NWEC establishes high street lobby group to address current challenges

The New West End Company (NWEC) has become a founding member of High Streets UK, a lobbying group that will set about addressing challenges currently facing UK high streets with a mission of unlocking new opportunities.

The organisation, which oversees a large section of real estate in London’s West End, is joined by the likes of Liverpool BID Company, FOR Cardiff, Essential Edinburgh and other business representatives across the UK. High streets involved represent over 5,000 businesses.

At the crux of the groups’ mission is to develop programmes and policy recommendations that could help drive growth in a local and national setting for high streets. It intends to align with the Labour government’s manifesto, in which it was stated that high streets were drivers of economic growth, and could contribute to a sustainable economy.

NWEC CEO appointed chair of High Streets UK

NWEC’s chief executive officer, Dee Corsi, has been appointed chair of High Streets UK. In a statement, Corsi doubled down on high streets’ potential impact on economic growth and underlined that “with the right policy environment, these destinations can contribute much more”, instead becoming places “where communities congregate, businesses flourish and international investment flows”.

Corsi added: “I look forward to working with colleagues across the country to develop new ideas and solutions that will secure the future success of our nation’s flagship high streets and the economic, social, and cultural impact they have.”

High Streets UK are to meet quarterly to share learnings and discuss potential solutions, NWEC said, with retail crime and the upcoming business rates changes to be among the topics unravelled.