I have been asked a lot recently by friends, colleagues and others within the struggling retail sector what is the future and how can both large brands and smaller boutiques stores sustain and survive on our traditional high street?

I don’t have a magic wand or full raft of advice here to deliver the answers to make the UK high street take a hockey stick curve in the right direction – I do have my own thoughts (which i have been talking about for a while) and perhaps now is the time to start putting this into practice before we see another wave of high street brands vanish forever.

First off I think that the UK needs to review its own internal workings rules and regulations. For that you need the government to make some significant and momentous shifts in its thinking and understanding that the world - and in particular to this blog – the UK Retail High Street is a very different place compared to what it was 5 years ago. We all enjoy the convenience and benefits of online shopping and this is a trend that will continue to grow with the new breed of technology and consumer electronics making it even easier for consumers to shop, browse, compare and buy from the comfort of their sofa – why on earth would you need to venture out? There is of course a whole other conversation about online retail and where e-commerce moves into over the coming 12/24 months where again we will see a significant shift in that sector as well – I’ll keep that for another time though…

So what can the Government do that is not just a quick fix that we have to pay for eventually (I’m talking about the VAT cut) this has not really had the seismic impact that either Gordon Brown or Alistair Darling had hoped for – really? Plenty of people warned that when it was announced – perhaps big ticket items that a 2.5% cut in VAT would show a reasonable return for the consumer – but when consumers are spending less and watching what they do spend – the nominal VAT cuts they were seeing didn't have the same impact. A few pence here and if you were lucky a couple of pounds on the Christmas shop – but even then the consumer were cutting back some what on that so there is no real definitive argument for against the positivity that the consumers saw on their big Christmas shop.

We move into February with more unrest and threat of high street closures due to, and quite rightly too, the consumers lack of confidence in either the economy or their job security – so they will be more cautious of what they spend their money on. However we are in that never ending spiral that we must get out of quickly and make some positive steps to halt this and make the UK High Street a sustainable and vibrant place again.

How?

Firstly Government action – the continued (and often debated) archaic trading laws need overhauling NOW! BERR have always outlined the practice “Small shops with a floor area of up to 280 square metres (3,000 square feet) can choose their own Sunday opening hours. But they must be aware that staff who work on a Sunday may have special employment rights.” The limit of Sunday trading hours, sq ft size impact etc.. is unjust in this climate and in fact in 2009 is there really any other justification for the restricted Sunday trading. A complete overhaul would bring a more relaxed and sedate environment to the high street, as well as a longer time to browse and goodness knows even buy some goods. The BERR is headed up by Peter Mandelson and needs to address this sooner rather than later. I recall having fines from Local Councils when I was managing retail stores due to my store running over its allotted Sunday trading time limit! Why? I stayed open as consumers were still wanting to shop and spend their money in my store – so i wasn’t going to kick them out – every sale counted back then – as I'm sure it does even more so now. However as I recall there was some uproar from the Church leaders around Sunday trading – being “a day of rest”  yes that may well have been the case in 70’s & 80’s when online retail wasnt invented and people couldn't shop 24/7 if they wanted to… So the Church argument in a multi-cultural, multi-channel UK does not stack up!

Next is the BCSC that helps shape the landlords and business unit holders with the retailers. This is a key issue as more and more high street and shopping centre units become vacant the initial reaction is to increase the rates or rent elsewhere to make up the shortfall. There has been an on going debate between retailers and commercial landlords around what is right and wrong in the current climate. However again I can only go on my own retail experience – where at the height of the high street in early 90’s there was a flip side where landlords would significantly increase their commercial rents and rates as the demand for space was so high that the old adage of greed crept in and an increase in rental would benefit the commercial landlords – as well as a hefty price hike in shopping parking spaces etc… This must be a key piece of work for Michael Green & Jeremy Collins to really work with Commercial Landlords, Retailers and Local Council to review the current state of the “High Street” and act appropriately, correctly and without the incessant need of “what's in it for me” If Commercial Landlords continue to increase rents, while local councils push up rates and town parking become astronomical then we may as well mourn the demise of the high street now. We need to act in a positive and pro-active manner to establish the high street as a place of community and commerce where big brands can and should sit comfortably side by side.

This is the final part of my own take on the Retail High Street – while we would love to see Pete’s Butcher Shop, Frank’s Fishmongers sit along side Tesco Metro & M&S Food Halls – there doesn't seem to be that level of optimism or opportunity for these types of stores to thrive and flourish. A number of causes for this could be a lack of confidence that how can they possibly compete with the might of Tesco or M&S etc… Rent and rates are too high, the only available unit / location for me is in the wrong area of town… all these are perfectly valid points and again this is down to local councils, town planning and rejuvenation of the local high street. I have spoken to a few local councillors and their inept and lack of understanding on this subject is somewhat shocking to say the least. These bureaucrats need to have a lesson on high street rejuvenation – that doesn't involve creating yet another out of town complex that the big named brands may or may not move into – again they will look at the “what's in it for me” issue again and make a poor decision based on their own thoughts and views. I must stress here that not all local councils are like this – but a vast majority are – and in part of the rebuilding of a successful and thriving high street it requires everyone to be proactive and take responsibility. So I think that over time the high street will become an almost desolate landscape during the final downturn of 2009 – however if all the points above are carefully thought through and planned and agreed we will see a new emergence of UK Retail High Street in 2010 that will be very much in the vein of what the high street was supposed to be “Community & Commerce” local being a key driver. Local in terms of support, jobs, produce and products and a sense of pride that brings the dawn of a new era to the high street and to retailers to bring that passion and sense of community back to the fore.

However – lets not forget that retail as we know it is changing and will continue to change forever - nothing we can do to stop or change it. We need to embrace and work with and ultimately its in a small number of peoples hands to start to turn things around – get these achieved correctly and you will start to see the UK Retail High Street turning in the right direction – and if they don’t……