Portas giving false hope, says Bill Grimsey
THE former chief executive of Focus DIY and Iceland is to carry out an alternative high street review after becoming frustrated with current Government policy.
Bill Grimsey said the Government’s Portas Pilots were giving “false hope” and “trying to keep a failed model on a life support machine”.
He has assembled a team of experts from a number of disciplines and plans to submit his report to the three main political party leaders this autumn.
He said: “The current high street model is finished and we can’t carry on tinkering in the margins trying to manage decline. We’ve seen big structural changes and a huge shift in consumer behaviour and this needs to be matched by bold, transformational policy to support a completely different landscape.”
He plans to examine the opportunities arising from technology, fairer business rates, a stronger culture of corporate social responsibility, and a radical culture change within local authorities.
Mr Grimsey, whose book Sold Out examines the decline of high streets, added: “With the growth of online and mobile sales, as well as the big out of town mall culture, it is futile to start with the premise that retail will remain the dominant force on high streets, because it won’t,” he explained.
The challenges facing high streets requires a “complete solution”, he argued, that would encompass health, education, housing and leisure among other things.
“The high street will no longer be just a place of commerce with tills ringing,” he said. “It has to be a place for the whole community. It could become a new frontline to tackle a host of social problems. Take older people and loneliness, for example. The high street is a natural gathering place and we need to re-design it to meet the changing needs of our society.”
Core members of the Grimsey Review team are: Nick Hood from Company Watch; Paul Turner Mitchell, founder of Rochdale-based 25-Ten boutique; Jackie Sadek, chief executive of UK Regeneration; Matthew Hopkinson, director of Local Data Company; Chris Shellard, expert in social and economic policy; and Sid Vasili, chief executive of Invapay.
