Each Portas Pilot town will receive a proportion of a £1.2 million fund and a tailored package of support from the Government and retail expert Mary Portas. The test of the Portas Pilots will be their long-term legacy, a retail expert said.
The town teams have been chosen following recommendations set out in a report by Mary Portas which reviewed the future of the country's high streets. The Portas Review (55-pages / 2MB PDF) was an independent review into the future of the UK's high streets which was commissioned by the Government.
The Portas Pilot towns will be helped to implement their ideas to rejuvenate their town centres and will be used to test out the measures that were recommended in Portas's High Street Review.
The quality of the bids were so high that the Government plans to launch a second round of the competition and award a further 12 additional pilots, said Shapps. The Greater London Authority is also funding a further three pilots, which takes the total number of Portas Pilots to 15.
“The community focus of the Pilot schemes is to be commended," said Jon Riley, a planning and retail expert at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com. "The winning bids will inject a sense of buzz, brand and belonging into high streets."
"But the test of their success in attracting shoppers in the long-term will be the extent of legacy they leave behind after the summer months, especially where the bids were built around outdoor events,” said Riley.
To bid for the opportunity to be a Portas Pilot, town teams had to submit a bid document that set out how they would implement the recommendations contained in Portas' High Street Review and how the town planned to tackle local problems to "revitalise" their high streets.
The winners of the first round of bidding were Bedford, Croydon, Dartford, Bedminster, Liskeard, Margate, Market Rasen, Nelson, Newbiggin by the Sea, Stockport, Stockton on Tees and Wolverhampton.
"Together these pilots can be the vanguard of a high street revolution, and others can look to their example to kick start a renaissance of our town centres," said Shapps.
"Driving growth and creating jobs through the rejuvenation of London's high streets is at the heart of my mayoralty, and the Portas Pilot initiative is a fantastic way to help us achieve this," said Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London. "Through our regeneration drive we have already started reversing the decay of our high streets that had been allowed set in through long-term underinvestment. So I'm looking forward to receiving some innovative ideas which will help lead the way in steering London out of recession and get these vital economic centres booming again."
