Tomorrow’s Digital High Street is to be road tested on the streets of Gloucester and Cheltenham as part of a Government-backed programme to bring our town centres on-line.
The digital high street programme is led by John Walden CEO of Home Retail Group, owner of Argos, with support from executives at IBM, Boots UK, Cisco, Google, Post Office, Lloyds Banking Group and Facebook. Ministerial support is also provided from the High Streets Minister Marcus Jones, Digital Economy Minister, Ed Vaizey and Anna Soubry, the Business Minister. Trade body support from ACS, ATCM, BCSC, BIRA, BRC, IMRG.
During 2016, a centralised ‘high street digital hub’ of industry experts will be providing strategic advice, measurement, digital toolkits and hands-on digital training to Town Centre, Business Improvement District Managers and their thousands of small businesses, retailers, leisure centres and libraries, pubs and clubs in Cheltenham and Gloucester, as well as engaging with digital initiatives from several other locations across the UK. Following these initial trials The Great British Digital High Street Hub will launch nationally in Spring 2017.
A new report by Innovate UK in conjunction with Town Centre Managers, has highlighted the urgent need for active intervention in providing the right tools and training to get the UK’s towns and businesses online to bridge the digital divide between them and their local community, visitors, tourists and other potential stakeholders.
Read the full Report: The-High-Street-Digital-Hub-(2016)-An-Innovate-UK-Report-(April 2016)
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