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Whether you are a Business Improvement District, town team or business group, its important to achieve long-term influence and coordinated delivery by getting involved in planning. Here we share our philosophy that, not surprisingly, is to put people and place at the centre of the process. Our specialism is in understanding the role of town centres and…
Never mind the annual Christmas lights ceremony; is your town switched on digitally all year-around? Here we review how digital High Street technology could transform the customer experience of town centres over the next few years and what needs to be done locally to make the most of these opportunities. We consider the factors that…
How do you decide on the right stakeholder engagement strategy? Recently I have sat in on a number of meetings where a combination of commitment and confusion led to a lack of clarity about how to best engage with stakeholders. It is great that groups involved in local regeneration -whether council committees, Business Improvement Districts,…
Why are so many commentators currently getting hot and bothered about Business Rates? With bills now landing on doorsteps showing some massive changes and the Budget providing a chance to smooth ruffled feathers, here’s a beginner’s guide to Business Rates and the winners and losers from current changes. Preparing this blog has revealed to me…
Could the prospects of driverless cars, cashless parking and intelligent mobility help improve access to our town centres? Can ‘smart travel’ tackle town traffic or ultimately will the prize for all this innovative thinking simply be busier roads? In this extended blog I clarify some of the key trends in UK transport for the coming years. I also reflect…
Testing a new look as I enjoy a bacon sandwich! What do you think? And I don’t mean brown sauce, ketchup or mustard?!…
It’s always a delight to take-stock and share thinking on the bigger picture behind trends across a nation’s towns and cities. In this instance my delight comes from being invited to be part of the ‘expert panel’ at the Local Data Company‘s Welsh Retail and Leisure Summit in Cardiff. A delight because I share LDC’s…
The need to re-let empty shops and diversify the retail mix often top local concerns about town centres. That is frequently the case when People and Places’ undertakes its benchmarking surveys to understand and address local town centre issues across the UK. Here, Iain Nicholson and Neil Wild from Flashop UK Ltd share their successful…
Are there times when the impact of your ways of working to boost town centre and business performance seem to go unnoticed? Do you sometimes feel ‘distracted from doing’ by the uninformed interference of others? At the People and Places Partnership we know, from nearly a decade measuring and promoting changes in town centre performance, the…
I once asked a town team chairman and former trans-European business director, which of the two roles was the most challenging. Without a moment’s hesitation he replied that leading change in your own community is by far the bigger challenge. Leading a local revival is undoubtedly fraught with frustrations but can be rewarding personally and…