Mary Portas 28 point plan...

Written on: 15 December 2011

Promoting collaboration - the key to success...

Mary Portas unveiled her 28 point plan for reviving the UK's High Streets. Reaction to her proposals has been mixed and state many obvious initiatives but the truth is that her report focuses on many of the most important principles of retailing - that of communication and encouraging innovation.

The harder challenge that it promotes is that of collaboration between property owners, local authorities and retailers. Getting these to work together in shopping centres or high streets, has always been hard because each one has a differing agenda with property owners looking for returns and local authority aspirations limited by lack of funding. It is hoped that the Portas review will begin to change that and illustrate the importance of working together to regenerate the town centres. Her suggested town teams or the greater empowerment of BIDs are already in place in many town centres in some form but all involve significant investment of both money and time from the key players in the town centres.

It also suggests closer cooperation between large and small retailers . This is something we would encourage but a mentoring challenge that few retailers have dared to undertake, after all when they are so busy with sustaining their own businesses through economic uncertainty there is little resource to support rivals even if they are just starting out.

But collaboration is key. Retailers can't work in isolation and need the support of the property owners who in turn need the support of the local authorities to encourage investment into the town centres. Working together is the only way to save the UK's High Street.

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