Our local high streets are changing.
With the rise of shopping online, more and more people are choosing to shop from home. To preserve and protect our high streets, the heart of our towns will become focused on leisure, with bars, cafes, and other similar small & medium sized businesses.
By supporting the evolving nature of our high streets, we can help to protect the backbone of our local economy, nurture local job growth, and ensure the beating heart of our communities continues to thrive.
As someone who worked in retail for 18 years, I know how important it is to protect our shops and local towns.
My high street campaign aims to support our high streets and local businesses, whilst ensuring our towns are prepared for the future.
The towns of the future will need to be welcoming, safe, clean, and pleasant places for residents to walk, sit, eat, drink, and enjoy free time with family and friends in. To prepare our high street for this vision of the future, TotF has five key priorities:
Our Five Priorities:
1) Cut business rates to help ease the pressure on existing businesses and make it easier for new businesses to open.
2) Keep the streets tidy and a nice place to be to ensure a welcoming environment.
3) Introduce attractive features to the high street, such as trees and flowers, to keep the area green and a pleasant space.
4) Free parking should be protected or introduced to improve accessibility.
5) Help keep streets safe with increased police visibility.
How to Help:
Sign my petition below to lower business rates
Lowering business rates will help alleviate the pressures that are faced by businesses on our high streets. With lower rates, shops could afford to expand into new products, employ more staff, and invest in skills and training for local people.
