Retail industry experts, including Sir John Timpson, have called for a community-focused approach to tackling the challenges facing high streets and town centres in a new report published today.
The government-appointed panel, including Urban Space Management Founding Director, Eric Reynolds, has published practical recommendations to reinvigorate town centres by creating a community hub which, alongside retail, includes leisure and social services and more residential property.
The report puts community involvement and local leadership at the centre of a plan to create the town centres of the future.
Panel chair Sir John Timpson called for an ‘Upside Down Government’ approach which would empower local leaders to implement their plans to reinvent their town centres. They would be supported with expert advice from a Town Centres Task Force and funding from the government’s Future High Streets Fund.
Another recommendation includes calling on local communities to celebrate their town centres with a ‘National High Street Perfect Day’ to tackle litter and graffiti so people can take pride in their local shopping centres.
Read more here.
