Last chance to meet and talk towns & communities with Revive & Thrive for 2014
On Tuesday 2nd December, we are holding our last live event of 2014 and this one will be a little different to all of the others. For starters, the event is taking place in Stirchley, part of the Lifford business area where Revive & Thrive is working with the business community and the Lifford Business Association to develop a Business Improvement District, which the businesses will be voting on in July 2015. It is also an excellent opportunity to meet the new team and our new CEO Hannah Bowden. (Read Hannah’s latest blog here)...
read moreVision for 2015
This week we’ve been party planning at Revive and Thrive. What started off as an innocent enough looking networking meeting has evolved into something that is sounding a lot more Christmas party than working party! We do feel we’ve got a lot to celebrate, on the odd occasion that we stop for breath and cast an eye back over the past year. But we’re not a bunch to rest on our laurels and so already our thoughts are on 2015. For us it will be a year when we bring our Time4Towns Journey into reality. Our Time4Towns pioneers...
read moreRevive & Thrive is proud of its award winning businesses
Many congratulations to Business Group member Design JD for winning Entrepreneur of the Year Design JD’s Creative Director, Jonathan Docksey, is delighted to announce the recognition of “Entrepreneur of the Year” at the Sutton Business Excellence Awards on Friday 7th November 2014. The Sutton Business Awards is open to any business throughout the borough. The awards recognise dynamic, innovative and successful businesses in Sutton. The winners are selected by an independent judging panel made up of local industry leaders and business...
read moreHannah Bowden appointed CEO of Revive & Thrive
Revive & Thrive Ltd is very pleased to announce that the company has appointed Hannah Bowden as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. The company has grown in the last twelve months from one employee to six and has enjoyed numerous successes during that period. Opportunities in 2015 mean that there is demand for new employees as well as external resource and the company has made the decision to formalise the management structure ahead of this growth. The changes also mean that Director Matthew Powell will take on the role of...
read moreHumbled and Hopeful
We are at a time of massive change in our towns, cities and communities across the UK. The speed at which we need to evolve is unprecedented and the support required to do so needs to respond accordingly. We can no longer rely on individual organisations or local authorities to provide that support but must come together to help each other. Revive and Thrive is above all, a community, free to join, for all those passionate about place. We believe that by working together across boundaries, where businesses, professionals, community groups,...
read moreWhy now is the right time to join our FREE Town & City Centre Community
Whilst some commentators are saying that there is a small degree of high street revival at the moment it is sad to see the changes at some of the organisations set up to support our town and city centres. ATCM has seen their highly respected and much loved CEO Martin Blackwell move on to pastures new and Market Towns are mourning the loss of AMT or Towns Alive who went into voluntary liquidation recently. Revive & Thrive Ltd has a very different business model relying solely on private money and corporate subscriptions as well as...
read moreInStreatham BID to promote Streatham High Road nationally as a destination for retail.
InStreatham Business Improvement District has appointed Revive & Thrive Ltd to raise the profile of the town centre firmly placing the longest high street in Europe, on a national stage. As well as running the marketing and events for Streatham, Revive & Thrive will be building a business case for new retailers to invest in Streatham High Road. Revive & Thrive has at its heart a group of UK wide town centre practitioners covering multiple disciplines as well as a Business Group which offers innovative solutions to UK towns and...
read moreMaynineteen brings professional events to Revive & Thrive for your town or city centres
We are very excited to welcome Maynineteen to the Revive & Thrive Business Group. Nothing brings a town or city centre to life more than a well planned, relevant and imaginative event and that’s why we are so pleased to welcome Katie Combes and her team to Revive & Thrive. Working together with the Business Group and the Partnership, Revive & Thrive has a huge amount to offer UK town and city centres and now we are pleased to have the opportunity to offer professional and bespoke events to help centres to ‘revive and...
read moreHistoric Towns Forum Event – Poulton-le-Fylde, 15 October
Retail, Tourism & the Local Economy – Understanding, implementing & promoting the links & benefits. 15 October 2014 – Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire The link between tourism and the economy can be seen as the all-round panacea for regeneration. But is it a solution we should assume will rejuvenate and drive local economies? Careful consideration needs to be given to individual localities, their retail, their cultural and their heritage offers as well as their tourism offers. Tourism can be a major driver of the local...
read moreCouncil says working with DISC is helping extend crime partnerships across Rhondda Cynon Taf
Mike Jacklin says investment by Rhondda Cynon Taf council has helped create local business crime reduction partnerships across the county – with a little help from DISC… Rhondda Cynon Taf Business Crime Reduction Partnership (RCTBCRP) was created in September 2008 to tackle the problems of town-centre crime throughout the area. Since then it has evolved and expanded from the Cynon Valley Business Crime Partnership into a scheme helping four towns reduce crime in their town centres through proactive policing and partnership work throughout the...
read moreRevive & Thrive to work with ROI Team in an alliance to better understand behaviour and activity in UK town and city centres.
Today we are pleased to announce that a new alliance between Revive & Thrive and ROI Team has been created to further improve the level of service that both organisations offer to UK high streets. Revive & Thrive, strong believers in collaboration and co-operative working, will, from September, become the only primary distributor of the UK Markets Index, published by ROI Team in collaboration with PFM. the UKMI is the UK’s only ongoing measure of performance in UK retail markets. This report will be released monthly for free...
read moreThe Yeovil ‘umbrella’: cost-effective business crime reduction
Derek Yeomans uses DISC (from Littoralis) as the ‘hub’ for his ever-expanding and evolving crime-reduction partnership covering Yeovil and other smaller surrounding Somerset towns… The origins of the Yeovil Crime Reduction Partnership go back more than 20 years when a local Chamber of Commerce-led initiative was set up to reduce shoplifting within the town centre. That was then, and this is now, and Derek Yeomans has noticed some significant changes! Download full case study here To find our more about DISC and Littoralis contact...
read moreReward Your World V2 – with added parking and gamification solutions
RYW Community Systems is pleased to announce the release of version 2 of its “Reward Your World™” GPS enabled mobile app designed to encourage and reward Reading residents for choosing sustainable forms of transport. This was made possible through funding by Reading Borough Council via its Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF). The latest version of the “Reward Your World™” App, available for both Google Android and Apple iOS platforms, builds upon the sustainable travel activities of the first version (which included motivating, tracking...
read moreBo-Concepts ‘bringing space to life’ together with Revive & Thrive
Revive and Thrive (R&T) are very pleased to welcome Bo-Concepts to the Business Group. Bo-Concepts is a perfect fit into the Revive and Thrive family as, like other elements of the organisation, it creates a virtuous circle for town and city centres. Bo-Concepts are one of the leading promotional agencies in the UK – their vision is to be the first choice provider of Promotional Space Management and Event Management within the UK. Bo-Concepts core mission is ‘we bring space to life’ by offering unique indoor and outdoor promotional...
read moreHastings to host free UK Town Centre Innovation Event
Innovation for town centres and high streets from all around the UK will be coming to Hastings on September 10 in a free event designed to showcase what adding technology to ‘people power’ can achieve in a community. This event to be held at the Sussex Room, White Rock Theatre from 9.30 is being delivered by Revive & Thrive a UK wide town centre regeneration organisation in partnership with Hastings Town Centre Management. Sponsored by Reward Your World this event will discuss what technologies and solutions can be implemented to build a...
read moreNEWS FROM LABOUR: High Streets Conference to “revive and regenerate” Bristol’s suburbia
Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Bristol North West, Darren Jones, has teamed up with regeneration company Revive and Thrive, local entrepreneurs Imogen McIntosh and Anne-Louise Perez of Your Street Gift Cards and community change website Reward Your World to host a daylong conference on community regeneration in Bristol. Darren Jones said: “The hearts of most of the communities within Bristol North West are based on high streets, parades and squares. Some are successful, but with the closure of youth centres and sporting facilities, and...
read moreRisbygate Street in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Guest blog by Mark Cordell, Chief Executive, Ourburystedmunds Business Improvement District As the Chief Executive of a Business Improvement District I am always looking for different ways to promote our town and individual businesses. Sometimes this can be done through one activity such as the four high profile events we deliver each year but sometimes there needs to be more specific and targeted initiatives to focus upon specific issues. Bury St Edmunds is a lovely market town with a great history, a tradition of cultural activity and a...
read moreCity Dressing Digital launches with the first AR Advent Calendar.
Famous for its mega advent calendars City Dressing has taken the concept one step further by creating an augmented reality (AR) play on the Advent Calendar. As well as creating an interactive calendar that opens a new window every day to display a child’s design or promote a local retailer the calendar also exists as a game on smart phones. The game can only be played in front of the calendar and involves matching windows to win prizes. The games changes daily. ‘Experience is everything. Supplementing our graphics with digital content creates...
read moreRevolutionary shop and cafe will provide new shopping experiences at Festival Place in Basingstoke
On Monday 30th June 2014, the pioneering popup shop venture Space Qube opened the doors of its first shop and cafe, Cafe Qube, at Festival Place, Basingstoke. Cafe Qube is no ordinary cafe though, as not only can customers enjoy a range of high quality, locally sourced food and drink, they can also browse the ever-changing popup shop within the cafe. Every few weeks the theme of the shop will change and different brands, products and services will appear, providing customers with a variety of rich shopping experiences on a regular basis....
read moreMyHigh.St brings your high street home to you
Town centres need to take advantage of all the tools that are available to them to enable them to promote, compete and defend. Revive & Thrive and MyHigh.St have been following each other’s progress over recent months and are now working together to promote e-commerce as a solution to support town and city centres and their retailers. MyHigh.St are perfect partners to the existing solutions that Revive & Thrive offer. They complement other recent members IVTS & Your Street who offer ‘click and collect; and multi...
read moreHannah Bowden joins R&T as Director for Innovation and Strategy
Revive & Thrive Ltd is very pleased to welcome Hannah Bowden to the company as Director of Strategy and Innovation. In her new role, Hannah will be creating opportunities for towns, cities and communities through Revive & Thrive’s model for action led regeneration and renewal. Part of Hannah’s work will including researching and signposting genuine and effective solutions for high street innovation of all kinds. Revive & Thrive is committed to ensuring that Councils and communities receive value for money and are equipped with...
read moreSimple messages will Reward Your World & your community
Reward Your World is a huge opportunity and concept reaching into every element of your community. The Directors of Revive & Thrive have always been interested in incentivisation schemes due to the simple messages that they offer and how they reward residents and visitors for behaving in the ‘right’ way in their community. This is why we are working so closely with Reward Your World. There are few, if any, activities that Reward Your World can’t measure and reward within a community e.g. exercising, volunteering, use of...
read moreWhat is the value of street media in your town? How do you define street media?
Over the past 10 years City Dressing has performed a large number of outdoor media audits in towns and cities across the country. We recognise that there is a large resource waiting to be utilised and an audit is the only way to start to measure the value of this resource. Street Media is defined as the non-traditional outdoor media and related digital and promotional opportunities that are controlled or owned by a local authority or BID. The examples range from lamp column banners and information towers to digital shopping walls and...
read moreGumwand helps people ‘stick’ around in town centres for the right reasons
Revive & Thrive offers numerous solutions for encouraging new and repeat visits to town centres but is mindful to ensure that once residents and visitors are in town they are not disappointed by the experience. One high profile reason for complaint in a town centre is the amount of chewing gum on display that not only looks unsightly but also creates unpleasant and ‘sticky’ situations. This is why we are very pleased to welcome Gumwand to the Revive & Thrive Business Group Mark Barnes, Revive & Thrive Managing...
read moreHow to bring spaces to life; from the street to the shop
Natasha Reid is a spatial designer interested in the past, present and future of town centres. With our town centres and high streets facing serious challenges,there is a need to re-imagine underused spaces and to also create vibrant new places where people can shop, meet, interact and spend time in. Re-imagining Spaces; the vibrant high street The rich mix of spaces that make up town centres are their most valuable assets, economically, socially and culturally. The high street has historically been a diverse place which supports public...
read moreIs a Business Improvement District right for your town? Case study – Camden Town Unlimited
Are you considering a Business Improvement District (BID) in your centre? With the very kind help of highly successful Camden Town Unlimited BID, we help you consider the basics. What is a BID? A Business Improvement District (BID) is a precisely defined area within which the local business community work together to collectively invest in projects and services that address specific issues and opportunities and improve the business environment. How and why did you decide that a BID was right for Camden? - Camden Town has always been an...
read moreAs well as doing everything, Reward Your World also does websites!!
With years of experience in providing websites for Councils and community groups Reward Your World wanted to take this opportunity to share how they could be promoting your town or city and its retailers online Want a web site but fearful of the minefield of choices that are out there? Feel that you need a deep understanding of technology to make sense of it all? Unsure on how to make that first step or don’t know who to turn to for advice? Well, we can help! We have a powerful solution that is both easy use and, just as importantly,...
read moreThe Antidote for Apathy?
We are very fortunate at Revive & Thrive, we get to talk to towns and cities all across the UK, both with professionals and passionate residents, or retailer activists on a daily basis. However, rarely a day goes by that we don’t talk to someone who is feeling a little ‘battle scarred’ offering comments such as ‘Our community is different because… and that’s why things don’t work here’ or ‘we’ve got some great ideas but the residents or retailers are so apathetic’. Well the good news is, with a large number of you feeling...
read moreOur first few months & technology businesses that you should consider in your town/city in 2014
This is the first Christmas that Revive & Thrive has been working together as a group and we have had a terrific reception. Revive & Thrive developed (almost accidentally) through my research to identify effective and affordable technology for town, city centres and communities and I wanted to end the year reflecting on some opportunities that you could, or maybe should, be using in 2014. Read our recent 2014 top town tech tips here Perhaps understandably, much of the activity has been about the Revive & Thrive...
read moreFree workshop for those interested in incentivising the ‘right’ kind of community behaviour
Reward Your World (RYW) is going from strength to strength with its community engagement ecosystem built upon the financially backed BetterPoints™ system. They are already in discussion with a number of towns and cities regarding roll-out in early 2014 and they are looking to meet with other towns interested in exploring how they can re-invigorate their high street and community engagement. If you are interested in a free workshop with the RYW team to discuss the many ways their communities can participate in local activities, which result in...
read moreIt’s always a happy Christmas when City Dressing is in town
City Dressing has been instrumental in the Christmas battle for footfall. With High Streets looking to attract record numbers of visitors to their shops and entice visitors away from the internet City Dressing has been instrumental in providing the unique difference and story. In Aberdeen we have installed two large shop graphics celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas. The graphic incorporates 12 Baubles which each open up to show a different offer. The installation is supported by a range of large scale projections down Union Street. Liverpool...
read moremiconex launch national digital infrastructure for Scotland
miconex (previously mi city) launch their new nationwide digital infrastructure mi Scotland in alliance with Scotland’s Towns Partnership Perthshire based technology company, miconex, unveiled their new nationwide app brand at the recent Scotland’s Town Conference in Inverness. mi scotland is a digital infrastructure that aims to connect Scotland’s businesses with local consumers and visitors using smartphone apps, web and social media. The mi scotland brand is an extension of the “mi” apps that have been launched over the past three...
read moreDigital mapping aids RSLM’s work listening in communities
RSLM Practitioners add digital mapping to their tried and tested method for engaging residents RSLM Digital provides a range of services for organisations, institutions and neighbourhood teams that are looking to capture the voice of local people. The information is managed, stored and secured digitally and allows for real time interaction at a street, neighbourhood and regional level to share information and mobilise the networks of people that you create. Download RSLM digital’s video here find out more about the RSLM...
read moreStudents are the latest to support Reward Your World in Reading
Reading College partners with Reward Your World in Reading. Reward Your World’s (RYW) new mobile app for smart phones is already gaining traction in Reading and attracting attention from other town centres. In their latest partnership RYW has teamed up with Reading College to explore how they provide added value to their students. Reading College wants to encourage the 5000+ students to get involved in the local community, particularly through volunteering for local projects. They also have regular awareness programmes at the college and...
read moreInvest in Chesterfield message taken to Westminster
Chesterfield’s marketing campaign, Destination Chesterfield, has been highlighted by the Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna MP ‘as a good example of the public and private sector working together and taking responsibility to attract investment and promote their town.’ The praise came at an exclusive Invest in Chesterfield event which was hosted by Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins in Westminster recently. The event, which was organised by Destination Chesterfield, was designed to showcase the town to potential investors and property...
read moreThe Association of RSLM Practitioners celebrates academic successes!
The Association of RSLM Practitioners (www.rslm.org) is thrilled to share news of the success of some of its members who have successfully completed the PGCert in Communities Engagement and Enterprise. 60 individuals from local authorities, housing providers, student unions and those from the Community Organising Programme have been taken through and completed the PGCert (Level 7 equivalent) passing recently. The partnership with the University of Brighton (UoB) and status as an Open College Network Training Centre ensures education, training...
read moreCity Dressing innovation creates opportunities for entrepreneurs in the high street
City Dressing innovation creates opportunities for entrepreneurs in the high street If you want to attract big brands, give local market traders the opportunity to trade up and get homegrown online entrepreneurs onto the High Street, City Dressing can help you deliver. Our Next Generation Pop Up Shops are unique to City Dressing and build on our reputation for design that stimulates regeneration and leads to new permanent occupancy. We have three distinct models:- White Box Spaces Pop-Up Market Trade-Up Virtual Pop-Up White Box Spaces...
read moreIncentive led community engagement takes a step closer – Reward Your World
Reward Your World, the platform that uniquely engages all segments within a community has got some great news! November has been a month of developments and exciting launches for Reward Your World. We can now offer you a platform for connecting and engaging your community totally unlike one that you have ever seen before. What does the programme do? Well, Reward Your World connects, empowers and engages commercial and non-commercial segments within a community. It gives valuable points (BetterPoints) and special offers to residents for...
read moreTime to think big, so grasp the opportunity – Revive & Thrive Challenge feedback, so far
Revive and Thrive pre-applications are in, here’s some feedback to help those that applied and those that are still working on it from Corin Birchall of Kerching Retail The Revive and Thrive partnership came together to demonstrate how the industry’s best brains can build a blue print for a Thriving town or city centre. How products and services they have developed and fined tuned over many years can compliment one another and reverse years of High Street decline. Connected places are central to the Revive and Thrive challenge, and our...
read moreImmigrants – the saviour of our town centres?
Corin Birchall of Kerching Retail considers the opportunities that immigrants offer to our high streets in a guest blog While some fear an influx of immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria in 2014, could our new and current Eastern European communities stem the decline in British High Streets? I think they could play a significant part. Towns with sizeable Eastern European communities may have recognised a boost to their High Street instead of shoppers favouring out-of-town or internet alternatives. This is often the case with loyal...
read moreDon’t resist building entertainment into a retail environment
One of Burrows Little’s specialisms is the analysis and design of LEISURE IN RETAIL. Guest blog by John Burrows The leisure industry has many protagonists, forums and institutes promoting the benefits of the various leisure sectors but there is still an extraordinary disconnect when it comes to integrating leisure, hospitality and sport into a retail environment whether it be a local high street, shopping centre or retail park / designer outlet. It still surprises me that amongst traditional retail developers there is still a question...
read moreCity Dressing goes large in Liverpool this Christmas
City Dressing installs the country’s largest artificial Christmas Tree in Liverpool. Standing at a staggering 14 metres high the Christmas sculpture has transformed the main square behind the town hall. It took 6 men and two cranes to build over 3 days and was described as an enormous set of Meccano. With the structure now clad in foliage it looks stunning and awaits the finishing touch of the lights. ‘This is a bit different from our usual work of creating virtual shops but fits in with our ambition to improve public spaces with...
read moreShould communities consider alternative banking solutions?
Sometimes innovative ideas come along that your initial reaction is to be concerned. When Paul Norley of Spark contacted Revive & Thrive we resisted the opportunity to share information based on a lack of knowledge of the sector and concerns about banking and untried solutions. Through discussion we agreed that the concept is an admirable one and that we would ask you, the reader to give a view. So to be clear, we don’t recommend or endorse this idea but do want your views about a new company that might have an opportunity for...
read moreCommunity engagement, where does it start?
Powerful & real listening starts with RSLM Nobody can argue against the basic principle that communities need to have a say in the services that they receive from the public sector. One vote, once every few years does not, for most, seem like a process of true dialogue. So how might effective community engagement and dialogue actually happen? Is there any tried-and-tested method for achieving it? A system known as RSLM (which stands for Root Solution: Listening Matters) has been developed and crafted over a number of years which is at the...
read moreAccelerate your tech business with The Retail Innovation Theatre, Earls Court March 2014
RBTE 2014 partners with Eccomplished and ups the WOW factor with new-look Retail Innovation Theatre RBTE, Europe’s biggest and fastest growing retail solutions show is set to dazzle its visitors with an outstanding array of innovation showcased in The Retail Innovation Theatre, run in association with Eccomplished, the business accelerator for retail tech. Companies are invited to put forward proposals demonstrating how their solutions help retailers solve their key challenges and the winning entries will get the unique, “money-can’t buy”,...
read moreGood news – ‘me’ towns are becoming ‘we’ towns….
Guest blog by Julian Dobson of Urban Pollinators Lou Reed famously sang that there was only one good use for a small town. When you grow up in a small town you ‘grow down’ – ‘you hate it and you know you’ll have to leave’. But something interesting is happening in many of our small towns: something that many larger places, still in hock to cloned aspirations of economic development and an institutional inertia that hopes the development boom of the last decade will return, have yet to grasp. What’s happening is that ‘me’ towns are...
read moreYour chance to invest in the future of Pop Up
Help Space Qube to bring vitality to our ailing high streets… The popup retail experts Space Qube are currently crowdfunding with Seedrs to raise £110,000 to set up the UK’s first dedicated retail space for popup activity, but they need your help to make this a reality…. Space Qube is offering something quite revolutionary in the world of retail. With the plan to set up six dedicated spaces by the end of 2016, Space Qube is aimed at a variety of retailers who want to lease premium high street space on a short term basis without the...
read more10 reasons to take the Revive & Thrive Challenge
10 Reasons why your town / city should enter the Revive and Thrive Challenge: By Deborah Millington, RedBorder Ltd In 2010, David Cameron said “We are all in this together”, but what did that actually mean? Well 3 years after those words were muttered, the Revive and Thrive challenge have stepped up to the plate and are delivering an initiative that will support Mr Cameron’s ideas for community cohesion. It is no secret, our towns and cities are finding it hard to stand up on their own two feet or indeed keep a roof over their business....
read moreKeeping your town centre fresh
Guest blog by John Burrows of Burrows Little, a member of the Revive & Thrive Business Group It is an uncomfortable fact that many shops, cafes, leisure operations, developed and designed with the best intentions, seem to pass their sell-by date very quickly. Every investor is aware of the importance of the dreaded expression “WOW! Factor” and much is made of the cross over between the budget for the built fabric and the management and marketing budget. However, time and time again we witness grand openings and we all feel that buzz of...
read moreBirmingham: Fighting the high cost high street lenders
With traditional high street stores increasingly being replaced by high-cost lenders in the shape of cheque cashing outlets, pawnbrokers and other payday loan companies, organisations in Birmingham go together to take action. But can local councils and their communities do anything about this? Well, in Birmingham, they’re certainly going to give it a try, rather than sit by and watch, powerless. There, a partnership of the City Council, a number of local credit unions and the Community Development Finance Institution, MoneyLine have joined...
read moreChesterfield: Investment in retail offering pays off
The town has maintained its top 10 position in The Local Data Company’s latest report on shop vacancy rates. It is one of only three towns north of the ‘Watford Gap’ that are listed in the report’s top 25 best performing centres with the least vacant shops. The report, which analyses over 1,900 town centres, shopping centres and retail parks visited in the first half of 2013, ranks Chesterfield 8th in the large centres category. Peter Swallow, Chair of Destination Chesterfield,said: “The report is hugely encouraging, confirming our belief...
read moreCorin of Kerching Retail – The Revive & Thrive Challenge
“Magic happens when people ‘do’ things, not talk about it” Corin Birchall – The Revive & Thrive Challenge Revive & Thrive asked Corin Birchall of Kerching Retail why he is backing the Revive & Thrive Challenge “The Revive & Thrive Challenge is asking businesses, councils, BIDs or residents to propose ideas that will transform their Town or City Centres. Kerching Retail is in, and we encourage everyone to get involved. I’ve just returned from the international BID conference, where...
read moreNew dates announced for Made You Look Workshops
Limited places are now available for Made You Look’s latest workshops book now to avoid disappointment See Autumn newsletter for more details York date 25 & 26 September. London 17 & 18 October – excellent timing for preparing your Christmas window displays. The workshops include – DAY ONE Understanding the basic golden rules of display and what makes a window display work and attract sales. Demonstration of ‘building’ (grouping) a basic display using Pyramids, Height, Focal Point, Space, Flow, Colour, Backdrops…....
read moreHomes on the high street
Guest blog by Jeremy Rucker, City Dressing City Dressing has been following the news articles on converting derelict retail into homes. The majority of the public agree it would help reduce the pressure on our housing stock and increase footfall on the high street. Seasoned campaigners rally against it as being another death knoll of the high street and councils fear it would reduce business rates. At City Dressing we believe a single approach is not relevant and it is vital for every district to test out the viability of this idea. To this...
read moreFree online consultation on digital solutions for towns, cities and high streets
Guest blog by Colin Munro, mi city Mi city is offering a free online consultation of what digital technology can offer your high streets. Colin will focus not just on what is possible for you to engage with today but also on the innovation that is just around the corner for our high streets. Colin and mi city has great success in delivering a digital infrastructure for a number of towns and cities in Scotland and is the preferred supplier for digital technologies to BIDs Scotland. Drawing heavily on his success and experience in this field,...
read moreVisual Display Training: Make them look!
Guest blog by Helen Goodwin of Made You Look! a member of the Revive & Thrive business group Experts in visual display training Made You Look! has been working with Bedford Borough Council and their local traders. High Street Bedford has been the primary north – south route through Bedford for at least 1200 years. 100 years ago it was a thriving and bustling street with attractive and prestigious shops, hostelries, inns and businesses. However, over the past 50 years the high street has declined. Action was needed, and the council...
read moreWood Street, London: Boosting retail and supporting the high street
Guest blog by Stephanie Fox, Red Leader The plight of the high streets has been well documented of late. Many local communities and authorities are looking to digital solutions to help regenerate areas. One such project is happening in a quiet corner of East London. Initiated and funded by Waltham Forest Council and the Mayor’s Outer London Fund as part of a wider regeneration of the area, Red Leader, a digital design firm based in East London, was commissioned to create a brand and website for a deprived area called Wood Street. Wood Street...
read moreBrush up Broadstairs: harnessing local enthusiasm
Guest blog by Fiona Crawford, chair, Broadstairs Town Team Broadstairs, nestled between the two larger towns of Margate and Ramsgate, has always been known as the Jewel in Thanet’s crown and so there is a temptation to rest on our laurels. However, every town needs to work continuously to ensure that it is as attractive as it can be. What better way in these cash strapped times than to tap into the skills and enthusiasm of local people? It’s called civic pride and it can be rewarding for the physical aspects of the town and the...
read moreTown Centre Management: Caerphilly’s Unique Places project
Guest blog by Andrew Highway, Town Centre Development Manager, Caerphilly County Borough Council In recent years, there has been a renewed focus on town centres, in part due to the much-publicised Portas Review which was conducted on behalf of the Government by retail expert Mary Portas. In Wales, the Welsh Government’s own report ‘Regeneration of Town Centres’ has raised the profile of Welsh town centres and asked important questions about how they can evolve and develop in the future. As a result of these reports, there is now a wider...
read moreStart preparing now for a successful Christmas
The perfect Christmas doesn’t just happen by itself – it takes lots of planning. Now is the time to start thinking about how you can make this the best ever Christmas for your businesses. mi city will build a digital infrastructure to connect your business with local consumers, providing: A comprehensive single communications platform with multiple consumer channels via Smartphone apps for iPhone and Android, website, social media promotion, email marketing and Push Notifications Thousands of local consumers with information on events,...
read morePartnership skills: Introducing Vision On
Guest blog by Susan Williams of Vision On, part of the Revive & Thrive Partnership In 2010 the New Economics Foundation (nef) released a fascinating report: Re-imagining the High Street; Escape from Clone Town Britain. The report began with a very simple and straightforward question: “What does it matter that increasingly our town centres all look the same?” Up and down the country more and more people are contributing to the debate. What is it that our town centres stand for? Are they just places that once upon a time had a need but now...
read moreDare to dream – but be quick!
Blog post by Mark Barnes When I was a Town Centre Manager I was amazed by the plethora of the goods and services that I was being offered. Many of which i didn’t want, need or more relevant couldn’t afford to buy or have the time to consider in detail. My time was much better served by delivering my role as TCM and I know this is how my residents and those who paid my wages would want it to be. But it is a juggling act. My passion did then, as it does now, lie in making sure that town and city centres take advantage of all opportunities as...
read moreHow do you value an empty shop?
Guest blog by City Dressing City Dressing has been developing strategies to reduce the negative value of empty shops. A negative value is defined by a property or place that is reducing the value of neighbouring property and in turn the commercial centre the property or place is positioned in. So the value of property on a street is effected if one of the properties is empty and in a bad state of repair. The most obvious example of this is the work City Dressing conducted in Dungannon transforming Perry Street, the main street into the town...
read morePopUp Britain: Popping up on a high street near you
Guest blog by PopUp Britain Pop-up shops offer the growing number of online retail start-ups access to the high street via empty stores. PopUp Britain, the retail arm of national enterprise campaign StartUp Britain, launched its sixth pop-up earlier this month in Camberley, with a flagship store on London’s King’s Road already under its belt. The campaign’s aim is for the shops to help launch the careers of hundreds of online British retail entrepreneurs. Its pilot store in Richmond last year saw 60 start-ups get to market. Since then its...
read morePeterborough: It started with a tweet!
Guest blog by Rachel Parkin, independent retailer in Peterborough It all started with Twitter – yes really! I’ve had my beautiful store in Peterborough for over 18 years now and since footfall into town has fallen in recent years I started to think about the whole offering of the city centre. We have a first rate museum and Cathedral literally on our doorstep and it made sense to me that we would start to work in a more collaborative way with those around us. We tweeted a few local stores and had our first meeting in a coffee shop– we pretty...
read moreDenbigh: Connecting artists, technology and community
Technology is often blamed for accelerating the decline of the High Street. However, in Denbigh (or Dinbych in Welsh), a picturesque market town in North Wales a radical and new approach is showing that there are ways to harness the benefits of the Internet and social media. By providing a space for local skilled artisans to display their work, make the most of Denbigh has generated a consistent, stable and flexible outlet for creative people in the locality. It contributes an attractive, eclectic, yet low risk opportunity for suppliers and...
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