Healthy High Street initiative comes to Plymouth
Plymouth is one of the first cities in the UK set to receive support as part of a national campaign to transform the high street.
The charity Business in the Community (BITC) has launched the Healthy High Streets initiative which aims to create jobs, increase footfall and reduce empty property units.
Following a successful bid process Plymouth City Centre has been selected as one of the first 29 cities that will receive this support, which will run as part of the three year project.
The campaign is focused on towns that demonstrate a need for the support, have potential for growth, have an established or emerging partnership to improve the town and are served by the businesses involved in the campaign.
Plymouth City Centre Company Manager, Stefan Krause, said: “This is excellent news for us! We have an exciting vision for our City Centre as part of our area action plan and want to position Plymouth as the premier shopping and leisure destination in the South west. Being recognised for this support will help us to achieve this and tackle some of the challenges we have come up against. Working closely with our High Street champion will help us to really push this forward.”
Councillor Mark Lowry, Plymouth City Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, added: “This is a really positive step forward and comes at the same time Plymouth has won awards for the innovative use of one of our empty properties with the Your Space project. Supporting the city centre is a massive priority for the council and this initiative will help us take the right steps to ensure we attract new and exciting retail brands, quality jobs and a great place for people to visit.”
Each city is provided a High Street Champion, a representative from either Boots UK, the Co-operative Group, Marks and Spencer or Santander which will pull together an action plan.
High streets Minister Brandon Lewis said: “It’s great to see some of the biggest names in British retail like Boots UK, the Co-operative Group, Marks & Spencer and Santander using their business expertise and local knowledge to help others on the high street attract more shoppers.”
