City shops are ahead of the curve
TV shopping guru Mary Portas has been the latest in a long line of experts to suggest remedies to halt town centre high streets’ apparent terminal decline.
Commissioned by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, Ms Portas’s report appeared as UK high street retailers battle with online shopping, tight-fisted banks, eurozone trauma, out-of-town shopping centres, bloated supermarkets and impoverished consumers.
But there is a beacon of hope for what many critics claim was a problem which should have been addressed 20 years ago.
And that shining example for the rest of the UK is Liverpool city centre.
Footfall in the City Central Business Improvement District (BID) area for the first 18 days of December stood at 5.2m.
That is 29.4% up on the same period last year, when the city was hit by blizzards and icy weather, causing many shoppers to stay at home.
But it is also 6% up on the same period in 2009, and 14.6% up on 2008, showing visitor numbers are rising.
Liverpool has also become the first city in the UK outside London to monitor sales figures among its retailers.
It is surveying 20 of the city centre’s biggest retailers to get a picture of how shops are performing.
The survey started in September, but it has already shown October sales were up 5% on September, and November sales up 3% on October. However, everyone agrees that the first quarter of 2012 will be the worst for years.
Apparently when compiling her data, Ms Portas, who achieved fame with her Queen of Shops series, was delighted to find Liverpool’s leaders had already implemented many of her conclusions.
Her call for “town teams” of managers is already in place with Liverpool City Central and Commercial BIDs.
“For once we’re ahead of the curve and in the vanguard of what you need to do,” said Ged Gibbons, chief executive of Liverpool City Central BID.
“Because Liverpool went through such a bad time in the 1970s and 1980s, we started addressing our high street problems much earlier than anywhere else in the 1990s.
“That’s why, in spite of the recession we have gone from nowhere to fifth place in the UK retail league.
“We met Mary Portas last summer and it was clear she understood Liverpool was setting the pace.
“What she likes about BIDs is they provide a mechanism for retailers to express what they want and the levy they pay gives us the means to deliver real benefits and respond directly to their needs.
“In a nutshell it’s about generating footfall and increasing dwell time (which are crucial to boosting sales) while making the shopping experience as high quality and safe as it can be.”
In contrast, Ms Portas speaks of years of “erosion, neglect and mismanagement” leaving many town centres and market towns on the brink of extinction.
Ms Portas warns that unless “urgent action” is taken, “much of Britain will lose, irretrievably, something that is fundamental to our society”.
In 2011, around 20 shops closed daily across UK. On average one in seven shops on high streets stand empty and four in ten shops lie vacant in some towns.
“Many (high streets) are sickly, others are on the critical list and some are now dead,” said Ms Portas.
The report outlines 28 recommendations to halt the rapid decline of town centres. Ms Portas will put in place pilot schemes in various towns across the UK so that her “vision” can be tested.
Paul Rice, chief executive of Liverpool Commercial District BID, which started on June 1, said: “The Portas review puts forward new and valuable ideas as to how to save the British high street.
“It was particularly pleasing to see that two of her top three recommendations make specific reference to business improvement districts.
“She states we need to empower successful business improvement districts to take on more responsibilities and powers and become Super-BIDs.”
The City Central BID collects a 1.2% levy on the rateable value of each property to manage the public domain, raising around £600,000 from 630 businesses.
Mr Gibbons is often invited to seminars to explain how the private sector can be brought in to fill the gap left by the receding public sector.
“The bottom line is consumer convenience, that’s why supermarkets and retail parks are so popular,” said Mr Gibbons.
“Back in the 1960s there was no virtual high street online for people to window surf through.”
Intriguingly, there is a high street fight back which harnesses, rather than submits, to internet shopping.
Nicknamed “click and brick”, it entails customers shopping online before 3pm and having the goods delivered to the shop by 9am the next day.
House of Fraser has re-established its presence this way in Liverpool One after leaving nearly 30 years ago when its Hendersons store closed.
Chris Bliss, Liverpool One estates director, said that people in his home town of Tring were worrying about its high street dying 20 years ago.
“What it does emphasise and prove is that where Liverpool is able to buck the trend is by precise collaborative and collective management by everyone involved in running the city,” he said.
“This is so much more important these days to ensure that the whole experience is joined up.
“Liverpool One is in essence a mini town team, which also works with the City Centre Neighbourhood Team, City Council and City Central BID. These bodies pull together for the greater good.
“Last week we saw a 12.5% rise on footfall compared to last year, with 730,000 visitors which is a chunky rise.
“Obviously, we had very bad weather last year, but this is in the context of a 2.5% drop nationally.
“Liverpool City Centre BID is strong and successful but is still evolving.
“Liverpool One is lucky that we can manage it even more intensively than the city centre management team.
“It means we can stage place-making events such as the summer beach or piano festival to add to the experience when you shop here.”
Not that City Central BID is a slouch in that area, with its Bold Street Festival and Curious Village, an Alice in Wonderland-themed children’s outdoor attraction for Christmas in Williamson Square.
Mr Gibbons said: “For the first time this year we’ve joined forces with Liverpool One and Metquarter shopping centres on the city’s first joint Christmas marketing campaign for Liverpool reaching well over 3m people.
“Outdoor events like The Curious Garden have made a massive difference to footfall and dwell time. November figures show a 14% rise on last November.
“Liverpool does street animation really well; events like Brasilica, Brouhaha and Sea Odyssey for the Titanic centenary next April.
“Without BID status these activities could never have happened.”
Liverpool also avoids Portas’ parking complaints as two thirds of shoppers arrive by public transport.
Liverpool has successfully pioneered BIDs. The model that works so well here could prove to be a lifeline for many ailing high streets.
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