We read with interest about Mary Portas, the Queen of Shops, being asked by government to investigate the plight of the high street and were keen to feed into her review.

In our experience there have been too many barriers for independent retailers setting up shop and we have been approached by a number of entrepreneurs in recent years that have simply found the logistics of setting up a shop too complex and abandoned their plans. Overall, cutting red tape and set-up costs, allied with a reduction in the cost of starting out could be a powerful formula for getting the high street back on its feet.

In a letter to Mary Portas we proposed a range of measures to address the high price of setting up, including the creation of standard ‘starter packs’ containing set items of well-designed and attractive display equipment that would be a useful tool for retailers. We highlighted how this could be adapted in style and content for different types and shop and would form a platform from which shop owners could create an attractive and appealing retail space.

Another idea we detailed was the creation of a dedicated auction website where used retail display equipment could be sold. At the moment there is no viable secondary market for many of these items; the majority of which are disposed of when stores are renovated.

Mary’s office made contact with their thanks for our proposals, citing them as ‘salient themes’ that would be ‘incredibly useful’ in the research. We followed this with an outline of our ideas to Retail Week and our letter was printed in the magazine this Autumn.

We have also approached the CEO of BIRA (British Independent Retailers Association) for a meeting to discuss taking this forward. Here’s hoping that the ideas get the attention and buy-in they need to come to life and help our High Street.