PREPARING HIGH STREETS

FOR THE 21ST CENTURYBill Grimsey

Retailer

HIGH STREETS ARE A MORE RELIABLE MEASURE OF

THE ECONOMY THAN ECONOMISTS’ FORECASTS Examine the innovations over the last 45 years that have

changed the structure of the retail industry

Understand what led to retail winners and losers over this period

Outline the issues facing the retail sector today

Imagine the impact of technology on the retail sector in ten years’ time

Set out a course of action for the government to take in order to prepare our high streets and town centres for the 21st

century

BILL GRIMSEY, RETAILER

Retailer with 45 years’ experience

Specialist in fresh foods

First Customer Service Director for Tesco in the 1980s

Worked as a CEO for more than 20 years:

Park‘n’Shop Hong Kong

Wickes DIY Ltd

Iceland Frozen Food Ltd

Focus DIY Ltd

AUTHOR:

‘SOLD OUT’- WHO REALLY KILLED THE HIGH STREET

www.vanishinghighstreet.com

THE GRIMSEY REVIEW:

AN ALTERNATIVE

FUTURE FOR

THE HIGH STREET

NOW LEADING AN ADVISORY GROUP TO

THE LABOUR PARTY IN THE UK

Compiling Policies for high streets and town centre regeneration as

community hubs

Diversifying and strengthening the role of BIDs (Business Improvement Districts)

Pioneering the look and feel of our future high streets by encouraging, incentivising and supporting entrepreneurs to develop new businesses and concepts

Restoring high streets and town centres as the heart of modern communities by transforming them into dynamic enterprise and community service hubs, enabled by cutting edge digital infrastructure

UK RETAIL SECTOR TODAY

95,000 Companies

Employing £326bn of Gross Assets

Borrowing £65bn

Total Net Worth £135bn

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Defense budget Education budget Health budget Retail sector

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UK RETAIL SECTOR TODAY

Bigger than:

Education budget: £53bn

Defense budget: £24bn

Health Budget: £110bn

Yet there is no Minister for High Streets at the

cabinet table.

GB SHOP VACANCY 2008-2014

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2008-12

2009-02

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2009-12

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2010-12

2011-02

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2013-02

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2013-12

2014-02

SOURCE LOCAL DATA COMPANY (LDC LTD)

NORTH VS SOUTHSOURCE LOCAL DATA COMPANY (LDC LTD)

YOU CAN’T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE TODAY,

OR WHERE YOU NEED TO GO IN THE FUTURE,

WITHOUT LEARNING LESSONS FROM THE PAST.

Pounds, shillings and pence

Pricing using a stamp called a “plonker”

Out of town shopping did not exist

High street was my mother’s social media

Supermarkets in the high street at 1,000 square

metres

People shopped frequently out of necessity

WHAT HAS CHANGED IN 45 YEARS? Out of town shopping

De-seasonalised Fresh Food

The BAR CODE

Power shifted from manufacturers and brands to retailers

The ‘WWW’ facilitated ‘sofa shopping’

Mobile devices

Is the power about to shift again? This time to customers?

AN A-Z OF RETAIL CASUALTIES

Athena, Bejam, C&A,

Comet, Dillons, HMV,

…right through to Unwins,

Victoria Wine, Woolworths,

YHA Adventure Shops and

Zales.

WHY DO RETAILERS FAIL?

Fail to predict and adapt to change. Positioning is vital. Look at HMV!

Laden with too much debt pre-financial crisis 2008

Now they have too much space as consumers switch to on-line shopping

In 5-10 years time in the UK one of the ‘Big 4’ will die!

The question is which one? Morrisons, or Sainsbury’s?

MULTI-CHANNEL RETAILING

Bricks and Mortar

Click and Collect

On-line vital

Useful Apps

Wi-Fi in store

TECHNOLOGY ON THE RAMPAGE

Click and Collect: a 5-10 year life

Smart depositaries at home

Wearable devices: Google Glass

App development

Stores without stock

Hologram fashion displays

Mirrors which allow you to ‘wear’ the product

One day even ‘gooey’ screens that adapt to the material

PARADIGM SHIFT REQUIRED

CUSTOMER SERVICE is just not good enough for tomorrow

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE is the new dimension

SAVING HIGH STREETS AS RETAIL

DESTINATIONS IS THE WRONG EMPHASIS Re-invent them as COMMUNITY HUBS focusing on:

Housing

Education

Health

Entertainment

Leisure

Arts, crafts, even manufacturing with 3D printing

technology advancing

AND YES, because of foot traffic - some, but fewer,

shops

TOWN CENTRE COMMISSION

Local Government commissions a process that: Identifies a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for the place

Creates a 20 year vision to transform the town

Creates a detailed 5 year business plan

Holds a public meeting to present the vision and plan

Holds a public meeting annually to account for progress

Puts in place Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure progress

Creates implementation plan with public/private funding and ownership

KEY TO SUCCESS Attract people to live, work, play and visit through USP

Density of people: more ‘in-town’ housing

Promote education in town for all generations

Aging population profile requires health and entertainment

centres

Develop defined daytime/evening/night time cultures

Wire the high street with free Wi-Fi

Transform libraries as centres of excellence for technology

Create a local economic blueprint and engage the

community

Avoid a ‘clone town’ proposition

Incentivise specialist shops

FAIL TO PLAN…PLAN TO FAIL

Pace of change is accelerating

Paradigm shift in thinking

Political WILL is required from central and local

governments

Legislation required to cut through red tape

Empower locally

Dare to imagine the unimaginable

Create a legacy to be proud of