More than 60 people gathered in Bournemouth in November to hear all about the emerging opportunities for the town centre.
The event, hosted by Savills at Patch, saw experts from Savills Research, the Bournemouth Town Centre BID, BCP Council and Patch share insights into the evolving landscape of the town centre, success stories and optimism around future growth and investment.
Tom Whittington, director, Savills Research, explored consumer evolution and how it is changing the town centres in general, with a specific focus on the supply in Bournemouth and renewed retail demand from firms including The Ivy and Patch. With 12,000 residential units in the pipeline in the primary retail catchment area, and more than 4,500 within 2km of the city centre, residential development is expected to improve performance of existing business. Whittington also looked at the daytime economy and the impact of the town centre workforce of almost 10,000 people, the 23,000 students and 3,800 new graduates to the city each year, as well as the visitor economy, which accounts for around £250m.
Tom Whittington said: “Bournemouth town centre faces many of the same challenges we see on high streets up and down the country, but it punches above its weight on a number of metrics. The visitor profile is both significant and varied, including residents, workforce, university and tourism. It is one of the best towns for food and beverage provision in the country, with a notable improvement in quality on the back of the arrival of The Ivy and Botanist. Its rents have rebased and the business rate revaluation will bring relief to a significant proportion of town centre retailers, reflecting Bournemouth’s retail occupational affordability relative to comparable locations. Several notable redevelopments are bringing well configured units back into play on key pitches, following the continued repurposing of Bobby’s department store, which for all accounts is an exemplar of UK retail repurposing.
“There remains work to be done on improving the offer, but the fundamentals are there that should see an improvement in retailer demand as the market improves.”
Paul Kinvig of Bournemouth Town Centre Bid then spoke on ‘Believing in Bournemouth’.
He said: “Our accompanying qualitative research focuses on talking to those organisations, businesses and individuals who have chosen Bournemouth town centre as a place to set up, expand into and invest in. Their stories deliver actual examples of where ‘real life’ reflects the information in the excellent report from Savills.
“Whether it’s retail, leisure, hospitality, professional services, residential, education or events, these developments illustrate why our town centre continues to attract investment. Reimagining the offer of towns and cities is key to their future success and these two documents illustrate why Bournemouth town centre is well placed to drive as well as benefit from that change.”
The event concluded with a panel session hosted by Peter Lamb of Savills Planning, including Tom Whittington and Paul Kinvig along with Councillor Richard Herrett from BCP Council and Freddie Fforde from Patch.
Peter Lamb of the Savills Planning team in Wimborne who organised the event said: “We were delighted to see so many people come together to engage in a discussion about the key issues facing Bournemouth town centre. I have lived and worked in the town for over 20 years and during this time I have seen quite a bit of change. The challenges that Bournemouth faces are not unique and it is actually performing well across a number of metrics. Investing in Bournemouth now represents good value for money and there are many reasons for optimism.”