The Portas 'Town Team' Pilot Scheme - A challenge to the GeniUS! Community

All four of our initial challenges are now closed for ideas however we still need your help. Welcome to our honorary 'fifth challenge'! Open until Friday 30th March.

York has an opportunity to take stock and look to build on the strengths of it’s city centre as a major economic asset. 

One resource that has been identified to start to focus this, a fund of £100k to create transformational change, starting with one city street, through the Portas ‘Town Team’ scheme.

High streets all over the UK are facing challenges with regard to changes in retail trends that will force an evolution of their services and the purpose of this challenge is to think positively about how we can act as a city to not only maintain, but actually promote the role of the city centre for the future.

The Council is already working with partners to bring together a city centre action and investment plan that will join up current initiatives – ‘Reinvigorate’, the ‘Core Strategy Action Plan’, the area-based initiatives like ‘Micklegate and Minster Quarter groups’ – and build on these to develop a clear and proactive plan for acting to support and promote the city centre.

Attached (see below) is a slideshow which provides some background information on the changes the City Centre has faced over the last few years.

But we also need your ideas and help!

The Challenges:

  • The spread of supermarkets offering needs-based services, like doctors and opticians often drive business away from the smaller city centre practitioners.
  • We need to understand what a good deal is for consumers, thinking wider than price towards wellbeing and long-term sustainability.
  • The cost of business rates for small or new businesses is currently high.
  • Lack of and expense of parking in town and city centres can cause additional problems for city centre businesses.
  • Owners of city centre property ‘sitting on’ their assets or leaving them empty rather than actively taking part in the city centre community.
  • High streets and town centres need to offer a mix, not just shopping – an experience.
  • Bridging the gap between the high street, the bricks and mortar and the online world.

So this challenge is to explore:

How can we positively address some of the current and future issues to ensure our city centre is a vibrant, lively and enjoyable place to be with all the services that it needs to have?

How can we reduce the current issues causing the city centre difficulties in terms of encouraging smaller and start up businesses, understanding what people need now and in the future and responding to a changing world?

How can we pilot some of your solutions, starting with one street (please suggest the street you have in mind), with a view to rolling out if successful?

Please do think outside the box!! All ideas welcome.

PLEASE NOTE: Although we are using the GeniUS! web platform to generate discussion and ideas, these will not be subject to same selection process as ideas under our four previous challenges.These ideas may or may not be used within a Pilot Scheme.

Tags: 'Town, Portas, Team', city-centre, economy, ideas

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Permalink Reply by Katie Stewart on March 16, 2012 at 11:56

In terms of next steps, we are looking at putting in a bid to the Portas programme as a city - although this is for a relatively small amount of money.  We're getting some strong interest in seeing this as an opportunity to encourage small and start up business in the city - and the markets already have some opportunity for doing this which we'll be looking to expand with this bid.

However, this challenge is not just about bidding into the Portas programme - it is about ensuring that the Council and partners know what is needed, where the challenges are and what ideas we might look at to tackle these challenges.  We'll feedback at the end of the challenge period on next steps so that everyone knows exactly what will be possible for us to take forward, and what opportunities there might be going forward.

So for now, we gathering ideas; at the end of the challenge, we'll suggest some next steps. 

Permalink Reply by Heather Niven on March 14, 2012 at 19:34

One more suggestion then I will go away.  We have been looking at paving that generates electricity as part of Challenge 4.  Why not put a hopscotch space in the street, to generate interesting lights, get people active (because loads of people would do a hop skip and jump!) and provide a little bit of fun?  You could put up a led counter to tell how many people have used it and how much electricity they have generated. Its fun and puts sustainability into the forefront of peoples minds for a minute. 

Permalink Reply by caseymorrison on March 15, 2012 at 13:10

There's lots of good stuff here on street design from Leith in Edinburgh: basically how we design our streets is how people use them.

Cycle lanes, traffic flow, city planning for idiots. worth a read and watch..http://www.greenerleith.org/greener-leith-news/2012/3/14/still-want... 

Permalink Reply by Charlie Mitchell on March 15, 2012 at 17:21
Hi all, what great discussions!

Just to let you know the group of social enterprises have got together and will be opening the shop, called 'Your Emporium', on Micklegate at the beginning of April - very exciting!

Refurbishments are under way as we speak. It is a couple of doors down from the Post Office - look out for the flyer with the 10% discount for people shopping with us in our first few weeks of trading!
Permalink Reply by Heather Niven on March 16, 2012 at 11:27

powerpoint

Permalink Reply by Darren Lovatt on March 16, 2012 at 12:28

The City Centre Markets are more than happy to be on board with this scheme and the positive steps ahead. Its exciting times ahead and certainly does highlight the Market community and how the City of York Council see a future in our trading area running alongside an equally vibrant City Centre.... Always happy to discuss trading options.

Darren Lovatt (Senior Markets Officer)

Permalink Reply by Heather Niven on March 16, 2012 at 15:26

revised powerpoint, please read THIS ONE

Attachments:
Permalink Reply by James F on March 16, 2012 at 21:23
Interesting discussion at the KMA opening tonight,
the PRODUCT pop up shop supporting currently
supporting new design talent at bar lane might
be an interesting idea for inner city shops.
Students, Start ups, innovators, designers, artists?
Permalink Reply by Katie Stewart on March 30, 2012 at 12:55

The popup shop is certainly something we are building into the Portas bid - it has worked with Bar Lane and is about to be tested across Micklegate at the We are York Emporium shop... and an idea that if we can get the engagement of a shop owner can work well. 

The only challenge is sometimes finding the shop owner to get them on board - but they are out there and there are some shops going unlet that could offer a great platform for flexible space for entrepreneurs...

Permalink Reply by Chris Wedgwood on March 17, 2012 at 20:12

How about using an empty shop to actually grow food in the city?

Maybe co-located with a posh restaurant to sell the produce for a (healthy markup) to the tourists.

There is already one of these shops in London:

http://www.springwise.com/eco_sustainability/london-retail-space-wo...

From the powerpoint posted here; Agriculture currently accounts for 0% of the use of the city space, so is currently a very under-represented sector!

Permalink Reply by Mark Saw on March 20, 2012 at 10:26

Hi Chris,

This is an interesting idea. One that might benefit from some agricultural expertise. I know someone at the Stockbridge Technology Centre who might be interested in developing a space that could support indoor, hydroponic growth of produce for use in the local shops (alongside their current work). Maybe as a demonstrator unit anyway.

If there was a restaurant or group of restaurants that wants to do this then I'd suggest they post and register an interest.

Would anyone here be motivated to visit a cafe/restaurant that had produce grown hydroponically, next door and in the city centre?

Permalink Reply by Chris Wedgwood on March 20, 2012 at 13:10

Hi Mark,

That sounds really interesting; I'm sure we could use your friends expertise. I also have some contacts at Bishop Burton who I could sound out as well to help get this off the ground.

The one in London has a cafe, but I think that upmarket restaurant would be best for York. The markup on selling cooked food in the right way can be very large and that income would make the whole project financially sustainable.

York has a large amount of visitors to the City and people tend to spend more on this kind of thing when they are away from home. There is also no better place in the country to sit and enjoy a meal with the whole medieval city backdrop going on.

With so many food health scares in the news in recent years, I think people will really value  knowing the origin of the food on their plate. 

Also with the right marketing I think it could capitalise on the whole eco friendly side and perhaps bring in new people to the city who come here to try out the food. The number of air miles our food travels these days is astounding! The last pack of onions I bought from the supermarket came from Egypt!

It would be great to see if the idea could get support from a restaurant chain, either one that is already in the city or one who would like to relocate here. I'm not sure they will all be registered here though so that may need more of a hands on approach to finding interested parties.

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