Research: Establishing the High Streets Task Force
Helping to revitalise English high streets and town centres affected by changes in consumer behaviour, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Summary
Research summary
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2019 to 2024
The Institute of Place Management (IPM) established and runs the High Streets Task Force - a five year initiative to revitalise England’s high streets.
The UK government commissioned the Task Force in response to an independent report on the challenges facing town centres.
It is a consortium of high street experts providing guidance, tools, resources, and skills to help communities, partnerships, and local government.
It aims to:
- boost local authority capacity
- build placemaking skills
- coordinate positive messages about the high street
- provide intelligence and data to inform high street policy and practice across England
More recently, the focus of Task Force has pivoted to support high streets responding to the COVID-19 crisis.
Working with government, Springboard, and other data providers, the IPM has supported local authorities and other stakeholders, provided evidence to government, and produced a unique COVID-19 recovery framework.
Research outputs
Reports
- Millington, S, Ntounis, N, Parker, C, Quin, S, Roberts, G and Steadman, C (2018) High Street 2030: Achieving Change Report prepared for the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government
- High Streets Task Force (2020) Review of High Street Footfall
- Ntounis, N et al (2021) Tourism and Hospitality industry resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic: Evidence from England, Current Issues in Tourism
Team
Research team
- Prof Cathy Parker
- Simon Quin
- Dr Steve Millington
- Dr Nikos Ntounis
- Gareth Roberts
- Dr Maria Loroño-Leturiondo
- Dr Regine Sonderland-Saga
- Dr Chloe Steadman
Collaborating with placemaking experts and partners from, among others:
- PwC
- Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)
- Landscape Institute
- Design Council
- Springboard
- Maybe*
- Cardiff University
- MyKnowledgeMap
- The Association of Town and City Management (ATCM)
- The BID Foundation
- Civic Voice
- The Teenage Market
Funding
With funding from
DLUHC
Contact
Contact us
For general enquiries about the Transforming Places knowledge platform, you can contact Dr Steve Millington.
