With a general election looming closer, ‘the high street’ is shaping up to be one of the battlegrounds, both nationally and here in the North East. 

After all, most of us regularly use city, town or suburban centres, and the state of those places — how they look, how safe they feel, how far they meet our needs — is a barometer for our wider sentiments about the country and our own lives.

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The Labour Party recently published its ‘five-point plan to breathe life into Britain’s high streets’, and as the party rides high in the polls — and celebrates its success in the local and mayoral elections — it’s a plan that warrants scrutiny.

So, what is Labour saying, and how do its ideas stack up? Drawing from my experience as a retail consultant, working with high streets and local businesses across the region and beyond, I thought I’d take a closer look.     

Let’s get one thing straight first, though. Unsurprisingly, the backdrop that Labour portrays is one where ‘under the Conservatives, Britain’s high streets are on the decline’. Politically, it’s expedient to argue for change by painting a picture of how terrible everything is now. However, we do have to be mindful of the impact of our words. 

In many North East towns and cities, it is encouraging to see — even amid all the challenges — resilient established businesses continuing to do well, and new shops, cafés and restaurants opening. Yes, there are closures too, but there is much more positivity than the screaming tabloid headlines (“Retailer with 2,000 stores is closing one site. Is YOURS at risk?”) would have us believe. 

Every time we frame the high street as being desolate and broken, we risk driving people away from discovering what is positive and delightful about their local town

Graham Soult

Even better, many success stories are agile, creative independent businesses, owned and run by local people. They are investing their money, energy and soul in the communities they care about. However, every time we frame the high street as being desolate and broken, we risk driving people away from discovering what is positive and delightful about their local town.

That said, of course there are problems that need to be fixed. However, Labour’s reference to how it will ‘restore’ Britain’s high streets is slightly disingenuous. Restore implies that it is desirable or possible to recreate the past, despite our shopping habits and the way we use town centres having evolved. A better word is ‘reinvent’ — and government certainly has a key role in creating the conditions for that transformation.

Top of many experts’ wish list would be Labour’s pledge to ‘replace business rates’. Set by government, and based on the value of the premises occupied, rates continue to be one of the biggest barriers I encounter, both to opening a shop in the first place, or expanding an existing business. 

Labour’s pledge to replace those rates with ‘a new system of business property taxation’ will be welcomed if it helps overcome those obstacles, though we still await the detail on how exactly the pie will be redivided.

Another promise aimed at making life easier for high-street businesses is Labour’s call to ‘stamp out late payments’, with a new law to compel big firms to pay suppliers promptly. Cashflow can, of course, be a concern, though the framing of this as a specifically high-street issue, rather than one for small business in general, seems incongruous.

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Alongside making life easier for businesses, other pledges seek to improve the experience of using high streets. The closure of bank branches — with 6,000 gone across the UK in the last nine years — has left prominent premises empty, but also impacted footfall. Labour’s plan to ‘roll out banking hubs’, to bring banking services back to communities, would go some way in mitigating that damage.

With retail crime a hot topic, it’s also easy to see why Labour has included ‘tackle anti-social behaviour and shoplifting’ in its plan. Though the cost of living plays a part, some of what we are seeing is, quite simply, organised shoplifting. Taking retail crime more seriously, and enhancing the feeling of safety through more police, seem logical steps.

Labour’s final action point — ‘revamp empty shops, pubs and community spaces’, by giving communities the ‘right to buy’ community assets — is perhaps the most interesting. 

We already know there is merit in premises being owned locally, rather than by a landlord or pension fund miles away. In Chester-le-Street, for instance, many of the local landlords are genuinely invested in the town, and care about its success. More local people owning shops and other buildings for the good of the community can only be a positive thing.

If there’s one obvious point missing from Labour’s plan, it’s a focus on promoting what we call in the industry ‘place leadership’. From my own work, I’ve learnt that every town or city requires a skilled and motivated cohort of stakeholders — including the council, of course, but also business leaders, community groups, young people and others — who understand what their place needs, and then work in partnership to make it happen. Sadly, the hollowing out of local government has made this harder to achieve.

Nevertheless, the current Government’s High Streets Task Force, which I’ve had the pleasure of being involved with, has done important and effective work in sharing expert insights, and helping local stakeholders navigate the challenges and opportunities in their own towns. 

If Labour is elected, the party’s plan for the high street promises to put in place some of the building blocks that will help promote business, encourage visits, and foster interesting places. But it’s up to all of us, as leaders in our businesses and communities, to play an active part in creating the town and city centres that we want.

Graham Soult is a well-known high street champion who founded and runs the Gateshead-based retail consultancy CannyInsights.com, and is chairman of Durham Business Group