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REVIVE & THRIVE’S 60 Appreciating the 5 High Street Truths: Truth 5 - the DNA of Towns Differs The long term downward trend in high street footfall across the UK, first recognised and since then tracked by Springboard, has been well documented. Having monitored the performance of high streets since our inception in 2002, and with published indices from January 2009 we have been able to identify the sometimes very subtle changes that have been occurring in high streets and deliver these insights to clients to bring understanding of and context behind the trends. 1 2 3 Long downward trend in High Street footfall Vacancies are lagged & sticky indicator of High Street performance Customer usage of High Streets is changing 4 High Streets are Adapting 5 The DNA of towns differs Our raison d’etre is the delivery to towns and cities a real understanding of their performance so they have the ammunition and evidence required to enhance their performance. With this in mind, Springboard expanded its portfolio to embrace sales tracking and so that the relationship between footfall and pounds in the till - the end game for occupiers – is understood and the most appropriate interventions can be implemented. And we also developed Milestone, enabling towns and cities to benefit from the broad range of performance indicators town centres had long been seeking but were unable to acquire in a useable and affordable format. What our experience has enabled us to do is to establish Five High Street Truths – five key principles that sit behind town centre performance. An appreciation of each is critical if town centre performance is to be fully understood, however, for this article I will focus on Truth 5, that the DNA of towns differs. So how have we reached this conclusion? In its seminal research project on high streets, HS2020, MMU and the IPM analysed Springboard’s footfall data to establish that there are four key types of town - comparison towns, convenience towns, speciality towns and holiday towns - with each having a unique footfall signature or DNA. And it is by towns recognising their own DNA and implementing appropriate strategies and interventions that performance can be maximised. Footfall Data Footfall by Key Data Town by Types Key Town Types Footfall Data by Key Footfall Town Data Types by Key Town Types A key conclusion of the project was that towns with a clearer signature perform best; footfall fell by -1.8% over two years in towns with a discernible signature while in towns without a discernible signature footfall fell by -3.8% over two years. So why is a clear signature important? Well, a clearer signature means a clearer and more cohesive offer for consumers. Footfall Footfall by Data by by Key Key Town Town Types Types A significant finding of the study was that around 50% of all towns do not have a clear discernible signature, and the study identified that these were likely to be centres that are changing from one type (usually comparison) to another, not usually through choice but due to a reducing retail offer which – given the enduring obsession of town centres to focus on offering a strong comparison retail offer – is at least in part inevitable. ”50% of all towns do not have a clear discernible signature” So what are the key lessons to be learned from this by town centres? Firstly, that whilst benchmarking a town’s footfall against town centres is beneficial as it delivers the context for performance, benchmarking delivers super-benefits if that comparison is made with the relevant town type. The other key lesson for towns is that – like us all as individuals – they need to be true to themselves and implement a vision and strategy that enables them to be as best as they can be rather than be a less than perfect near replica of others. Please get in touch with Springboard for more information on the HS2020 project, and the latest collaborative project between MMU/IPM and Springboard, Bringing Big Data to Small Users, a £1 million project funded by the UK Innovation Agency. January February March January April May June July August December September October November December January February March April May June July August September October November December Holiday Town Speciality Town Convenience/Community Town Comparison Shopping Town Holiday Town Speciality Holiday Town Convenience/Community Speciality Town Convenience/Community Town Comparison Town Shopping Town Comparison Shopping Town January February March January April February May March June April July August May September June October July November August September December October November December Holiday Town Speciality Town Holiday Convenience/Community Town Speciality Town Comparison Convenience/Community Shopping Town Town Comparison Shopping Town enquiries@spring-board.info 00 44 845 359 2835 www.spring-board.info
<strong>PLACE</strong> FOR TOWNS AND CITIES Testimonials What our members think about Revive & Thrive “We are a mainly rural district in the north midlands. We have lost many major employers through the closure of mines and hosiery which have affected our towns quite significantly over the last twenty years – that’s the negative. The positive and bright future we have, is that we have great service links to the M1 and A38 and are attracting a good base of service and sme’s. Our community is noted for being very friendly and approachable, but we have not shouted about it much, R&T gives us the opportunity to reach out and see what others are doing, and also ensure that what we feel is right , is well, actually a good thing to do too.” Trevor Middleton, Town Centres and Markets Manager, Ashfield District Council “Since joining Revive & Thrive and attending our first event back in February 2016 in Frodsham, the value and support that the Northwich BID has received and the partnerships we have developed has been tremendous. Since the event we have worked with a number of Revive and Thrive advocates, these include Made You Look who have delivered a number of Visual Merchandising training opportunities to Northwich traders, PFM Footfall Intelligence installed footfall cameras into the Town Centre in September and City Dressing have recently installed a “walled garden” design feature to improve a grot spot area within the town centre. In addition, the value we have received by placing a number of news stories in the monthly Place Magazine has raised the profile of Northwich both locally and nationally – Thank you Revive and Thrive” Jane Hough, Northwich Business Improvement District Manager “I joined… [other similar membership organisations]…to try to get some interest and awareness of the business. That has been an expensive and largely unsuccessful venture. R&T interests me because I believe the scale, fit and approach is right. I want to be able to build business by contributing to the community I operate in, not just simply by paying my way in. The Talking Towns Events in particular were great opportunities to speak, give thoughts and hopefully help the delegates understand data a little better. Finally, the people I see attending R&T events are those who are pushing the boundaries; forward-thinkers and experimentalists. I think we need that in this sector, for so many reasons, and I am proud and privileged to be a part of the group.” Sven Latham, MD, Noggin “We are very happy with the first few weeks of being a Revive & Thrive Corporate Advocate. It’s been a great start, in fact the best start that we have had when working with an organisation of this type.” Ronnie Brown, MD of Blachere Illumination 61
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