High streets are back in the national conversation, but if we are serious about their future, we need to move beyond the easy soundbites.
More footfall matters. Of course it does. Retailers, hospitality businesses and service providers all need people through the door. But footfall on its own is not enough. A busy street does not automatically mean profitable businesses, confident retailers, safe teams or a place that people want to return to again and again.
At the recent Public Policy Exchange event, The Future of UK High Streets: Transformation Through Effective Policies and Innovation, hosted by Clare Bailey, The Retail Champion, the panel explored what thriving high streets really need now.
The session brought together Clare’s retail strategy and policy experience, Kim Hulse’s place-making and high street insight, Steph Briggs’ expertise in digital visibility and e-commerce, and Graeme Sharp’s specialist perspective on retail crime, loss prevention and safety.
The message was clear: the high street is not dead. But it cannot be rebuilt by trying to recreate the past.
It needs to move forward.
The high street is evolving, not disappearing
It is easy to talk about “bringing back the high street”, but that raises an important question: back to what?
Back to a time before customers checked opening hours online? Before they read reviews, browsed products, searched for parking, compared prices or planned their visit before leaving the house? Back to a version of retail where the physical shop did all the work on its own?
That high street is not coming back. It has never come back. It has always moved forward. Since High Streets first existed, they have never looked back. Always forward.
But that does not mean the high street has lost its purpose. Far from it. Physical retail still has a powerful role to play, particularly when it offers something online cannot easily replicate: personality, expertise, service, human connection, sensory experience and local identity.
One of the strongest themes from the discussion was that the future high street needs to be less beige. In a world increasingly shaped by AI, automation and generic online content, customers are looking for places that feel human, useful, distinctive and alive.
The future high street is not less relevant. It simply has to work harder.
Footfall does not happen by accident
A successful high street needs compelling reasons to visit.
That might be a great independent mix, strong hospitality, heritage, events, culture, markets, trails, workshops, evening activity or simply a clear sense of place. But those things do not appear by magic. They need coordination, creativity and a willingness for local stakeholders to work together.
Kim Hulse highlighted the importance of both micro and macro events. Large festivals and Christmas markets have their place, but smaller, regular activations can be just as powerful in keeping a high street feeling alive.
A late-night shopping evening, a maker’s trail, a wine tasting, a creative workshop, a heritage walk, a food event or a collaborative promotion between neighbouring businesses can all give people a reason to visit, stay longer and explore more widely. Many business’ can contribute by hosting events in their business.
The point is not always scale. It is purpose.
The best place activity gives people a reason to come, but it also gives them a reason to talk about the place afterwards. People remember how a place made them feel, and that word of mouth can be one of the strongest drivers of repeat visits.
Experience is now part of the product
Convenience matters. Parking matters. Public transport matters. Clean streets, good signage, accessibility and clear information all matter. These are not glamorous topics, but they are often the difference between a visit happening or not.
However, convenience alone is not enough.
If a place is easy to visit but dull once people get there, the commercial opportunity is limited. High streets need to think more deeply about experience. What does the place feel like? What can people discover there? What makes it distinctive? What do local businesses offer that cannot be replicated by a retail park, a national chain or an online marketplace?
This is where independent businesses have a real advantage. They bring character, story, warmth, taste, expertise and local knowledge. But they cannot be left to carry the whole personality of a place on their own.
Places need shared stories. Stakeholders, landlords, councils, community groups, BIDs, place managers and businesses all need to understand what their town, city or centre stands for.
A place can only tell a compelling story externally when the people inside it understand it internally.
Digital visibility is now high street infrastructure
Steph Briggs spoke about the need to look beyond traditional footfall thinking and support retailers before, during and after the customer visit.
The customer journey no longer starts when someone walks past a window. It might start on Google, in a WhatsApp conversation, through a recommendation, on social media, in an AI search result, in an email, or on a website.
That means modern retailers need to be three things: found, understood and trusted.
Found means customers can discover them through search, local listings, social media, PR, email, signage, word of mouth and digital content.
Understood means customers can quickly see what the business offers, who it serves, why it is different and whether it is worth making the journey.
Trusted means customers feel confident enough to act, whether that means visiting, booking, buying, enquiring, joining a mailing list or recommending the business to someone else.
This is where many independent retailers need more practical support. A one-off social media workshop is not a digital strategy. It might help for a moment, but it will not fix a weak website, poor local search visibility, unclear positioning, incomplete product information or a lack of customer follow-up.
Retailers need bespoke digital audits, whole-journey support and commercial mentoring. They need someone to look at their actual business and say: this is where you are visible, this is where you are invisible, this is where customers are dropping off, and this is what to fix first.
Digital presence is not separate from the high street. It is part of how people decide whether to visit it.
Collaboration needs coordination
Another strong theme from the panel was collaboration.
High street businesses often want to work together, but goodwill alone is not enough. People are busy. Retailers are trading, staffing, ordering, merchandising, marketing, handling customers, managing costs and dealing with the daily realities of business ownership.
That is why coordination matters.
A dedicated place coordinator or town centre manager can make an enormous difference. Not simply as a marketing role, but as a connector. Someone who can bring businesses together, share assets, create event packs, simplify processes, support community groups, brief retailers, encourage collaboration and help turn good ideas into real activity.
Local community groups and volunteers already do a huge amount of work to create events and maintain pride in place, but the demands on them are increasing. Costs are rising, risk assessments are more complex, expectations are higher and volunteer burnout is real.
If we want places to deliver better experiences, we need to give people the tools to succeed. That includes practical toolkits, shared calendars, event templates, marketing assets, guidance on safety and licensing, and a clear route through council processes.
The whole really can be greater than the sum of its parts, but someone needs to help join those parts together.
Barriers at the margins make a major difference
Policy often sounds distant from the day-to-day life of a shopkeeper, but small barriers quickly become commercial problems.
Slow planning approvals for signage can leave a business harder to find. Parking that makes people clock-watch can cut dwell time. Public transport that does not support evening activity weakens the night-time economy. A lack of pavement licensing flexibility can restrict hospitality businesses that could otherwise create life and energy on the street.
Business rates, commercial leases and vacant properties also matter. If we want more independent businesses on the high street, the cost and risk of taking space cannot keep rising beyond reach.
There is a clear role here for local and national government. High streets need fairer business rates, more responsive planning, pro-hospitality licensing, better evening transport, practical parking policies, commercial lease reform and stronger action on persistently empty units.
But local authorities also need to shift from being seen as blockers to being facilitators.
High street businesses are asking for help to tell their local story, more events and footfall activity, better responsiveness, less bureaucracy and support that understands the reality of running a business.
Retail crime is a high street issue, not just a retailer issue
Graeme Sharp, Director of Sharper Margins, brought an essential perspective to the panel: retail crime is not just a retailer problem. It is a threat to the high street.
The financial cost is severe, but the impact goes far beyond lost stock. Crime affects staff wellbeing, customer perception of safety, investment decisions, recruitment, retention and the long-term health of a place.
When retail workers face abuse, threats or violence, the damage is human before it is commercial. Staff can feel anxious, traumatised and unsafe. Some leave the sector altogether. Customers notice too. A high street that feels unsafe will struggle to attract the visitors, workers, investors and entrepreneurs it needs.
Graeme made the point that retail crime is not an isolated issue. It links to anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol misuse, organised retail crime, repeat offending and the exploitation of vulnerable individuals.
That means the response cannot sit with individual shopkeepers alone. Connected communities reduce crime. Stronger partnerships between retailers, police, BIDs, Business Crime Reduction Partnerships, local authorities and place managers are essential.
High streets need better coordination of local intelligence, proactive police leadership, forums to share trends and best practice, and strategies driven by analysis. They also need communication that reassures shoppers, business owners and employees that action is being taken.
Safety must be treated as infrastructure
The panel’s conclusion was clear: if we want thriving high streets, safety cannot be an optional extra.
As Graeme Sharp put it:
“If our ambition is safe, thriving High Streets, security and safety for both the day and night-time economy must be seen as essential infrastructure, not an optional afterthought.”
That line matters because it reframes safety as part of the operating environment, not an add-on. A high street cannot thrive if staff feel unsafe, customers feel uneasy and business owners feel unsupported.
The issue needs stronger enforcement against repeat offenders, faster prosecutions, action against the resale of stolen stock, consistent application of new legal protections for retail workers, and targeted action on anti-social behaviour and crime hotspots.
It also means recognising and supporting the organisations already working to protect retail workers. The Retail Trust’s Let’s Respect Retail campaign is an important reminder that new laws alone will not fix the cultural problem. Retail workers need respect, protection and support, not just sympathy after an incident has happened.
The future high street needs a joined-up strategy
The future of the high street will not be secured by one intervention.
It will not be solved by free parking alone. Or a Christmas market. Or a social media workshop. Or a new shopfront scheme. Or more police visibility in isolation.
All of those things can help, but only if they sit within a broader strategy.
A thriving high street needs:
- Clear place identity and local storytelling.
- Businesses that are digitally visible, commercially confident and easy to understand.
- Events and experiences that create reasons to visit and reasons to return.
- Collaboration between businesses, community groups and stakeholders.
- Practical place management and coordination.
- Accessible transport, parking, signage, licensing and planning.
- Strong action on retail crime, safety and anti-social behaviour.
- Support for retailers before, during and after the customer visit.
The high street does not need to go back. It needs to move forward.
The places that move forward fastest will be those that understand the high street as a living ecosystem, not a row of units. It is commercial, social, digital, cultural and human all at once.
That is where the opportunity lies. Not in nostalgia but in practical, coordinated, commercially grounded action.
How Retail Champion can help
At Retail Champion, we work with retailers, councils, BIDs, place leaders and business support organisations to help high streets become more commercially confident, more digitally visible and better equipped for the realities of modern retail.
That might mean high street strategy, retail mentoring, digital audits, customer journey reviews, place-based training, commercial workshops, business diagnostics or practical support for independent retailers who need to be found, understood and trusted.
The future of the high street will not be shaped by policy alone. It will be shaped by the capability, confidence and resilience of the businesses within it.
And those businesses need support that is practical, joined-up and rooted in the reality of retail.
