Drive to attract independent retailers to Birmingham city centre

Jan 28 2009 by Anna Blackaby, Birmingham Post

Shopping in Birmingham is set to get a much-needed dose of individuality as a programme to attract independent retailers to the city centre gets under way.

Birmingham City Council’s newly-launched Retail Development Programme aims to support existing retailers and attract new independent brands to the city centre.

The scheme, which has been launched as a pilot running from January until March this year, will provide financial assistance as well as business support and advice for independents.

Retailers can apply for grants of up to £10,000 to cover half of premises set-up costs such as rents, rates and installing heating and lighting.

The scheme is also being supported by Business Link West Midlands which will offer up to three days free business support, and Retail Birmingham, which can provide assistance with networking, marketing and promotions.

The support programme stems from a meeting held last year between retail and brand communication guru Mary Portas and owners of city centre independents, brainstorming ways the sector can be supported.

According to city council figures, there are currently 105 independent shops in Birmingham city centre. Ms Portas was drafted in to find ways to boost this number in order to forge a distinctive shopping experience for the city.

A scheme to better promote Birmingham’s Victorian shopping arcades such as the Piccadilly Arcade and Great Western Arcade, which are home to several independents, was also floated at the meeting with Ms Portas.

Birmingham City Council business officer Barbara Kelly said: “There were various action points that came out of the Mary Portas Masterclass event, but one of the main ones was the need to support independent retailers in their efforts to establish themselves or expand their shops in Birmingham.

“The aim is to develop a unique shopping experience in Birmingham and in order to do that we need to attract, retain and support the independents.”

Ms Kelly stressed the Retail Development Programme is a pilot project and will serve as a testing ground for a wider programme to be launched later this year.

“We listened to those who attended the Masterclass and developed this pilot around their comments and suggestions, but it is an organic process, and we intend to learn from those who come through now before we put a more extensive programme together to be launched in the next few months,” she said.

“The intention is for this programme to assist retailers both in the city centre and on the local High Streets, and is especially important in the current economic climate.”

Some believe that independent shops can offer a glimmer of hope for the embattled retail sector. The think-tank New Economics Foundation says independent shops can bring more benefits to a local economy than multiples as well as being more resilient in a recession.

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Birmingham has often been accused of being too mainstream in its retail offering, with commercial giants like Bullring and the Mailbox dominating the city’s shopping landscape.

Recognising that the city needed to shake off its “clone town” image, Birmingham City Council regeneration bosses enlisted the help of Mary Portas, of BBC2’s Mary Queen of Shops fame, to brainstorm ways that independent shops could be fostered.

Ms Portas, the woman credited with turning Harvey Nichols into a fashion powerhouse, was invited to Birmingham last October to speak to local independent shop-owners, a meeting which provided the basis of the council’s newly-launched Retail Development Programme.

Raphael Jackson, of Solo Footwear, an independent shoeshop in Piccadilly Arcade, said it was important to support independent retailers not only because they were also struggling with the lack of credit availability, but also because they bring a sense of vitality to the city centre.

“They give variety to the city. We have people coming from all over and they say ‘where are all the independent shops?’

“For people who live in Birmingham, they will go out of town to find independent shops.

The only other choice is the multiples at places like the Bullring but the rents are too high for independent shops - it’s too hard to get into.

“We survive on our regulars who come back again and again are who are looking for that little bit of difference. We also get a lot of trade from out of town.”

Birmingham City Council’s Retail Development Programme was also welcomed by James Wright, director of Birmingham-based fashion label Jacob Kimmie, who pointed to the trickle-down effect that the presence of independent shops would have on local designers.

He said: “Smaller independent boutiques are more likely to buy from young, up-and-coming designers. London has many of these catering for a wide diversity of customer. Birmingham has an amazing variety of clothing stores from Primark to Harvey Nichols and Selfridges but has only a handful of independent boutiques. The fashion offering in Birmingham can only be further enriched by more independent retailers in the city centre.”

As well as revamping the image of Birmingham as a retail destination among out-of-town shoppers, the council sees the drive to promote independents as part of its aim to improve the lives of those who live in the city.

The council’s director of planning and regeneration Clive Dutton has said that the focus on independent retailers was part of its aim to get Birmingham into the list of the top 20 most livable cities in the world within two decades.

The council’s collaboration with Mary Portas dates back to 2007 when it invited the retail adviser to announce the winner of the best independent trader award in Birmingham city centre, a prize won by clothing shop Disorder.