Building on our joint reports on access to finance, government, people and markets, today we released our fifth report with Enterprise Nation on access to space. Not the final frontier this time (we've already done did that through with the APPG for Entrepreneurship); but closer to earth, whether that’s an office, coworking, shop, cafe, or other space.
A fair amount of the report is devoted to the grossly exaggerated predictions of the death of the high street. As we write in the opening of Access All Areas: Space, disruption isn’t new: “Ever since the Industrial Revolution, commercial space has changed as dramatically as the economy has. When it comes to retail and hospitality, new products and services and resulting new consumer demands have been a constant challenge, as well as opportunity. Shop numbers have been steadily declining since at least the 1920s, while mass car ownership transformed the way we live, with the country’s first out-of-town shopping centre, Brent Cross in Hendon, built in 1976. In fact, since the 1960s, we’ve gone from high streets and town centres dominated by essential retail, to one where discretionary social and experience are taking centre stage.”
In the face of this creative – and not-so-creative – destruction of the high street, successive governments have tried to help. Business Improvement Districts were introduced in 2003, whereby local businesses vote to invest together in their area; the Portas Review of 2011 saw retail expert Mary Portas conduct an independent review on the future of high streets; we’ve seen a growing number of reliefs and increasing amounts of cash, including the £675 million Future High Streets Fund, the £3.6 billion Towns Fund – which, following accusations of “pork barrel” politics has been rolled into the Levelling Up Fund, a pot of £4.8 billion given to local authorities in England for infrastructure projects that promote economic growth and regeneration.
While successful regenerations require public money, they're by no means the only policy lever though.
The paper argues for local authorities to be empowered by giving them more responsibility over Business Rates reliefs and exemptions for small businesses and charities. This would empower those with a better understanding of what’s needed, such as creating locally administered Community Ownership Funds to save businesses, or funding charities and social enterprises that work in the community directly.
Also, while charity shops are a positive and integral part of many high streets, because they are tax advantaged small businesses can’t always compete. Depending on their nature and number, too many charity shops can hollow out a high street, even in economically vibrant areas, making them less diverse and reducing its overall value and attraction for visitors.
Ultimately, we should trust those who are embedded in our communities with the discretion to know what’s needed to incentivise and protect spaces for local businesses.
The paper also calls for the Localism Act 2011 to be enhanced, granting greater authority to community organisations that have proven their long-term sustainability and presented a strong business case for assuming ownership of dilapidated buildings within their vicinity. This is especially relevant when these structures pose a detriment to the overall appeal of the local high street.
Following in the footsteps of Andrew Dixon and others, the paper also calls for the business rates system to be scrapped and replaced with a tax on the underlying land values, not productive investment. For example, the proposed Commercial Landowner Levy would cut business taxes in the vast majority (92%) of local authorities – particularly outside the South East – helping to rebalance Britain’s divided economy. After decades of consultations and dithering, one way or another, whoever forms the next government really needs to fix business rates.
The report also sees potential for central and local government, as well as its arm's-length bodies to work with established coworking partners to set up places within their property portfolio. For example, Network Rail and The Office Group have opened drop-in workspaces in King’s Cross, Liverpool Street and Leeds stations as part of The Station Office Network, an initiative intended to provide mobile offices in train stations throughout the UK’s major cities.
Sage Advice
This week Sage released A Blueprint for Digital-led Growth. Two ideas piqued our interest. First, it calls for the Government to ensure that as part of Open Finance, credit agencies should make Commercial Credit Data Sharing available to businesses so they can understand and improve their own creditworthiness and help facilitate lending needed to grow.
Second – and this is familiar territory for regular readers – we agree that the Government should create a government-backed API-driven digital ID that businesses can use to verify their identity with banks and accounting providers, among others. While the Government is progressing things like the Digital ID Trust Framework, Digital Service’s One Login, and a new ID verification process for Companies House, the history of digital identity in the UK and abroad teaches us that this needs much more coordination.
And the Award...
There is still time to get your nominations in for the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards. Nominate your own business or others – there’s a category for most stages and types of business. The awards have been running for eight years – about as long as our partnership with Barclays on the Female Founders Forum – and we’ve seen first-hand the value of getting the deserved recognition and profile that winning an award like this can give you and your business.
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