The Royal Wedding may have slipped from the news but in commercial property a new royal story has surfaced. Mary Portas, retail marketing consultant and star of TV programme ‘The Queen of Shops’, has been appointed by Prime Minister David Cameron to head an independent review into the future of UK high streets.
In the show, she uses her management and retail experience to transform struggling, near-bankrupt retailers into vibrant, money-making enterprises. The government hopes she will apply her knowledge and business acumen to similar effect on UK high streets, issuing her a comprehensive to-do list that includes finding ways to increase commercial property occupancy, encourage new and independent start-ups, and promoting local shops as being integral to community life.
Part of her brief will be looking at government figures, showing the contrast between growth in town centres, reportedly 1.5% between 2005 and 2010, and out of town, reportedly 11.5%, and finding ways to address the imbalance.
She will use experience gained setting up Yellowdoor, her own retail consultancy, to formulate new business models, designed to fit in with the needs of modern shoppers. She will be looking at arresting the rise of ‘clone towns’, where the same retailers move into commercial property in different areas, leading to uniformity rather than diversity in appearance. Drawing consumers away from large retail parks is another issue she is expected to tackle. Rumoured ideas include putting a tax on out-of-town shopping and shaking up planning laws.
The assessment is part of the government’s Growth Review, which is looking at how to achieve sustainable growth across the country in all sectors. Advice has been sought from a number of high-profile figures including lastminute.com founder Martha Lane-Fox, The Apprentice’s Lord Sugar and Topshop/BHS/Arcadia’s Philip Green.
By appointing the Queen of Shops, the government has ensured the commercial property sector is in good, even regal, hands.
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