There has been a lot of focus on the High Street this week...
…with Bill Grimsey, the former Chief Executive of Iceland and Wickes launching his own review of the High Street and Mary Portas, who led her own review back in 2011, giving evidence to a DCLG select committee.
It’s worth recapping the main proposals in Portas and Grimsey Reviews.
The Portas Review of the High Street made 28 recommendations, including:
The Grimsey Review has made 31 recommendations, including:
The striking thing looking at the recommendations, despite the jostling between the two authors, is that they aren’t that different. Grimsey has been very keen to separate his review from Portas’, but both sets of recommendations mainly focus around business rates reform and parking.
This is in part because both reports attempt to solve the challenges of the High Street without properly understanding its challenges. We’ve been talking consistently about the real issues that face the High Street on the blog. And next week we’ll be launching a major report looking at the economics of this problem and what it means for the future of High Streets in our cities. Watch this space.
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