Knutsford forum boss calls for innovation to help revive high streets | Knutsford Guardian

HIGH streets will need to be more innovative in coming up with solutions to the ‘scars’ left by the coronavirus pandemic.

So says Ian Cass, managing director of the Knutsford-based Forum of Private Business, who said the issues facing the high street were already causing many problems before the impact of coronavirus and the lockdown.

He said: “We now face the deep scars to our retail sector and Britain’s high streets as we come out of the initial lockdown, and are going to have to be even more creative and innovative in terms of finding long-term solutions.

“One will be how high street landlords respond at this time; many businesses will have realised they can work from home and don’t need retail or office space anymore.”

There would be demand for smaller spaces and in some cases shared spaces on the high street, he said, and landlords would need to adapt and change their property to accommodate these changes.

Mr Cass, who lives in Knutsford, added: “There is also a need to think about what each high street needs in terms of products and services, and landlords will need to play their part in attracting the right people to the high street.

“Another idea would be to bring people back onto the high streets to live. My mum, who is 89, recently moved from her small house in an isolated village into a town centre retirement apartment in Northwich.

“One of the benefits for her is she has to walk only a short distance to do all her shopping, to use the local cafés and restaurants, and in her case visit the local cinema.

“As the Government relaxes planning rules making it easier to convert commercial to residential use, the companies who build and manage these retirement developments should be encouraged to do this in town centres and in the process help revitalise the UK’s high streets.”

The older community was more likely to use shops and facilities on the high streets, he said, and as people were living longer and healthier lives they would be able to enjoy a better quality of life with better transport, services and facilities on their doorsteps.