Transcript Local Business

Scottish Centre for Regeneration
Town Centres and Local High Streets Learning Network
“Securing Private Sector Investment”
Bill Boler
Director, Investment & Physical
Regeneration
Business in the Community
12th November 2009
Harlem Strategy
“The City poured money into the housing refurbishment, which
has drawn people there. That in turn helped big business
and local stores take root.”
“Good vs. Bad”
Local Business
Harlem’s
“High View
Street”
Local
Business
“What we need are
more customers!”
“No People”
Case Study
Perceptions
•Low Income
•High Crime Rate
•“Not Our Customer”
Case Study:
Address Perceptions
Crime rate
•lower than midtown
Buying power
•40% shop outside
Harlem
Middle class
presence
•20% HH > $50,000
New market information
Cash Economy
‘Street’ Retailers
‘Cheques Cashed’ shops
% 1st generation
immigrants
Income/Spend ratios
20% additional Household Income
Case Study
Cash Economy
• child care, home maintenance,
auto repair, etc. ($1B of $6.2B)
Leakage
• $2.6B in local purchasing power,
$1B spent outside
Population
• 413,000 vs. 338,000 (census figure)
Retail as a Catalyst
BEFORE
AFTER
Are there any lessons?
“The US isn’t the UK/Europe”
=
Data Analysis
Epping Forest
Existing Supply
Chingford Green
Enfield
Endlebury
Larkswood
Retail Expenditure
Hatch Lane
Valley
Projected Grow
Hale End and
Highams Park
Higham Hill
Redbridge
Chapel End
Haringey
William Morris
Hoe
Street
Deprived Wards
Wood Street
High Street
Forest
Markhouse
Retail Leakage
Leytonstone
Lea Bridge
Grove Green
Leyton
Cathall
Cann
Hall
Newham
Hackney
Courtesy of Experian
65%of LA
spending £
occurs outside
Bespoke Research
Brixton
Unrecorded activity
Creative and cultural focus
•
clusters music, media, ICT
•
mirrors London’s growth sectors
24 hour activity
•
equally significant day and night
economy
Large cash-based economy
•
•
•
consumer spending
•
Non-VAT registered businesses and
community organisations and groups
•
unable to capture value to economy of
sole-traders and CBOs
Strong ‘multiplier effect’
•
over 50% of transactions in cash
higher than national average
nature of economy (local living employees
- small shops) suggests money is
circulating several times in the local area
Large lost ‘float’
informal economy is considerable
•
Andrew Carter, The Smart Co.
people are going out of the area to spend
money on products - high-end goods and
clothing retail
Local Government Priorities
Council
Owned
Available Sites
Example: Waltham Forest
Source: Experian GOAD Maps
Barriers to business engagement
Knowledge of
need/
opportunity
Time
Public sector
jargon
Culture clash
Ineffective
networks
Relevance
Geography
Devolved
decision
making
Previous bad
experiences
Partnership
overload
Business
diversity
Usual
suspects
Strategy:
Focus on “Catalyst” Investors
Finding a Match
• “First-in” Retailers vs followers
• Which type of retailer
=
• Which retailer
=
Source: Retailer and Developer interviews
=
Learn how Retail thinks
• Competitive Offer: “If we have a choice between an untried
market or area and a good site in say Oxfordshire, we would
bias the latter”
Investment in challenged areas is viewed relative to other investment
options
• Overall retailers focus on areas where they have no outlets
or existing outlets are small, competitors are few and the
level of affluence is adequate
 Time and lack of certainty of planning process discourages
investors from looking at deprived areas
Source: Retailer and Developer interviews
Learnings: Private Sector
Preference to be part of larger transformation project
Key business considerations include:
• ability to implement required business/format model (i.e.
site availability, accessibility, parking);
• ability to achieve needed operating performance (i.e.
crime, employee availability);
Local Government
Local Authorities vary in their level of understanding and
ability to engage retailers on these issues;
Many have retail in a “silo” and struggle to link or include a
retail strategy with other initiatives
For deprived areas in non-town centre locations, many local
authorities struggle to balance the need to promote
investment and the intentions of national planning policy;
Many still question whether brand retail can bring real
benefits, and not destroy the existing fabric
Ensuring Delivery of Benefit
Community
Employment
High Street
Traders
Under-served Markets Model
Multiplier
effect
Employment
Retail
Investment
Increase
footfall
Attract
additional
investment
Local
Business
Support
Final Thoughts
“You got to use what you
got to get what you want!”
James Brown
Hot Pants Pt 1 (1971)