Why Independent Businesses Matter To The Future Of Our High Streets

I’ve spent a lot of my working life thinking about high streets, working on and in them, running my own independent shop, supporting retailers and working with local authorities on town-centre regeneration projects. And if there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that high streets are complicated places.

We often talk about the ‘decline of the high street’ as though there is one problem to solve. There isn’t – changing shopping habits, online retail, the loss of anchor stores, rising costs, empty units, ageing buildings and, in some places, a lack of investment in the streets themselves have all played a part. But I don’t think the high street is finished. I think it’s purpose is always evolving.

We Need New Reasons To Visit

Once, we went into town because we needed something, but today we can order almost anything from the comfort of our sofa. So if convenience is no longer enough, high streets need to give us other reasons to visit.

Coffee, food, culture, markets, events, services, community and more importantly, interesting shops. This is where independent businesses have a real advantage. They can offer something increasingly valuable, personal service, genuine expertise and carefully curated stores.

A good independent retailer will listen, advise, recommend and introduce you to something you might never have discovered online. They create experiences and connections, not simply transactions.

Running An Independent Business Is Hard

It’s so easy to say we need more choice and independents on our high streets. But, it’s considerably harder to run one. Independent business owners are the buyer, merchandiser, visual merchandiser, accountant, marketeer, social media manager and that’s before they open the doors in the morning.

Rising operating costs and customers thinking more carefully about spending, and the pressure is very real, too real. So if independents are to remain at the heart of our high streets, the environment around them matters too.

A retailer can create a beautiful shop, but they cannot repair the pavement, maintain surrounding buildings, fill empty units or replace the footfall lost when a major anchor store disappears.

Therefore clean, well-maintained streets matter, buildings matter, accessibility matters, the mix of businesses matters and the overall feeling of a place matters.

High Street Health Has To Be A Shared Responsibility

Independents create more than sales, they employ people, use local services, support suppliers and contribute to the local economy. They also support and collaborate with each other. Visit a shop and you might stop for coffee, meet a friend for lunch and you may discover a retailer next door. One fabulous business gives people another reason to visit another.

Collectively, they create destinations.

And when customers do not need to visit shops, experience becomes even more important. The shopfront, the window, the welcome, the displays, the expertise and the conversation.

Technology will continue to change retail, but the fundamentals still matter. As an independent, know your customer, buy well, create an inviting shop, offer great service and give people a reason to return.

We don’t need to recreate the high street of twenty years ago. We need high streets that reflect how people want to connect and live today, places to meet, eat, browse, discover and connect with each other.

And that is why I still believe independent businesses are the bedrock of our high streets, not because of nostalgia, but because they create exactly the kind of personal, interesting and human experiences our future high streets need.

A Thought to Leave With You

The future of the high street isn’t about persuading people to shop as they once did, it’s about giving them new reasons to visit and making the experience worth the journey.

Jo x