Putting Belfast into the Top Ten

Jane Bevis

Northern Ireland Retail Consortium

• £9.4 billion in retail sales

• 6,420 VAT registered retailers, operating

from 9,935 retail outlets

• 74,500 people work in retail – 10% of the total workforce

• 12% of the Gross Domestic Product

What makes a good retail offer?• A Unique Sense of Place

• Attractive Public Realm

• Planning for Success

• Safety and Security

• Accessibility

• Supportive Regulatory and Fiscal Regimes

What makes a great retail offer?

• Flagship stores of iconic brands

• Wide choice of high street

and designer brands

• Generous offering of

unique, local and niche

stores

What makes a great retail offer?• Great architecture, blending old and new

• Fabulous historic and cultural sites, and entertainment

• Broad range of hotels,

restaurants and cafes

to suit all budgets

Investment

Investment

INVESTMENT

Investment in private sector confidence

• Supportive and stable

regulatory environment across

all levels of government

• Fair fiscal regimes

• Consistency, continuity and certainty

Investment in infrastructure

• Customer base – Regional– Hinterland visitor base– International visitor base

• Logistics– Customers and staff– Goods

Customer base

0

1000000

2000000

3000000

4000000

5000000

6000000

7000000

8000000

Population Regionalpopulation

Catchment Overnightvisitors

Visitors

The Opposition

0

1000000

2000000

3000000

4000000

5000000

6000000

7000000

8000000

9000000

Belfast Cardiff Liverpool Manchester Glasgow Birmingham

Population Regional population Catchment population Overnight visitors

Spending power

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

Belfast Cardiff Liverpool Manchester Glasgow Birmingham

GVA per capita

GVA per capita

Spending power

0

5000000000

10000000000

15000000000

20000000000

25000000000

Belfast Cardiff Liverpool Manchester Glasgow Birmingham

GVA

GVA

Investment in people

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Noqualifications

Apprenticeships

Skills qualifications: Sales staff

NIUK

Investment in people

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Noqualifications

Apprenticeships

Skills qualifications: Retail managers

NIUK

• Sense of Place– Maximise inherent characteristics of local heritage/natural

surroundings– Ensure complementary retail mix– Effective marketing

• Public Realm– Attractive trading environment– Role of enforcement– Effective partnership

In Summary

• Planning for Success– Strategic planning to define

framework – Collaborative approach to retail-led

regeneration– Programme for monitoring town

centre health

• Accessibility– Incentivise public transport use, not penalise motorists– Car park revenue ring-fenced – Delivery curfews revisited in light of

technological improvements

• Safety and Security– Retail crime and anti-social behaviour a law enforcement priority– Deterrence through concerted action by all agencies– Neighbourhood policing tailored to business community needs

• Supportive Regulatory and Fiscal Regime– A freeze on all new property and business rate burdens– Partnerships should be at the heart of new revenue raising– Proportionate regulation only

Thank You

www.niretail.org