‘Shock’ as outdoor clothes shop with over 200 branches draws shutters down on ‘excellent’ store forever today

The funding will help communities partner with local authorities and businesses to address some of the biggest challenges facing their high streets – building on wider action to tackle empty shops, anti-social behaviour and a lack of visitors.

These 10 areas to be called High Street Accelerators will receive an initial £2.37 million to kickstart their partnerships – a total of £237,000 each. They can also apply for a share of up to £5 million to improve their high streets’ green spaces and create more pleasant environments for residents to meet and socialise.

This £7 million will be spent over the next two years and the impact will be evaluated to inform future government policy and support for left-behind high streets, building on larger interventions like the £1.1 billion Long-Term Plan for Towns.

"It has been a tough few years for our high streets following the pandemic and the changes we’ve seen in consumer behaviour," Minister for Levelling Up Jacob Young said.

"We know that local people know what’s best for their area, and we’re keen to understand the benefits that High Street Accelerators could bring working with local businesses and their communities.

"These Accelerators will complement other interventions like High Street Rental Auctions, empowering local people to tackle vacancy and other issues on their high streets."

The High Street Accelerators Pilot Programme was announced in March 2023 as part of the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan.

It will complement other interventions designed to revive England’s high streets such as the High Streets Task Force which is helping local leaders to regenerate their areas, and changing planning rules so councils have greater certainty.