Centre for Cities report: a statement from Newport Now BID

There will be plenty of critical headlines about, and cheap shots taken at, Newport city centre following the publication of today's Centre for Cities report.

The report looks at the performance of the biggest 63 town and city centres in the UK.

It is not, as some are already reporting on social media, a study of every single town centre in the country.

We would urge people to read the entire report rather than rely on snapshots from social media that fit political narratives - whether that be highlighting negatives or spinning positives.

The reality is that, despite our city centre still having the highest number of empty retail units of the areas covered by the report, there is an improving picture in terms of occupancy rates and footfall compared to the last report in 2021.

But there is still a long way to go.

The report states that 'a struggling high street is the result of a struggling economy, not the other way round' and that is a message everyone needs to think about when considering solutions.

The report also highlights issues the BID has been raising for some years:

• There is too much retail space in our city centre; we will never fill it all so something more radical needs to happen. That's why we are pleased to see our proposals for the southern end of Commercial Street included in the recent Placemaking Plan.

  
  

• Local and central government bodies & other public sector organisations should be headquartered in city centres.

  
  

• The business rates system needs to be reformed by national government.

  
  

• The most successful high streets have a high spend on food and drink.

We are also pleased to see the report highlight the good work done by BIDs across the UK while recognising we can only do so much with relatively small incomes.

Finally, support your local businesses. The majority in Newport city centre are independents. They only succeed if they are used.

Every negative headline has the potential to put these small traders out of business.

Let's recognise our problems, work together to find solutions to them, and think positive.

The full report can be read in full by clicking here.