🔟 Maybe, to no-one’s great surprise, my starter for 10 would be on vacancy. If we’re only allowed 1, then one of these…? 🪜 Strengthen (and resource) powers to enforce and encourage funding schemes to help with minimum ‘fit to … Continue reading →

“We are opening branches, not closing them.” 💡 A brilliant, insightful day at the building societies conference, and a great chance to present on the importance to our places of ‘banking services’, and the buildings they are and have been … Continue reading →

Has the last bank left your town centre…? Are you down to just one…? 🤔 What’s the impact…? And if you’ve had #highstreet #bank closures what’s happening to the buildings….? Are they sitting long-time empty or back in (alternative) use…? … Continue reading →

🤳🏽 …the message I sent to a friend and local champion for the place of my first #highstreet out & about visit of 2024. And it is in many ways, as the set of images below shows – just a … Continue reading →

🎥 …to borrow and adjust an old movie title. That’s how many places we visited with #TheVacantShopsAcademy in 2023, racking up what our app reckons is a decent CO2 saving. 🤔 Where next…? The majority of those visits were on … Continue reading →

It feels like a huge year ahead for the #highstreet… 🤔 …what do you think…? From a #TheVacantShopsAcademy perspective it’s one we very much hope will see more places – councils or BIDs where there is one or a combination … Continue reading →

So how are you going about tackling empty shops issues in your town or city centre…? 🤔 Do you need to demolish…? Will some have to be re-purposed to resi or office…? Maybe. Or might they re-let…? 🚈 We had … Continue reading →

Wellbeing.” “Living Well Locally.” “People, place, planet.” 🤔 Which words and phrases do you most relate to our work in towns and city centres…? 💭 If we’d done a ‘word cloud’ of the early sessions of the 2023 Scotland’s Towns … Continue reading →