One of the clearest aspects of the current economic downturn has been its impact on the British high street. Every week we seem to hear that another of our high street names is in trouble – be it a bank, music store or even, of course, the iconic Woolworths.
Earlier this month, we learned that the retail group owning the Oasis and Coast stores had to be saved from administration. This feels like an alarming turn of events.
What happens if our high streets become deserted, barren of shops and shoppers? The implications of this would be catastrophic for local economies. Shop closures lead to job losses and, compounded by a drop in employment opportunities in the local area, unemployment rates could become entrenched for years to come.
As the LGA warned last month, some of our town centres risk becoming ghost towns with more than four out of five local authorities reporting an increase in empty properties on the high street. This not only has an impact on local economies, but deserted high streets are also likely to become hotspots for antisocial behaviour.
What, if anything, can local authorities do about this? The case for greater freedoms for local authorities to support town centres is an important one, and is being pursued vigorously by the local government family. While these requests are sensible, there is a lot local authorities can do, and are doing, already.
In London, Kensington & Chelsea LBC have long led a campaign to support small shops in competition with big chains, and it is easy to see how this campaign can be bolstered to support high streets in the recession.
At London Councils we have been discussing London's suburbs. By suburbs, we don't just mean outer London – suburban areas sit in a large number of inner and outer London boroughs. While the West End will of course be hit hard by the recession, some of the capital's suburbs face problems that existed long before this downturn began, and these problems will only be made worse unless they are tackled soon.
Helping shops stay open is one strand of this work, but we are also looking at how targeted investment can stimulate new economic growth in our suburbs. This is not a case for moving existing investment from inner to outer London – it is about unlocking the potential of suburbs to contribute more to the performance of the capital as a whole. We can target investment in such a way to stimulate new growth sectors for the capital – ones that do not necessarily need a central London location.
The scope for local authority interventions in the local economy is huge. The trick is to ensure our actions are not just a knee-jerk response to the current economic climate, but are instead interventions that help our town centres flourish for years to come.
