How Heritage can Help the High Street

I recently returned to my home city of Bath to undertake a site visit. It had been a while and I took the time to reacquaint myself with the city centre, as any diligent planner would on a Friday afternoon. I was left slightly disappointed… there were few people out shopping or having a drink and it felt like traders were anxiously awaiting a weekend upsurge. The run of vacant units, mothballing the 18^th century Milsom Street frontage, paid testament to that.

My observations are not new and certainly not unique to Bath, hence the £830 million injection from the ‘’Funding from the Future High Streets Fund’’, back in December 2020, which seeks to arrest the decline of our high streets nationally.

However, Bath is unique. It is a double nominated UNESCO World Heritage Site. It also boasts over 5000 listed buildings, many of which are focussed within the well-preserved Georgian core of the city, which is an international tourist attraction. On the surface, this should mean high footfall and a key draw for prospective traders. However, the clusters of vacancies I witnessed were prominent within the historic core, which according to Bath & North-East Somerset Council, should be the retail and leisure focus of the city. Is this simply on-trend or could other factors be at play?

It struck me that given the significant pressures that operators are already under, including competition from online shopping and navigating the aftershocks of the Covid pandemic, there might be a growing perception that setting up shop from listed buildings simply didn’t stack up. After all, retailers are having to adapt faster than ever to meet new consumer needs, who increasingly demand unique, curated, and immersive experiences and not just places for routine shopping. This increasingly requires attractive and unique environments.

Of course, with the correct approach and a detailed understanding of the historic spaces, this can be achieved in commercial listed buildings. Indeed, their conservation often requires such adaption. But with major retailers in decline and independents operating on tight budgets, the prospect of such preparation, followed by a frustratingly lengthy Listed Building Consent process, alongside any other necessary consents is understandably daunting. Particularly with the allure of modern, purpose-built units with much greater internal flexibility.

It would be highly damaging for our historic environment if retailers began to feel like their requirements were outpacing the planning system, by either proceeding without consent or looking for ‘easier’ options. Heritage assets can be a powerful contributor to the appeal of our high streets and should be a unique draw. They also deliver for businesses, with Historic England recording that 85% of businesses operating in historic buildings express satisfaction with where they work and nearly two thirds felt trading from a listed building enhanced the business.

Through collaboration with the general public and prospective applicants, it is up to planning and heritage professionals, alongside well-resourced local authorities to help harness this information and reinforce the economic potential of our listed buildings (and all heritage assets). Continued investment is the key to long term conservation.