Tonbridge High Street in the light of Mary Portas Report....

I don't know whether or not Queen of Shops, Mary Portas, visited Tonbridge during her pretty in depth study of the British High Street, as part of her work for the Government, but our town is certainly a case in point. Many of the factors blighting our own High Street can be seen in her report and recommendations which was published this morning. Expensive parking discouraging shoppers, too many charity shops, absent landlords all too willing to leave store units empty for years rather than reduce rents, a lack of joined up thinking by councils, too tight planning regulations, high business rates etc. etc. I won't go on because you can all read the report. I would certainly urge anyone with, or thinking or starting, a business in Tonbridge to have a read because, apart from any thing else, there's some great free advice in there. On the whole I found her report to be positive and optimistic about the future of the High Street so long as communities embrace them, shoppers spend more of their pounds in them and retailers get more creative and innovative....