Roger Wade: ‘We need to level the playing field between online and high street’

Even as lockdown eased, the industry suffered the harshest of blows as Arcadia and Debenhams collapsed, putting 25,000 jobs at risk in less than 24 hours.

This is going to hit everyone hard. Have we really considered the long-term impact this will have on our high streets, which form the lifeblood of our community?

It goes beyond the demise of retail. There is a detrimental knock-on effect on hospitality, leisure, offices and homes, too. 

Part of the physical retail experience includes stopping off somewhere for a bite to eat and hospitality operators will suffer from the lack of footfall, which is largely driven by retail.

Without physical retail in town centres, the drop in the value of local commercial and residential properties makes them a less attractive place for businesses, home-buyers and tourists.

The pandemic, rents and business rates, plus a shift to ecommerce, has put a huge amount of pressure on the high street and it is imperative that measures are put in place to help businesses adapt. We need to take urgent, prompt action.

The first and most important step is to level the playing field when it comes to online retailers and physical, high street stores. 

Independents can’t compete among the ecommerce retail giants such as Amazon because they are encumbered with rent and the massive burden of business rates. 

“Landlords and tenants need to get together and find a way to share the pain”

We need the government to re-evaluate business rates to help level the playing field.

Secondly, landlords and tenants need to get together and find a way to share the pain of rent. I think the hospitality and retail industries should shift towards turnover-based rent where landlords actually take a stake in their tenants’ business because upward-only rent just isn’t feasible in the current economic climate. 

We are offering turnover rent to our tenants at Boxpark to help them better manage the costs of staying open and trading.

The government needs to remember the hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk and consider what support can be offered to retail employees made redundant.

For years, people have predicted the death of the high street, but I don’t buy into that idea.

I don’t believe that the future is all online shopping. Physical retail will never die out; it will keep evolving.

Independent retailers have been a crucial element in the survival of Britain’s high streets. In a world where you can now buy almost everything online from large chain stores, independent retailers fill in the gaps by offering unique artisan products and a more personalised experience for consumers.

We can already see evidence of how independents have helped to transform high streets in more successful town centres, mainly populated by such businesses.

“If we don’t have places where people can come together, what sort of future town centres do we really have?”

Big technology companies such as Apple and Tesla are investing in physical retail to showcase their products, which surely demonstrates the power of touch and experience. 

With soaring overheads for high street retailers, including the cost of a lease, rent and business rates, the most compelling reason to have a physical presence is all about people and local communities.

If we don’t have places where people can come together, what sort of future town centres do we really have? 

The high street serves as the heart of local communities, a place that people depend on for their social lives, employment and livelihoods. We must do everything we can to save it.