00:00Across the north-east, the high street story is not simply that people stop caring.
00:05In Sunderland, the council launched an improvement programme covering 21 local shopping areas after residents and businesses said cleaner, safer
00:15and more attractive centres mattered to them.
00:18Newcastle has meanwhile completed a major transformation of Granger Market, built around independent traders and giving people a reason to
00:26visit the city centre.
00:27But the competition is obvious. The Office for National Statistics says 28.8% of retail spending in Great Britain
00:38was online in August 2026.
00:41That convenience changes what a high street has to offer. A shop paying for premises, staff, heating and stock is
00:48competing with a website available from the sofa.
00:51We may complain when a familiar shop closes or when an empty unit makes a street feel neglected.
00:58But if fewer purchases happen there, something has to change.
01:02Across the north-east, councils are increasingly treating high streets as places for food, leisure, services and community life, as
01:11well as shopping.
01:12The question is whether that's enough to keep people coming back on a regular basis.
01:17We've been talking about the decline of the high street for years, it seems to me.
01:22When we're talking about the online retailers, and of course I don't have to mention who they are, they have
01:26the ability to bulk buy.
01:28But of course they don't have shops, it's done by clicks rather than bricks.
01:32There is no doubt, of course, that vacant premises, they look unsightly and it becomes slightly hostile places to people
01:39want to go in.
01:40So what you've got to do is make them more attractive.
01:42Now, of course, that's to do with spending money by the local authority primarily, although we have groups such as
01:49business improvement districts and they put money into making the environment more pleasant.
01:54But of course, you've got to still attract people to want to go in there.
01:57And if it's not for shopping, and I do think that there will always be some high street presence, although
02:02it continues to be in decline, it's about the things that we want to do to meet up.
02:06So it's about leisure, health perhaps, we sort of know that sort of gyms and the sort of like, you've
02:12got to sort of have the sort of the, if you like, a multi-agency approach.
02:15But of course, it always requires money.
02:17And once sort of retailers vacate those premises, don't let them go into decline because, of course, it makes it
02:22all more difficult to bring them back to sort of to a proper usage.
02:25In England, the government says it's trying to make high streets more competitive.
02:29From April 2026, qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties moved on to lower business rate multipliers, while councils can use
02:40high street rental auctions to bring long empty premises back into use.
02:45In September 2026, ministers announced a £210 million package aimed at derelict buildings, struggling businesses and community ownership.
02:55The test is whether that investment changes how people spend.
