SUPPORTING NEIGHBOURHOOD SHOPS -
GOOD PRACTICE IN NEW EARSWICK

The Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust is supporting retail vitality and viability in the shopping areas of the historic village of New Earswick. This Good Practice Briefing captures learning from that process - which is applicable for many neighbourhoods and estates.

CHALLENGES TO NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAILING

Local shops across Britain suffer intense competition from large, multiple retail outlets in edge-of-town shopping centres or retail 'sheds'. One result is that around a quarter of a million independent shops have closed since the 1950s, with the trend continuing. In many neighbourhoods and estates the impact is obvious - vacant units and a proliferation of charity shops, which provide a dispiriting back-drop to local life, especially for households without a car.

Given this, the beneficial management of local retail areas is a pressing issue, and one which ought to be of more concern to local authorities, shop landlords, and organisations concerned with neighbourhood quality, such as registered social landlords (RSLs). In a larger framework, the opportunity for local shopping accessible on foot, by bicycle and by public transport and not requiring a car journey, helps reduce CO2 emissions and contributes to control of climate change.

Equally important is the social role of local shops and their importance in defining the neighbourhood - most people feel that the 'the shops' are the centre of their neighbourhood, whether a high street or an estate shopping precinct. When shops are run-down or boarded up it is not only difficult for local residents but can contribute to the 'stigma' suffered by poor neighbourhoods, and 'post-code discrimination' against local residents in the job market.

The quality of the local shopping environment has a substantial impact on perceptions of quality of life in the neighbourhood for residents and passers-by alike. Viable shops are important to the sustainable neighbourhood of the future. Improving the quality of the retail environment should receive positive attention.

COMMITMENT TO LOCAL SHOPS AND NEIGHBOURHOOD REGENERATION

For these reasons the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is concerned with the quality of local shopping and its role in neighbourhood regeneration. As a first step, the JRF commissioned a study of retail regeneration in 14 neighbourhoods and estates around Britain. Following this, 'thinking globally but acting locally', the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT), a local housing association for York, decide to proactively support vitality and viability of the local shops in the Trust-owned and managed village of New Earswick in York. This is a report on the learning generated by that effort.

Retail vitality is a measure of how busy a retail area is, frequently measured in terms of the 'footfall' of passing customers. Viability is an assessment of an area's capacity to attract on-going investment for maintenance, improvement and adaptation to remain competitive.

The process began with JRHT commissioning a consultant, who first reviewed the retail market in York and its likely impacts on New Earswick. Each shopkeeper was then visited a number of times and consultation held with community groups. A report set out a forward programme of support for local shops, with recommendations on physical improvements, the social environment and security, parking, signage and shop frontages, management arrangements and lease options.

CONTEXT OF NEW EARSWICK

New Earswick is in suburban York, not far from Joseph Rowntree's original chocolate factory. With around 70% social housing, it shares some of the characteristics of suburban council estates. However, architecturally it is of significance, being the original industrial garden suburb designed by Parker and Unwin, who went on to become the originators of the garden city.

There are currently twelve shops trading in the village, clustered in three areas. The most obvious is a parade of seven shops near the village's main street and including two groceries, post office, fish-and-chip shop, hair salon and a health care and mobility supplier. Only the latter has a larger than local catchment. Shops elsewhere on the estate include a shoe repair, bakery and pet shop.

Against this modest local retail provision, more than a million square feet of new retailing has been created in the past few years not far from New Earswick, mostly in shopping malls along York's ring road. Analysis as part of the support programme showed that 93% of all households in the city do their main food shop in large chain stores, with 85% driving. Of local importance, 85% also do 'top-up shopping' in addition to the their main food spend with around half doing this in independent local stores in their neighbourhoods.

Consideration of the local impact of retail patterns and trends in the city or town is a prerequisite for a programme to improve local shopping in the neighbourhood.

RECOGNISING LOCAL SHOPKEEPERS AS
A COMMUNITY RESOURCE

Neighbourhood shops are obviously important because they serve local people, especially households without access to a car, and thus enable sustainable transport. But the traders themselves are also an 'entrepreneurial' resource for the community, and contribute to local employment of shop assistants, often young or older people, and to the circulation of spending power within the local economy. There is also an important social dimension with local shopkeepers providing an opportunity, particularly for elderly people, to get 'out and about', often with good quality human interaction on a daily basis as part of the shopping transaction. This benefit is real, if unquantifiable.

New Earswick's shopkeepers are long-standing members of the community; one business has been has been trading under the same owner-manager for 32 years. A number of shopkeepers are local residents, and all are committed to the neighbourhood.

The social importance of local shops, and their contribution to quality of life in the neighbourhood, is often ignored in retail assessments. It is important in being concerned with retail vitality to be aware of who is trading locally.

WHO USES THE LOCAL SHOPS?

Analysis of the customers for New Earswick's shops suggests that around 70% of customers were local residents and 30% 'passing trade'. The exact proportions vary from shop to shop, and are not particularly important. A key point however is that, as large shops attract increasing custom, ensuring a good balance between local and passing trade in small shops can be vital to their survival. Passing trade for 'top-up' shopping becomes increasingly important as household incomes rise in a neighbourhood, meaning additional households purchase cars and may start shopping at superstores further afield.

Given the number of residents in many neighbourhoods is static, the attraction of retail premises and the shopping environment for 'top-up' shopping and to passing trade is an important opportunity for maintaining local retail vitality.

IMPROVING THE RETAIL ENVIRONMENT

The physical environment is an important aspect of the attractiveness of local shopping and of a community's perception of the shopping area. This includes:

• the design of the pedestrian environment
• whether it engenders a sense of security
• the quality of shop fronts and signage
• the availability of secure parking in full view
• the quality of materials, for example, for pavements and street furniture, and
  excellence in street cleansing.

Research shows that the better the environment, the further people walk to the shops and the more they are likely to spend. There needs to be good access for pedestrians, cyclists, disabled persons and those on mobility scooters.

For New Earswick, a pavement repaving programme was particularly welcomed by both shoppers and traders, with requests that it be speeded up. A coordinated signage programme was also instituted to supplement 'sandwich boards' with more attractive signage in keeping with the village and to assist shops by alerting passing motorists to the local 'offer'. Proposed environmental enhancements also considered the implications of the Disability Discrimination Act on the retail area.

A quality appearance to the retail environment and signage can increase footfall, and reinforce a positive view of the shopping area, and thus of the neighbourhood itself.

A good pedestrian environment needs to be complemented by secure, overlooked parking for passing trade.

MANAGING THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

Within the context of good design and daily maintenance, the quality and position of street furniture to encourage social interaction is important. Many people like to socialise in shopping areas - which reinforces their function as the physical and social centre of the community. Such comfortable 'lingering' on the part of shoppers can contribute to increased footfall, when the shopping area becomes a destination in its own right. This access to a clean, safe environment is one reason why competing private shopping malls are so popular. The neighbourhood shops need to recognise this and provide an equally pleasant environment.

The physical environment of the shopping area should be designed to encourage social interaction and 'lingering', which benefits both local residents and retail turnover.

However, security is also an issue. In New Earswick, the main problem was perceived as young people 'hanging about' and being boisterous. This is not a crime in itself (although it sometimes extends to vandalism) but it causes older people to be nervous of using the shopping centre. Other neighbourhood shopping areas can suffer from minor crimes against person, drug dealing and substance abuse. But young people are also a valuable source of trade in New Earswick and should not be demonised. There are two aspects to resolving difficulties: daily, on-site management which tackles issues like vandalism immediately, and more in-depth, longer-term interventions.

Like many locations in Britain, New Earswick first tried CCTV coupled with a distant car-based security firm to resolve the issues. This didn't work very well. Now a more sophisticated approach is being tried. The 'Thinking Village' project encourages 'inter-generational dialogue' between young people and adults and aims to increase levels of tolerance and reduce nuisance. The method is to encourage 'community conversations' and develop positive relationships across the generations - including street-based work adjacent to the shops. This is one aspect of a multi-pronged programme to work with local young people. Another project, for example, provides opportunities for local young people to learn motorcycle repair, and a third involves rewarding young people for their positive community contribution.

Security is critical but seldom resolved by simplistic approaches. A combination of day-to-day 'hands on' management, and sophisticated approaches to fostering interaction between different social groups and stakeholders may help. However, It needs to be clear who has the authority and the will to lead on security issues.

LESSONS FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND NEIGHBOURHOOD MANAGERS

In the past, local authorities took an hands-off approach to neighbourhood retailing on the assumption that individual local shops should succeed or fail according to market dictates. However the situation has now changed and, in many neighbourhoods it is not about individual shops but about the viability of the neighbourhood or estate shopping centre itself. Shopping centres can enter a spiral of decline, with increasing numbers of vacant or charity shops, to the point where the majority of shops become vacant and impossible to re-let. Social dysfunction and crime may then fill the retail vacuum at the hub of the community.

Given that the future of many neighbourhood shopping areas is in the balance, local authorities and other neighbourhood managers, such as RSLs, should take a pro-active stance in supporting neighbourhood retailing.

For New Earswick, the JRHT programme proposed (in its own modest way) a pro-active approach, by adapting a form of neighbourhood retail management. This simply means assigning a designated person to work closely with traders for retail enhancement. In many areas, local authorities concerned with fostering sustainable neighbourhoods can, and ought, to assume this role. This means assessing the condition of local shopping for threats and opportunities, and then working with traders to develop a forward plan. It may also mean taking into account the needs of non-car owing households, and the promotion of sustainable transport. The approach need not imply full-time staff commitment. The role could be fulfilled part-time by either a neighbourhood manager, or a 'retail coordinator' working with, and for, many neighbourhoods.

For New Earswick, it was suggested that a member of JRHT staff add this role to their on-going neighbourhood management portfolio. The intention is that this provides a single focus for interaction between shopkeepers, the RSL and anyone concerned with shopping issues, and a point of developing expertise on the retail sector.

Finally parish (or community) councils, and regeneration partnerships, should also be encouraged to work with local retailers, to their mutual interest, to enhance viability of the neighbourhood shopping centre or high street. In many neighbourhoods undergoing regeneration of the shopping area, clustering shops and community facilities, such as the library, doctor's surgery or community centre, pays dividends in terms of increased footfall to the shops and convenience for shoppers.

Extending the concept of neighbourhood management to encompass local retail viability and vitality could be a key role for local authorities (or RSLs) wanting to foster sustainable neighbourhoods.

Parish councils, residents associations and regeneration partnerships should work with shopkeepers to enhance the neighbourhood shopping centre.

IS A TRADERS ASSOCIATION REQUIRED?

In terms of working with shopkeepers, there may be a temptation to assume that a first step should be to establish a traders association. However experience in New Earswick and elsewhere suggests this seldom works. Part of the problem is that independent shopkeepers already put in long hours, and do not want to attend meetings. Also they are independent and competitive by nature and not necessarily given to such mutual endeavour.

It may be easier and more productive for the council's (or landlord's) neighbourhood manager to recognise this and be prepared to meet individually with each shopkeeper at a time convenient to their busy schedules. It may well be found that, in these circumstances, they are keen to discuss, and participate in, improvements to the retail environment.

Liaison with independent shopkeepers may be most productive on a one-to-one, face-to-face basis. There will be exceptions, but formal organisation poses additional burdens on those involved and may thus be less likely to work.

LESSONS FOR LANDLORDS

Like shopkeepers everywhere, concerns in New Earswick are over standardised and/or restrictive leases, and lease arrangements, particularly non-assignable leases and the influence of this on shopkeeper's willingness to make capital investments. They argue that if they are to invest time and money in running a business they need to feel a degree of security in leasehold arrangements and rent levels.

In response, the JRHT is now addressing each shopkeeper's requirements on an individual basis. This is in keeping with the Code of Practice for Commercial Leases in England and Wales, promoted by a cross-industry working group including the Law Society and the British Property Federation. It is also good business for anyone concerned with fostering sustainable neighbourhoods. Rather than a 'one size fits all' lease, which often doesn't coordinate with the trader's business plan, the Code proposes various lease options so that traders can select that which accords most closely with their business plan. The traders in New Earswick particularly requested variation in the length of leases according to their investment aspirations and the need for 'break clauses' (to enable them to get out of lease commitments) so that any financial problems do not cause undue hardship.

In terms of rent levels, research shows that 'upward ratcheting' increases are a concern particularly where it appears that institutional landlords with large portfolios have little interest the fate of individual retailers. However, there ought to be a concern with the viability of shopping areas or the value of the portfolio will not be maintained. The JRHT addresses the issues by setting rents at the low end of the commercial spectrum, an approach that also works for other landlords concerned with long-term viability.

JRHT also suggests that tenants advise them early if financial problems loom, to enable business advice to be secured. Other social landlords, including RSLs and development trusts take a similar approach in linking break clauses to a 'hands on' approach to business advice for retail leaseholders. This approach could be extended to the role of local authority neighbourhood managers, and would not be much different from 'capacity building' for community organisations.

Flexible lease options, break clauses, and appropriate rents can all support individual traders and thus the financial and social sustainability of neighbourhood shopping areas.

Linking individual shopkeepers to organisations providing business advice, before cash flow problems become serious, can contribute to retail viability.

A final area of concern to both landlords and local authorities is whether to consider change of use for hard-to-let units. Some areas benefit from encouraging community-based organisations to occupy retail units at reduced rents, or governmental bodies, such as job counselling organisations. Although New Earswick had no vacant units at the time, York Council policy is to allow conversion of shops to offices, recognising that conversion back to shop use is a future option.

If necessary, alternative uses for shop premises can include community and governmental organisations, or conversion to office use. Otherwise long-term shop vacancies can foster a spiral of decline and thus undermine local property values and rental income.

LOCAL RETAIL PROMOTION AND TRAINING

JRHT's experience and JRF research shows that one area where local shopkeepers do benefit from joint working is in marketing the shopping centre as a positive retail destination. As proposed for New Earswick, such a marketing programme can have three aspects. The first is for traders to press for environmental improvements and better public signage, for example signs identifying the centre as an 'urban village' worth visiting.

The second is for retailers to mount a joint promotion campaign. For example, other JRF research documents the efforts of the Green Street traders in Newham in East London to widen the catchment area for their high street by emphasising its majority of Asian shops as an exciting destination. Recommendations for New Earswick suggested building on its history as a pioneering garden suburb. Other destinations have reinvented themselves as a source of farm-fresh produce in season, or have built retail enhancement around provision of community facilities, such as community café, library or multi-purpose community centre. Some hold annual neighbourhood festivals to celebrate their history or their variety of ethnic backgrounds. Each neighbourhood, however modest, should search for its own unique selling point.

A final area of trader benefit can be in staff training and in management and marketing skills. A good way forward is to work with the local college, job centre or regeneration initiative.

Local traders can benefit from joint promotion and events around a shopping centre's unique selling points, and for staff training and in marketing and management skills.