In February the UK Government published its long-awaited Levelling Up white paper, which set its vision for addressing regional inequality. The paper, which runs to 322-pages, contains a number of laudable ambitions – expressed as 12 ‘missions’ that encompass employment, education, skills and housing. One of these relates to local pride, with the paper setting a clear target that ‘by 2030, pride in place, such as people’s satisfaction with their town centre and engagement in local culture and community, will have risen in every area of the UK, with the gap between top performing and other areas closing.’ This underlines that a vibrant and successful town centre or high street is vital to local economies and social aspiration, and at the heart of this is retail.
It has been a challenging time for the retail sector, but we expect retail places in town centres and high streets to bounce back stronger in 2022. One of the unexpected positives of the past two years has been the closer collaboration between retail landlords and tenants. The requirement to close and reopen shops, comply with changing guidelines, and create a better shopper experience have all ultimately increased trust and transparency. This spirit of collaboration has driven huge demand for the Mallcomm tenant-engagement platform, which is now adopted across 650 centres and 400 million sq ft of retail space globally. By embracing technology and collaborating in real-time landlords and tenants will be able to deliver new initiatives that drive footfall and create a positive feeling for local people.
However, in order to create a real feeling of local pride it is not just landlords and tenants that have to collaborate – we have to connect to the wider community too. The Mallcomm platform is adaptable to enable retailers, landlords, property management teams, local authorities, local businesses and residents to all connect in real-time. There are some obvious practical benefits, for example allowing local businesses to collaborate with retailers on special promotions or allowing local authorities to manage roadworks efficiently. But the greater benefit is that it empowers the local community and enables them to play an active role in placemaking.
Through our tenant engagement platform we have seen examples of retail staff getting involved in community initiatives such as litter-picking; the managed public realm at shopping centres being utilised for community events or turned over for community gardens; and local residents having their say on town centre security and accessibility. This collective responsibility means everyone is working together to enhance their local area. On a greater scale, in Sweden our partnership with AMF Fastigheter has seen eight city districts all connected via the Mallcomm platform. At each location the thousands of people that occupy office buildings, work in shops, use the public transport links and live in the locality are all connected via a smartphone app. This creates a real feeling of togetherness and civic pride, and also breeds innovation as people and businesses find new ways to collaborate and pool resources and reimagine their properties. We await further details on how the Government plans to increase local pride as part of its levelling up agenda, but the idea of a connected community could be an integral part.
David Fuller-Watts, Managing Director
