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New year, new life for the high street?

Director in our Manchester office, Emma Dickson, considers the key take aways from our recent event on the future of Greater Manchester towns.

Fresh into 2020, I had the pleasure of chairing our 'New Year, New Life for the High Street' event which took a look at town centre investments in Greater Manchester. The event panel included leaders from Stockport Council, Wigan Council and specialists Genr8.

Along with a range of leading figures from the north west’s property sector, we held a conversation about the future of our Greater Manchester towns, around the role of partnerships, investment and funding, the immediate and longer term challenges, and the role of residential in bringing life and footfall back to our high streets.  

Below are my five take away points from the event:

1. The pivotal role of the public sector - The public sector has become a major investor in distressed retail assets with local authorities taking a bold stake in their town centres to unlock regeneration. This is a trend that we expect to continue through 2020.
2. The public sector’s toolkit is helping to ready town centres for regeneration - We heard that local authorities such as Wigan, Rochdale and Bolton are increasingly brokering regeneration on their own high streets, combining property ownership, asset management, prudential borrowing, shaping planning and regeneration policy, and assembling land to drive regeneration.
3. There is private sector appetite for risk sharing – We heard that there is private sector appetite for strategic partnerships and joint ventures where there are opportunities for risk sharing with the public sector.
4. A clear vision and plan for investment is essential - Stockport and Wigan councils showcased their strategic regeneration plans which are specifically designed to provide a context for prospective investors.
5. Stakeholder support is essential - Bringing politicians and local communities along this journey and gaining their support is fundamental to success.

Earlier this year I wrote a blog about Stockport and how it is leading by example. Stockport’s plan for its Town Centre West has the potential to be “Greater Manchester’s newest, greenest, and coolest affordable urban neighbourhood” creating a new urban village of up to c. 3,000 new homes with complementary mixed-use development. The Mayoral Development Corporation, the first of its kind outside of London, and the brain-child of the region’s Mayor Andy Burnham is key to its delivery. Against a background of falling footfall, store closures and struggling profits, Stockport reported astonishing end of 2019 results with 21% growth in footfall year-on-year supported by the recent redevelopment of Stockport Exchange and reinvigoration of the market area. With Stockport Council a 2020 Partner to Manchester at MIPM and recent news about the Metrolink’s proposed extension to Stockport, I am confident that this is just the start of what’s to come for the town’s regeneration.

This debate has opened up a number of follow up discussions with our national clients, in particular those who are getting in contact to understand the opportunities for investment and seeking to build big relationships with local authorities.

For more information please contact Emma Dickson.

3 February 2020