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Guest Article By Katy Smythe, FSB Development Manager for Lancashire & Cumbria
On Monday 5 August 2024, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) launched a flagship report “The Future of the High Street”, setting forth a bold vision for the next generation high street — a vision where small businesses can be the driving force behind a thriving, dynamic, and inclusive future. While the recommendations and research provide a blueprint on building thriving places, FSB recognises that not all high streets are the same and the unique identity of each one, is its greatest asset.
Since March 2020, Preston City Centre has seen a number of challenges and opportunities in its bid to revitalise the high street. The City Council was successful in gaining a grant of £40m in March 2020, through Lancashire County Council, from the Transforming Cities Fund to invest in public and sustainable transport and connectivity projects across Preston.
With this and funding from the ‘Active Preston’ Levelling Up Fund Programme, we have seen some significant changes within the city – namely ‘Transforming Friargate South’ with a planned start date of Autumn 2024.
Read more: Preston Bus chief on ‘tough time of city centre buses’, fare deals and cutbacks
The positive feel Preston’s new look city centre has created is visible to anyone that visits with the improvements now creating a clear link between Fishergate, the main shopping high street, and Cannon Street.
A newly established board, responsible for overseeing the regeneration projects across the city, has set its sights on securing significant funds to boost Preston’s regeneration efforts by 2035. The Preston Regeneration Board (PRB) has launched its Preston 35 plan, which will focus on six key areas in the city. The plan’s top priorities include Grade A office space and a commercial-led mixed-use development at the Station Quarter, The redevelopment of the Guild Hall, An urban village regeneration area of 25 hectares at Stoneygate, Positioning Preston at the heart of an innovation eco-system and a natural location for the National Cyber Facility supply chain, A ‘one stop’ Preston Community Health Hub, and A new £35m railway station at Cottam Parkway.
This comes as a new leisure facility is announced for Preston City Centre. Animate Leisure Complex is set to bring a cinema, bowling alley, gaming zone, restaurants, a food hall, public space, a socialising area and basement car park. The new attraction will create new job opportunities and attract people to the city centre as a destination.
This feeds into FSB’s high street report looking into five themes that are central to our ever-changing high streets. High streets are more than just commercial spaces; they are destinations in their own right with the potential to attract tourism, enriching local economies.
However, even with all these positive changes, the high street is still struggling, and a new report issued by Preston-based Begbies Traynor shows that in the second quarter of 2024, the number of firms in the county which have triggered its ‘red flag’ warning has increased from 8,481 last year to 12,124. The figures indicate that people remain adamant in pulling back spend on food, clothing and leisure as families’ spending power continues to shrink.
The FSB High Streets report states ‘42 per cent of local businesses in the North West say that the current Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) is essential and that their business would not survive without it.’
It is vital to therefore ensure small firms are provided with the essential support and infrastructure to start, survive and thrive.
In the report, FSB have set out a number of ambitious yet deliverable recommendations to bring drastic changes to support the future of our high streets.
Though it’s not all doom and gloom in Preston as the space below Tino’s restaurant has new owners. Tino’s closed in August after 20 years and the space below will now become a takeaway. Unfortunately, FSB’s report shows that 65 per cent of local businesses in the North West say there are too many vacant units on their local high street. Vacant units can have a significant detrimental impact on the aesthetics of the high street and ultimately, it’s chances of success. In the high streets report, FSB recommended that local authorities should create specialised funds to support pop-ups, markets, and temporary use initiatives for first-time businesses. Utilising vacant units is another mechanism of supporting pop-ups and markets while simultaneously reducing vacant spaces.
Car parking is often cited as another cause for concern for high street businesses. For local high streets to have a chance of future proofing for the next generation, the government must commit to helping the change. The FSB high street report states ‘The UK Government should mandate that all public parking fees do not increase higher each year than the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) and complete the update to the Private Parking Code of Practice by 2025 to deliver fairer private parking charges’. Access to reasonably priced parking will significantly boost footfall in towns and city centres, supporting our high streets businesses to grow and thrive.
Further, FSB recommends that The UK Government should introduce a fund to support high street businesses in developing and enhancing their own websites, marketing strategies, and e-commerce operations. This will support businesses to diversify their audience and become more resilient against changes to consumer buying habits.
The report also states, ‘52 per cent of local businesses in the North West say a diverse range of independent businesses is one of the most important factors for the long-term sustainability and future of their local high street.’
We need to look to the future, making sure self-sustaining high streets remain resilient and adaptable, supporting a thriving community of small businesses and remaining a source of pride and positivity in our communities.
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