Database and new working party aim to tackle this issue
Hammersmith & Fulham Council says it is building up a database of empty shops across the borough while setting up a working party to tackle this issue.
This move follows a meeting of the Policy and Advisory Committee on Economic Regeneration, Housing and the Arts which attracted local business leaders, entrepreneurs and residents, who discussed ideas with Elisicia Moore, founder of Shepherd's Bush retail business incubator Petit Miracles, and Nick Russell, from WeArePopUp, which connects brands and businesses in short-term retail commercial space.
" With so many local entrepreneurs looking for pop-ups or long-term premises, the question is how best the council can help," says Cllr Ben Coleman, H&F Council’s Local Business Champion.
" As a start, besides tackling the empty properties the council owns, we are asking residents to help us put together a database of the far greater number of privately-owned premises in the borough which are lying empty."
Elisicia Moore told the audience that Petit Miracles offers local entrepreneurs affordable retail space in the West12 shopping centre, with meeting rooms, wifi, marketing support and advice from experts.
"It’s the only model of its kind. No one else combines business incubation with access to the retail market like this," she said. 15 spaces have been earmarked for start-ups, with weekly rents as low as £100.
To keep in touch with developments, the council is inviting people to sign up to its quarterly Business Connects e-newsletter by emailing business-support@lbhf.gov.uk and you can also email this adddress if you see an empty shop or commercial premise.
Retail vacancies across the borough (2015)
Area |
No. of premises |
No. of vacant outlets |
Vacancy rate (%) |
Retail vacancy rate (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
North End Road |
289 |
31 |
10.7 |
11.3 |
Fulham town centre |
332 |
34 |
10.9 |
11.4 |
Hammersmith town centre |
317 |
25 |
8.5 |
10.0 |
Shepherd's Bush town centre |
736 |
39 |
5.0 |
5.9 |
Hammersmith & Fulham |
3,996 |
350 |
8.8 |
9.8 |
Source: Local Data Company, January 2015
February 25, 2015