ATCM Chief Executive's Blog - All Postings

Thursday 09 May 2013
To say the last couple of months have been busy is an understatement.
To say the last couple of months have been busy is an understatement. Since my last blog it’s been all systems go on a number of ATCM fronts: Summer School planning; finalising and publishing the Town Centres Toolkit with GFirst, and...

Wednesday 13 March 2013

On 11 March, I was invited to attend the launch of the Labour Party Small Business Task Force Report. They held it at the famous Brixton Market in South London, hosted by ATCM member Groupe Geraud, with party leader Ed Miliband and Streatham MP and...

Monday 04 March 2013
Who Owns Public Art
Guest Blog, Dave Downey, President & CEO, IDA Engage the artists in your community as they can bring creative inspiration and excitement to your downtown. We have been recommending this in recent years as a strategy for activating urban...

Friday 22 February 2013
Town Teams & the media
“The Portas Pilot money will get spent eventually have no fear. But without proper guidance it will be frittered away” So ends a long and whinging article by Martin Samuels in yesterday’s Daily Mail (which someone kindly sent to...

Wednesday 02 January 2013
High Streets Unchained
Well, 2012 was “interesting”! The traction gained for the very idea of active management in town centres is a breakthrough. The notion that town centres are only about shops and can look after themselves is largely dead; so is the idea...

Monday 24 December 2012
Guest blog by Beth Ward. Town Teams Special Advisor
2012 has been a tough year for town centres & retail in particular. Many multi-nationals have disappeared from the high street & there have become big empty voids in some centres. However in many centres there has been an increase in independents...

Friday 07 December 2012
Purple Green and Blue
Everyone likes a good evening out. And many town centres are as vibrant and live, fun and sociable places in the evening as they are during the day. The life and economy of town and city centres is now 24 hours, 7 days a week. Patterns of work,...

Saturday 27 October 2012
Business Rates and Scotland
There has been a very negative reaction to the postponement of the Business Rate Revaluation in England, while the Scottish Government has announced a new scheme, “Fresh Start” to bring empty property back into use. ATCM Scotland is...

Wednesday 10 October 2012
Diversity (no, not the street dance troupe!)
After spending time at the party conferences it does seem to me that the “Big Society” is alive and kicking. The phrase I heard most across the piece was “diversity”. This does mean, to me at least, that places must find...

Monday 24 September 2012
How important is parking to the success of a town centres?
So, how important is parking to the success of a town centres? And, what is a car parking space “worth”? These are huge questions we are attempting to get to the bottom of in our research with the British Parking Association and...

Friday 14 September 2012
Is the tide turning for TCM Appointments?
Over the past 3 years, while overall membership of the ATCM has held up very well and actually increased this year, we have seen some very experienced practitioners leave the industry. And so I was surprised and delighted (and a little disorientated...

Wednesday 01 August 2012
Everyone is a Winner?
Getting an Award is great for team building and confidence. Losing out can have the opposite effect. Words that have been “trending” in relation to the Pilots and Town Teams are: • “Winner”, “Snub” and...

Thursday 05 July 2012
Is the Retail Lobby Trying to Hijack the Portas revolution?
Since the not-for-profit ATCM was founded in the early 90s, we have worked with hundreds of locations around the UK, and overseas, to support people and communities in shaping environments to make town centres better, where local people feel a sense...

Friday 29 June 2012
A Week in TCM
A fascinating week that began on Monday by meeting all the 12 Portas Pilot Round 1 winners together at the Dept. For Communities and Local Gov. Mary Portas and Peter Cross were, I have to say, inspirational. Not a word I use often and won over a...

Monday 28 May 2012
Successful Portas Pilots.
We're delighted to hear of the first 12 successful Portas Pilots. Einstein said, “Continuing to do the same things and expecting different results is the definition of madness”. We know we must do things differently. Having said...

Wednesday 25 April 2012
New Blood in Markets
Attending the National Market Traders Federation conference in York I was struck by just how much is being done, and successfully, to bring new traders onto markets. The NMTF “First Pitch” initiative is succeeding and we were introduced...

Friday 20 April 2012
The Perfect Storm?
Earlier this week I attended a workshop to begin thinking around a new Retail Growth Strategy for by the Dept. for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS). The workshop was attended by around 20 other key organisations and major businesses and it was...

Thursday 05 April 2012
Portas and all that…
Last Friday saw a frenzy of activity as places scrambled to get their applications in on time. The process closed at midnight, by which time 285 valid applications were received. The judging is a mammoth task, already started by DCLG officials,...

Friday 23 March 2012
Are TCMs leaders or managers?
Dave Downey, President of the IDA in North America recently wrote, "I am continually amazed by the serendipity of life. The way an idea emerges in one conversation and almost magically appears repeatedly in future situations." This came about...

Friday 30 September 2011
PEDLARS/STREET TRADING – EUROPEAN SERVICES DIRECTIVE
Graham Wilson, Chief Executive of NAMBA represented the ATCM and other Retail Market Alliance members at a recent BIS seminar on the changes that need to be made to the Pedlars/Street Trading legislation arising out of the impact of the...

Monday 08 August 2011
Impressions from the work in the Association of Town Centre Management
This special edition of the blog is handed over to a guest of the ATCM from Serbia. At the beginning let me introduce myself. I’m Radivoj Milosevic and coming from Serbia. Fortunately, I had a pleasure and incredible opportunity to work as an...

Thursday 02 June 2011
Mission Impossible for the High Street Tsarina?
Mary Portas, “Queen of Shops” has been appointed by the Government to review High Street the performance of the High Street. At the weekend we began to see the backlash with very negative articles. A conspiracy theorist might say that...

Friday 01 April 2011
Budget challenges and opportunities
In his March Budget, George Osborne set out the Government’s plan for stimulating growth in the economy and it is clear that the role of town and city centre management is going to be crucial. I attended a Centre for Cities Breakfast with...

Friday 20 August 2010
Localism and the Big Society
I recently represented the ATCM at the new governments Business Advisory Panel (BAP) meeting, which was the first post-election. The Panel has about a dozen organisations, including the ATCM, representing various interests; such organisations as the...

Monday 05 July 2010
'Best Bar None better than Licensing Act?' - Martin Blackwell
I was invited to the Best Bar None reception at the House of Lords last week by the British Institute of Innkeeping. Best Bar None (BBN) has done far more to reduce violence, encourage partnership and increase the quality of the late night economy...

Friday 19 March 2010
Catalyst or Tipping Point? - Simon Quin
Yesterday's conference in Birmingham, organised by Retail Week, promoted a significant debate about the future of UK town centres. Alex Gourlay, Chief Executive, Health & Beauty, Alliance Boots, and Professor Leigh Sparks, Professor of Retail...

Wednesday 17 March 2010
Saving Britain's High Streets - Simon Quin
The last blog entry noted that I was in Darlington at a round table looking at how the money provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Arts Council was being spent to bring vacant shops back into use. This was an...

Thursday 04 March 2010
Town Centres on the political map
It is reassuring that in many parts of Europe there is strong political interest in town and city centres. I have seen this evidenced in a number of ways in the last few days and it is perhaps only when looked at in the round that the extent of this...

Tuesday 05 January 2010
New planning policies; new challenge for local authorities
The Government’s launch of new planning policy for town centres in England on 29th December 2009 contains much that is welcome. However, the real challenge will lie with how able local authorities are to assemble data, monitor their catchment...

Friday 11 September 2009
New things to support town and city centres
It is perhaps a good job that the Summer has not been wall to wall sunshine, as we have been busy in ATCM working on a number of new approaches to help town and city centres become more vital and viable. I am personally delighted that we have been...

Thursday 23 July 2009
Exchanging experience
Despite being school holidays it has been a busy week so far for ATCM in promoting exchanges of experience. On Monday I led one of the sessions on the Improvement and Development Agency's Leadership Academy for Councillors held at the University of...

Wednesday 15 July 2009
Tackling the recession at a local level
The concern for our town centres and the desire to provide them with a prosperous future was clearly demonstrated today in Sutton, one of London's ten ‘Metropolitan Centres'. Some 50 people, representing businesses large and small, the local...

Thursday 09 July 2009
A new Milestone in monitoring performance
There is much speculation in the press and on the web about the level of retail vacancy in our town and city centres and about how they are weathering the recession. This once again demonstrates the need for a central source of up to date...

Friday 26 June 2009
Thanks to all who contributed to a great Summer School
Nearly 200 participants attended this year's ATCM Summer School in sunny Belfast. They came from all parts of the UK and 4 other countries. With a focus on how to survive the recession, the Summer School combined practically focused workshops with...

Wednesday 15 April 2009
Looking after our town centres
"Town centres should be places where everyone, regardless of their age or background, can come together as equal citizens. The high street, the market square, the shopping centre - these are the places that should define a town, give it its...

Monday 30 March 2009
So it's farewell PPS6
The Government announced last Wednesday that Planning Policy Statement No. 6 (Planning for Town Centres) is to be incorporated into a new Planning Policy Statement on Planning for Prosperous Economies. This new PPS will also replace PPG4...

Wednesday 18 March 2009
Responding to the challenge
If there is anything good coming out of the recession and the impact it is having on our high streets, it is that town centre partnerships are actively responding to the crisis and showing why they are both needed and beneficial. As earlier blogs...

Wednesday 28 January 2009
Surviving the recession
The recession is now official and yet it is likely that we have not yet seen the full impact on town and city centres. Forecasters predict we will see more well-known retailers closing, bank branches being shut as consolidation is implemented,...

Tuesday 13 January 2009
Business Rate Supplements Bill Second Reading
After an almost four hour debate last night in the House of Commons, the Business Rate Supplements Bill was given its Second Reading by 292 votes to 199. The debate covered a wide range of topics with frequent references to Business Improvement...

Wednesday 17 December 2008
ATCM management structure changes agreed
As noted in an earlier posting on this blog, we have been looking at how the ATCM management structure should be altered to ensure the organisation best serves the needs of its members. At the board meeting held on Monday this week, it was agreed...

Thursday 04 December 2008
Celebrating success
The BCSC Gold Awards, held last night at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London's Park Lane, once again demonstrated the high quality of retail development that has taken place in many of the UK's town and city centres (and one or two out of town...

Wednesday 26 November 2008
Times get tougher
As this blog and others have been forecasting for some time, the latest news shows that life is getting tougher for town and city centres. Last week saw the publication of the retail development figures for England for 2006 as gathered by the...

Friday 21 November 2008
Securing retail investment
ATCM is here at MAPIC in Cannes with 7 of the UK's major cities, a large contingent of the UK retail property industry and more than 8000 participants from over 60 countries. ATCM has again co-ordinated the UK Cities stand at MAPIC, which is the...

Friday 24 October 2008
Endorsing Town Centre Partnerships
"Effective management of town centres is essential for enhancing and sustaining their vitality and viability..." "More and more areas are using town centre management to bring about real change through coordinated and pro-active...

Wednesday 15 October 2008
Wild West?
Link to Parliament recording of ATCM giving evidence to Licensing Act 2003 Impact Inquiry http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/VideoPlayer.aspx?meetingId=2489. You may have heard or seen references in the media in the last 24 hours to market towns...

Friday 03 October 2008
PPS6 Consultation response from ATCM
Today's blog is actually the response submitted by ATCM to the Department for Communities and Local Government consultation on proposed changes to planning policy for England. If you want to see the original document that this refers to you should...

Wednesday 24 September 2008
ATCM Board Review launched
Earlier this year I wrote about the Awayday that the ATCM Board had held where they agreed to the establishment of a number of working groups to help take the organisation forward. The groups have now held their first (and in some cases second)...

Monday 08 September 2008
Supporting markets to promote retail diversity
One of the things we have been doing in a busy Summer is looking at how we can work more effectively with a number of the organisations involved in supporting markets. The traditional heart of town and city centres, many markets have been through...

Monday 14 July 2008
Changing planning policy for England
  The consultation paper on proposed changes to PPS6, Planning for Town Centres, which was announced in last year's White Paper on Planning and Sustainable Development was published late last week by the Government. The consultation is clear...

Wednesday 09 July 2008
Parliamentary agenda
Last night was the Annual General Meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Town Centre Management. This Group brings together Parliamentarians from all parties and both Houses to consider issues affecting town and city centres. ATCM provides...

Friday 04 July 2008
New Chair for ATCM
Having now completed his three year period as non-executive Chair, Neil Mitchenall is now stepping down and the ATCM Board unanimously agreed last week to appoint Graham Chase for a period of 3 years starting in September. Those who were at last...

Friday 27 June 2008
Learning in Liverpool
The ATCM Summer School is now over and we are pleased with the feedback from delegates and exhibitors. We packed a lot in to two and a bit days with over a dozen plenary session speakers, 30 workshop speakers and three study tours to discover...

Friday 13 June 2008
Cautious times; opportunities for town centres?
I was at two major events this week which highlighted the increasingly cautious tone of the property and retail industries. On Tuesday I spoke at a seminar that was part of a major real estate event in Milan whilst yesterday I was at the BRC...

Thursday 05 June 2008
Working with Bus Operators
Most town centre strategies will encourage public transport use and many focus on how the quality of bus access can be improved. Earlier this week I had the chance to talk to several of the major bus operators in the country and discuss what kind of...

Friday 23 May 2008
Town Centre Management in Smaller Centres
I was in Eastbourne on Wednesday to speak to the National Association of Local Council's Conference. The session I was contributing to was on town centre management and before my overview of the key issues involved, we had an inspirational...

Monday 12 May 2008
Sharing Good Practice in Town Centre Development
The final afternoon session of last week's 1st International Congress on Urban Commerce held in Malaga's very contemporary Palacio de Ferias y Congresos (see http://www.tkondos.com/pop_palacio.htm) was focused on good practice in urban management. I...

Tuesday 06 May 2008
Island TCM
Amongst ATCM's 550 members, are those engaged in town centre management in the Isle of Man, Guernsey, and most recently, Jersey. Although the various towns on these islands share some similarities with coastal locations in the UK, having seen a...

Friday 25 April 2008
Mapping the Future for ATCM
The ATCM Board held one of its periodic ‘awaydays' yesterday to look in detail at how the organisation was functioning and where it should be going in the future. For me these are always exciting, energetic but exhausting events. Nearly all of...

Tuesday 22 April 2008
Spreading the TCM Concept
Almost 200 people from the public and private sectors spent last Saturday afternoon in Warsaw discussing Town Centre Management. The delegates heard about initiatives that have been launched in Poznan, Lodz, and Belchatow, as well as an overview and...

Friday 18 April 2008
Customer Service
A key ingredient in creating town and city centres that are both vital and viable is providing such a positive customer experience that people want to return and that they speak positively about the centre. This experience comprises many aspects,...

Thursday 27 March 2008
Journal of Place Management and Development
The first edition of the new Journal of Place Management and Development was published by Emerald, the world's leading publisher of management research, last week. Articles of particular relevance to ATCM members include one by IDA Board Member Jim...

Thursday 13 March 2008
TCM and global challenges
Last month the Cabinet Office published one of its reports looking at the key strategic challenges facing the country in the next decade. Key amongst these were globalisation; population growth and profile change (increasing to 67 million by 2020...

Wednesday 12 March 2008
BIDs and Business Rate Supplements (BRS)
I took the opportunity at a DCLG seminar last week to ask Minister of State John Healey MP about his view on the perceived potential impact of the Business Rate Supplement on BIDs. It was clear that though he saw BIDs as a good thing, he felt they...

Thursday 06 March 2008
Starting up
Thanks to all those ATCM members who completed our recent survey on what you think about ATCM - we are just analysing the detail and will post a report on it soon. Though most of the responses were positive (fortunately) there were some areas where...