The Vacant Shops Academy

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 – a town that’s seen a significant population increase with major housing development driven by its location and central rail lines positioning.

A few years back the ‘shopping centre’ added a major extension which has attracted a number of brands you often now see on out-of-town #retail parks.

Tho you can’t always tell for sure on a walk-see, both early and later sections of what’s called Orchard Centre look to be largely let.

What’s also encouraging is that the ‘original’ high street, Broadway, is too, just with a different mix: one or two national brands, some independents, food & drink uses and services.

Linking the two – and illustrating again the positive role arts & crafts, creative, culture can play – are an arts centre, theatre, gallery venue and a cinema.

It’d be great to hear from #property and #placemaking colleagues who’ve seen a sizeable modern addition alongside their traditional town centre main street…

“An innovative space for clients and non-customers, which brings a bank, co-working area and coffee house together in a single place.”

And that’s your new work cafe by a bank. Interesting.

After a full-on month which has taken us to Aberdeen, Blackburn, Blackpool, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale, Tredegar and Crewe, time for a walk-see of my nearest city.

On what was a sunny pre-bank holiday Friday, Oxford was being its busy student, tourist, shopper, food & drink self.

Always things to learn, new businesses joining the #retail, #hospitality, services mix, noticeably (and maybe something that’s not that common everywhere) quite a few moving to try different locations, and its rolling programme of street scene changes (of which more another time).

It’s somehow at once a unique city that has much happening we see in other places. And a reminder – on a day when positive #placemaking has had to put up with another dose of media ‘ghost town’ nonsense – that what’s really happening out there is #highstreet evolving.

Or is it just me…?

Sometimes in a town or city centre a particular empty unit draws your attention.

Maybe it’s attractive, unusual, heritage even…

…and makes you wonder what its story is, why it’s empty, what options there are for its future and how the place can help it get there.

Often talking to the agent or landlord you’ll find a letting is agreed or one is close. For others it’s empty and available, potentially with use-limiting barriers to overcome.

Maybe it needs work, the ground floor is too big for current demand, it has upper floors that could be separated off for a different use. Access can be a challenge.

This is where the positive, proactive, tackling vacancy-focused ‘place partnership’ we are keen for all town and city centres where this is an issue comes in.

It brings together agents, landlords, businesses, community, cultural organisations, councils, chamber, BID where there is one plus others identified locally, to work on this, together.

Ideally they start by getting the keys and taking a look inside priority empty units in their place, think about potential use options, assess the barriers to getting them back into play, how they’re best overcome, and importantly work out which of the partners needs to step up to help make that happen.

That includes trying as a team to identify and attract businesses or organisations that add to your current mix, and match your wish list. Maybe that’s #retail, #hospitality and services or one from our longer list that starts with arts & crafts and runs through community use to education and health & wellbeing.

Do you have this approach making a difference on your #highstreet…? We know it works and can help take a significant chunk out of your vacancy rate, even if that’s currently in the mid / high teens or over 20 per cent.

It’d be great to hear…

What’s the best way to get the delivery stage of your tackling #highstreet vacancy initiative underway.

Believing so strongly in town and city centres where empty units is an issue having a positive, proactive, inclusive ‘place partnership’ on the case, it’s a question we’re often asked.

Reminded by a thoughtful recent post by our #placemaking friend Chris Wade FIPM, I thought to try answer.

The first thing would be maybe don’t start in a room, round a table. I know not everyone in this field agrees and much current practice differs, but I’d say it shouldn’t look, feel or operate like a committee.

So how then…?

Another thing I very much believe in is the value of projects. Starting people working together by doing something so it’s action-oriented (less danger of being labelled “a talking shop”) and everyone can see the objective, their role and how their skills, resources, connections etc can contribute. It always feels easier to build from there, including adding extra individuals, organisations and projects as you see the need.

Examples might be:

• setting up a community litter pick / tidy / clean up which (as Our Union Street and others are demonstrating) can include improving the look of empty units, painting utility boxes etc.;
• doing a walk-see of one of your key streets to identify things that need addressing and work out which partner(s) can best get that done;
• getting the keys (as we’ve just done for the Aberdeen Inspired-led Union Street upper floors project) and going inside an empty unit, as a team, to work out what the barriers are to getting it back into use, who future occupiers might be, what’s required to sort the issues and who needs step up.

It’d be great to hear your thoughts and if this works for you as an approach…

So I sat for two hours in a vacant town centre shop…

…and had a great time…!

Good thing is, I was not alone. The best thing is I was really lucky to have been there as part of the audience for a Crewe staging of the brilliant Mick Martin play Keep On Keepin’ On. Not only is it set in a #highstreet shop but has the challenges facing indie #retail owners and town centres in general as a running theme, not least in the inspirational ending (which I’ll not say more about so I don’t take the edge off for anyone who’s still to see it).

Seriously if you’re in or around Blackburn or Blackpool in the next two weeks I’d check out Northern Soul Productions and book to go.

For me, with a tackling vacancy focus and believing so strongly in the (much bigger) positive role arts & crafts, creative, culture can play in that, being involved in this project has been a joy and a real learning experience. That’s partly because the team have put so much effort into building a connecting programme around it including for this first week…

• a business support workshop;
• a live vinyl DJ-led northern soul set at the town’s Market Hall and
• a creative careers and connections event hosted by the local theatre.

Do take a look and if you think the play would be a fit with efforts you’re making to increase the impact of arts & crafts, creative, culture in your town or city centre, do please shout…!

I feel like I might have wandered into a caption competition here…

…but I wanted to share this, and ask with it, how can wall art and installations contribute to our tackling #highstreet vacancy work…?

I’m on record as saying how much I love to see #streetart in places I visit and in locations we’re working, and that’s partly just for enjoying it.

But I argue too that it helps, the history or heritage-reflecting kind I found on the same day as this on a visit to Ebbw Vale town centre or the rainbow, umbrella, butterfly, balloons one that’s brightening up a corner of Tredegar’s shopping centre.

At one end of the scale they can bring people into your town who might not have visited, especially if there’s a trail to follow. That has the added advantage of helping draw people from one to the next and around the town centre, maybe including parts they wouldn’t otherwise have found. They’re a talking point, and when they’re clever like this can encourage people and especially young people to be a part of the art, and hopefully then share on social media and so act as an ambassador in a way that might persuade others to visit too.

And that’s how it fits our tackling vacancy story. Bringing people in, tempting them to stay longer, helping make their visit memorable, encouraging them to spread the word. All things that are important to ‘promote’ – the fourth element of our approach that starts with ‘audit, engage, encourage.’

And if all that’s a bit in the weeds, you can of course just like seeing them…

There is a long list of reasons why a landlord might not be keen on letting an empty #highstreet unit.

I promised in comments when the previous post about the (high) percentage of visibly vacant units that have no agent involved in trying to get them back into use published on LinkedIn, to set out a list of potential factors.

Take a look. If nothing else it might help with perceptions. We often hear this debate start with statements like: “the landlord ought to…” or “surely it’s better if…”. But you’ll see that some on the list seem sensible from a financial, commercial perspective. It’s maybe the choice you’d make if you were the owner.

And that’s another reason we so strongly believe in the ‘place partnership’ approach to tackling vacancy, to help overcome these barriers.

So why might a letting not suit the landlord…?

• It may not work with their loans / leverage agreements.
• The current market rent may be below what was being paid by the previous tenant.
• The covenant of the would-be occupier may not be attractive.
• They may have other aspirations for the building e.g. It may be a long-term investment or development site.
• The cost to let (including making it fit to occupy, legal fees etc) may be prohibitive.
• Their income target may be being met by other e.g. upstairs tenants in the building.
• Upper floor tenants might object to certain ground floor uses.
• A deal here may negatively impact agreements with other tenants in the same town / city.
• The building is listed so (in most places) they pay no business rates when it’s empty thus reducing their incentive to let.
• They may have had bad experiences with tenants previously.
• They may have a tenant that’s left but is still paying rent on an unexpired lease.
  And so on…

Does anything you’ve read change your perception…?

It’d be great to hear from commercial #property agents and owners who would add to or adjust that list…

40% of visibly vacant #highstreet units have no agent involved in trying to get them let.

And that’s on average, some places have an even higher figure.

We’re really grateful to the team at national commercial #property agents GCW for reflecting this issue as part of an article in their latest newsletter.

It matters because with would-be occupiers either opting to walk-see town or city centres they’d like to open a #retail, #hospitality, services or other use type business in or searching online, it surely makes it harder for them if there are no lettings details to learn from, and discouraging if one or more units looks less than its best. If that’s the case then empty units becoming long-time vacant, with all the negatives that can have for neighbour businesses, residents and the place, looks more likely.

The data is drawn from a snap survey we did of the ‘audit, engage’ stages of our work with a number of #TheVacantShopsAcademy early locations and have kept up since. The average figure now is even higher.

We know from experience that there can be a range of reasons why landlords don’t have vacant units on the market. Having this GCW newsletter focus feels especially valuable because, as part of the tackling vacancy-focused ‘place partnership’ we encourage all locations to put in play, proactive agents seem best equipped to turn this round and work with owners to get empties marketed.

It’d be great to hear from commercial agents who are working to overcome these barriers where they are, and on what would help get that percentage figure down…