The Vacant Shops Academy

“Pop-up shops could play a bigger part in our evolving highstreet…”

Every town centre tackling vacancy project I worked on before setting up The Vacant Shops Academy featured a pop-up shop, at least one.

Wantage, our first project, where the number of empty units reduced from 23 to 3 in 18 months, had 3 pop-up units in different parts of the town centre.

Unless they have one in play already, considering starting a pop-up project is among the ‘next steps’ we share with all the locations we’re commissioned on tackling highstreet vacancy. That gives a sense of how valuable we believe they can be.

So, to try encourage greater take-up, we’ve written a new addition to our Academy guides and briefing notes series which explains the ‘why’ and ‘how’ but, importantly, does that from a place rather than pop-up occupier perspective.

Getting empty units back in play on a short-term, temporary basis (hence pop-up or ‘meanwhile… use’) is a well-established and proven option which can have multiple benefits for the place as a whole…

• It can help kick-start a town or city centre-wide empty shops project
• brings vacant units back into play
• improves their look to the benefit of the place and neighbouring businesses
• adds to the current offer with the potential that has to support existing businesses on footfall and dwell-time
• allows the place to prioritise uses that add to its current mix and so helps attract additional customers / visitors
• delivers on the resident / business wish list of ideal new occupier types you’ll draw up at the start of your tackling vacancy project
• gives you a source of positive media stories at a time when your place might have negative perceptions because of the vacancy issue.

But there are also, importantly, benefits to the businesses and organisations that pop-up there, and these in turn count as positive spin offs for the town or city centre as a whole.

If you are running a pop-up shop project in your place it’d be great to hear how it’s going…

We need to fix this issue…

On average more than half of visibly vacant highstreet units don’t have an agent involved in try to get them let.

Do you know what the figure is in your town or city centre…?

Are you working to try put it right…?

We’re keeping a tally of the ‘agent versus no agent’ numbers across the 45 locations The Vacant Shops Academy has tackling vacancy commissions.

The survey covers more than 1,000 units now so that 50+ per cent is a lot of properties maybe getting back into use more slowly than they could be.

And remember it’s an average so because places like Cheltenham or Reading had lower ‘no agent’ percentages (tho in the 20 per cents, still higher than ideal)…others have higher rates, some into the 70s and 80s.

If we can agree that not having an agent proactively working on a letting and as a result no easily accessible information for would-be occupiers to find is a problem, then hopefully you can see why it’s something we ask tackling vacancy-focused ‘place partnership’ teams we’re supporting to try address.

It’d be really interesting to get a sense of the issue as you see it in your place…?

Getting empty shops back in use can boost ‘Pride in Place’ AND drive economic growth.

As tackling highstreet vacancy is the focus of our work with 45 UK locations now, we’re used to thinking that having too many empty units is just an obvious negative to be put right.

What’s maybe less well explained is how doing that contributes significantly to achieving those two high profile government policy objectives.

Here’s how…

On ‘Pride in Place’, empty units…

• often look bad so create a negative perception among residents;
• can attract ASB;
• provoke negative media stories;
• increase the risk your place will feature in a national ‘worst for empty shops’ list.

On economy…

• They’re literally a waste of space that could instead be a growth-building opportunity for local businesses, arts & crafts, creative, culture, community, education, health & wellbeing, especially in places with an ‘inclusive economy’ objective;
• They make things harder for existing businesses, increasing the chance that they’ll leave also;
• Discourage inward investment by would-be new occupiers.

Get them back into play, especially when you do that as a ‘place’ so that the lettings are to use types residents and existing businesses have asked for, and…

• The units look better;
• There are new occupiers to attract customers who maybe also support existing businesses;
• Jobs are created;
• Revenues boosted;
• Inward investment becomes a better option…
• …and you have upbeat stories to tell.

Boosting ‘Pride in Place’, driving economic growth.

And all this builds momentum in an upward steps effect, rather than the worsening downward spiral you get with increasing or even stable vacancy.

The real positive here tho is that we know how to reduce empty shop numbers and improve the mix of uses. You can see local town and city centre teams doing it.

Do let us know if your place is up for joining them…

“The number of empty town centre units reduced from 23 to 3 in 18 months.”

A special day to be back in the town where our tackling highstreet vacancy journey started and to meet some of the business owners and community leaders we worked with then…

Sooooo much of the ‘audit, engage, encourage, promote’ approach we’re now taking to town and city centres around the UK, I learned and first tested here.

When we started in 2013, Wantage town centre had 23 vacant units – not the most we’ve ever worked with, in fact at what was then around 12% of the total it was similar to the national average, but too many for an Oxfordshire market town. 

With team work, collaboration between groups and organisations, some innovation on pop up shops, a community space and more, the 23 empties reduced to 3 in 18 months. We were lucky enough to win a Great British High Streets Award, a number of other places took note and the rest, as they say…

Heading back a dozen or so years on, it’s great to see a number of the businesses that moved in during that period are still there;

+ Arbery Arcade, which started as a cut-through with 3 large units and bits & pieces of unused space, has continued to be the indie hub it became, more than once acting as an incubator to give shops a start that then moved into spaces in the town centre itself;

+ The brilliant community space The Mix is still running too;

+ …and there’ve been further new additions and arrivals.

Challenges too, as so many town centres have had across that time span, including the departure of three highstreet banks, tho all their units are now re-let.

Thank you Wantage…!

It’d be interesting to hear from placemaking and property colleagues on the changes your town and city centres have seen if you reflect on visits and / or working there in the 2013-16 period. Do let us know…

It was great to meet another wife and husband team who are part of the growing group of new independents opening up in town and city centres we’re supporting on tackling highstreet vacancy…

Our lead image is Bea and Adrian at HoneyBea “creating beautiful candles made from natural beeswax” in their shop on Castle Street, Tredegar, one of 3 new openings on that street already this year with another to follow soon.

Like one of their near neighbours, The Painted Lady Tattoo Parlour & Art Gallery and a number of the new openings in other locations, they’re going beyond retail to offer classes and workshops and they’ve also just added the offer of sales space to help local crafters begin their own town centre journey.

As they put it: “At Honey Bea Art Gallery, we know how difficult it can be for new artists and crafters to get noticed and start selling their work. That’s why we want to create a space that helps you take that first step.”

These stories are part of a HighStreetPositives theme we’re seeing from both independents and some brands…

• Add variety to your offer by sharing space and collaborating with other businesses;
• Build new audiences, strengthen your community and draw on the interest in experiential with classes and workshops;
• And do one or both to create additional income streams, attract customers at different times of the day or week and, maybe, make use of parts of your building – typically upper floors – that you otherwise might not.

From a tackling vacancy perspective the part of our ‘alternative’ / additional uses list that is arts & crafts, creative, culture, community looks, for a number of reasons, to be a really promising go-to option for ‘place partnership’ teams thinking about ways to fill empty spaces.

It’d be good to hear examples from your town and city centres…

It’s always super encouraging to see new retail, hospitality and services businesses opening up when we’re out and about in town and city centres on tackling highstreet vacancy commissions…

…and especially so as we’re tracking a number around those locations that have opened up already this year, so early in the 2026 lettings season.

There’s an interesting variety of business types across the set and stories and circumstances to explain the ‘why’…

Some are ventures taking on an extra unit in their own place or expanding after success in another, others are making a first highstreet start after working from home, selling online, trading on a market, taking part in trade shows or similar, maybe being part of a collective in a bigger unit spinning out on their own or with friends;

• There’s also movers. Businesses that started on the edge of town and / or in a smaller unit, swapping that for somewhere more central or bigger.

Whatever the story these are HighStreetPositives and very much help us – while recognising that it remains challenging too – to switch the narrative about where the highstreet is at.

What’s extra heartening is the very positive and supportive feedback we see as we’re following their adventures via social media, at a time when (sometimes) those platforms can be tough on our town and city centres and those working in or for them.

It’d be great to hear from property and placemaking colleagues or owners and their teams about the new openings you’re seeing or are involved in…

One of the (many) joys of the role we have is the opportunity it gives us to meet the people behind the highstreet businesses taking on vacant units, and hearing their stories.

The latest example was meeting Janna and Sami at their new Tava Turkish Cafe & Restaurant in Stirling – and it’s very well worth a visit if you’re in this part of the world.

One HighStreetPositives element of their story is that Tava is the fourth venture they have between them, which includes Janna’s hugely popular bakery.

It’s also always really encouraging and inspiring to read their own posts and updates, again well worth checking out.

Here’s a little of the new opening one:

“Standing there with Sami, seeing our team lined up outside, watching the ribbon being cut… it was emotional. Truly emotional.

“Thank you to every single person who came, who brought flowers, who shared kind words, and who believed in us. Stirling has welcomed us with such warmth — and we are deeply grateful.”

We’re seeing a number of new independent openings in town and city centres we’re working with on tackling #highstreet vacancy, and I know many other places are too, so we’d love to hear some of the people stories you have from those.

Do share…

How much of a role can our older, landmark, interesting buildings play in highstreet regen projects, and what as…

It’d be great to hear examples from your town or city centres of these buildings being brought back into use.

It can be tricky for a number of reasons…

• their original use may be very different from what’s needed and would work today, and repurposing, especially for older buildings, can be challenging;
• historic features we need or would like to retain might be harder to incorporate;
• they may – especially if empty for a long time – be in a poor way and so more costly to refurbish;
• listing and other heritage-related factors may play a part, maybe greatly reducing potential re-use options.

We’ve been thinking through this again while in the city of Dunfermline which has its own intriguing set of this kind of building – some already back in productive use, others still to find their way forward.

We did spend a bit of time in particular talking about former churches as we’ve seen a few of those for sale on recent Scotland trips.

As ever we’d love to know how you’re overcoming the barriers and whether there are really promising use types that could be candidates for more places.

Do let us know…