Starting work during the height of the Covid pandemic in May 2020, we set up and managed a new business support project for existing and aspiring independent businesses in the City of Durham Parish Council area, which we called Indie Durham City.
It was a challenging time for businesses and the city, with lockdowns meaning that many independent retailers were unable to trade in the usual way.
The owner of the ex-Topshop (pictured July 2020) was the first landlord we worked with. Turning the upper floors into student housing – and creating a smaller, cheaper ground-floor unit – set a precedent for elsewhere in the city centre. Grape Tree opened in 2022. Photographs by Graham Soult
At the same time, the loss of some multiple retailers – mostly due to national rather than local circumstances – had left Durham with some prominent empty units, especially in Silver Street, the city’s traditional “high street”.
We were tasked with helping independent retailers grow their digital skills; sharing positive messages about the city, including the ways that businesses were innovating and pivoting to serve their customers (such as through home delivery); and using our knowledge, connections and influence to try to fill the vacant premises.
2020 BBC Look North report on the launch of the Indie Durham City project
The Parish Council commissioned us to deliver the project for three days a month, for a period of six months in the first instance. Thanks to Parish Council funding, all the support we provided was free of charge to the recipients.
Such was the initial success and positivity around Indie Durham City, we were commissioned to continue working in Durham beyond the initial six months, eventually concluding the first phase of the project in June 2024 – more than three years longer than originally intended.
The rationale for giving the project a distinct brand was to make clear the extent of our and the Parish Council’s work, and to avoid confusion with the work of other important place leaders in the city, such as Durham BID.
What we did
A graphic that we created at the start of the project, pushing positive messages amid the Covid lockdown
As per the brief, we provided marketing and mentoring support to existing and aspiring independent businesses in Durham city centre – focusing on online promotion – and shared positive messages about the city during the challenges of the Covid lockdown.
Much of the early business support was delivered in-person, through regular visits to the city, while always taking appropriate Covid precautions where necessary.
Graham is as always the first to bring his knowledge, expertise and ideas to us. He eagerly informs us on the many ways we could proceed and, more importantly, succeed.
Chris and Miles, BookWyrm
We also set up and managed @IndieDurhamCity social channels to talk about what we were doing, and to amplify messages from other partners in the city centre, such as Durham BID, Durham Markets, and the various shopping centres and leisure schemes.
As the project continued beyond the pandemic, we kept reviewing and, where necessary, evolving its focus to reflect the city’s changing needs and retail landscape.
Over time, for example, there seemed to be slightly less need for formal business support around marketing, so we adapted the way that we worked to be more mentor-focused.
Graham is excellent at his job, building relationships with ease, linking locals together and raising the profile of small businesses.
Tarryn, The Nook
We also sought to complement and communicate the Parish Council’s strategic priorities, such as its promotion of green business practices.
We reported upon our work and progress in the regular Parish Council Business Committee meetings, which provided a useful forum for discussion, ideas sharing, and making sure that we were doing the right things and conveying the right messages.
What impact we had
The initial six months of work was very well received by businesses, and succeeded in pushing important “Durham is open” messages at a critical time of the Covid pandemic.
By building relationships with many of the city’s independent businesses, we became an important source of support and advice during a very challenging period. As we built trust, businesses were happy to share their ideas, questions and concerns with us, even around personal or financial issues.
We were able to provide free support, advice and encouragement to independent retailers before they had even finalised their business ideas or secured premises in the city. Some of these – such as Elvet & Bailey, BookWyrm and Collected Books – have become firm favourites with Durham shoppers and visitors.
Over the life of the project, we helped many individual businesses claim their Google Business Profile, improve their websites, or become more effective in capturing photos and videos that they could use to promote their offer.
We also supported other important organisations in the city, including helping the Durham Pointers develop a brief for their new website, and providing ongoing marketing strategy advice to Durham Fringe.
During the campaign we grew the @IndieDurhamCity social media accounts on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram from zero to a combined following of over 5,300 – many of them local residents and customers. Businesses reported customers regularly mentioning what they had seen on social media.
Additionally, we set up an Indie Durham City website to serve as a point of contact for the project, and explain how to get involved. The website generated many enquiries from businesses in the city, as well as from other stakeholders such as landlords.
Mark – a previous Indie Durham City cover star – has built one of the city’s best-loved indies, Elvet & Bailey. Photograph by Graham Soult
Across social media and the website, we regularly featured Indie Durham City “cover stars” – focusing on the talented individuals behind particular independent businesses, and emphasising the personal connection that encourages customers to support indie retailers in the first place. As with almost all the Indie Durham City social content, these used our own original photographs. These features proved effective in driving awareness and footfall.
Walkthrough video that we created of How Bazaar in Durham Market Hall
Given that part of the project was about encouraging businesses to become more active in their own marketing, the @IndieDurhamCity channels also helped give inspiration to businesses about what they could do themselves, and of the power of effective marketing messages in driving awareness, footfall and sales. For example, we created a walkthrough video (above) to show one business how it might showcase its offer and grow its social media impact.
We made the case for how talking to, and working with, other local traders could be highly beneficial for business. During the pandemic, we offered free three-month memberships of Durham Business Club to any business we were working with, at no additional cost to the Parish Council. Several businesses took up that opportunity, and gained useful connections or leads as a result.
We secured coverage for Ruari from Coarse and Emma from Collected on BBC Look North
As we became increasingly well known for our work in Durham, Graham was regularly afforded a platform to share positive stories about the city, such as on TV (e.g. BBC Look North), radio (e.g. BBC Newcastle) and the press (e.g. Northern Echo, Retail Week, Palatinate). Businesses we worked with were delighted with the coverage, and it helped to address negative place perceptions and generate new leads from other businesses looking to trade in the city.
We regularly shared particulars of available properties in Durham via our own social networks, and fielded enquiries from national and local businesses that were interested in trading in Durham, putting them in contact with the relevant agents or landlords who could help them.
Our property-related work ended up being one of the most impactful features of the project. We used our excellent local networks to match up occupants and landlords, including businesses that have proved to be popular and successful in the city, such as Coarse, Isla, Crush Wines and Collected Books. This “Retail Cupid” element has gone on to be the focus of the next phase of the project.
Few if any other parish councils fund business support of this kind, and City of Durham Parish Council – which was only set up in 2018 – has gained plaudits for its foresight and creativity in launching Indie Durham City. The initiative has helped underpin the Parish Council’s growing reputation for effective and innovative delivery.
BBC Look North report from 6 January 2023 on the increasing occupancy – driven by independents – in Durham’s Silver Street
Compared to how things were at the start of the project, Durham city centre in 2024 is in much better shape, and we have had a positive impact in all the areas we were tasked with addressing.
The number of empty shops is down – with many units that once housed multiples now home to interesting independents – and demand for space remains strong. In many cases, property owners have carved off previously underused upper floors for housing, creating ground-floor retail space that meets modern requirements in terms of size, cost and quality.
There is a vibrant community of indies who are now more actively promoting their own businesses, at the same time as working together to share positive messages about the city as a whole.
As everywhere, nurturing a successful place is a team effort. Over four years the Indie Durham City project has undoubtedly played an important part – not just in terms of our own efforts, but also in connecting up others, and generally promoting a positive culture of collaboration in the city.
Testimonials
Miles from BookWyrm was one of over 25 Indie Durham City cover stars. Photograph by Graham Soult
“Graham at Indie Durham City has been crucial to the development of our bookshop, it sounds clichéd but we really wouldn’t be where we are without him.
“Graham found us when we had just started out our social media, and the idea of opening a bookshop felt like a dream that was distant. His support early on really helped to motivate us, and compounded our feelings that Durham needed a space like the one we dreamed about.
“Without Graham we never would have known about the New Futures programme, a collaboration between The Booksellers Association and Bookshop. org, which saw budding booksellers participate in a six-week course on operating and maintaining a bookshop. This was, again, a huge motivating factor in opening our bookshop.
“As we look towards the future, and how we can expand our business, Graham is as always the first to bring his knowledge, expertise and ideas to us. He eagerly informs us on the many ways we could proceed and, more importantly, succeed.”
Chris and Miles at BookWyrm, an independent bookshop in Durham Market Hall specialising in LGBTQ+ books
Tarryn from The Nook is another previous Indie Durham City cover star. Photograph by Graham Soult
“Graham has been such an asset for my tiny business.
“Shortly after I launched in November 2023, he visited, introduced himself and asked to write an honest review and posted it on the Indie Durham City social channels.
“From this short, welcoming interaction I gained new page followers straight away, and I continue to grow my reach with locals and tourists alike through our ongoing collaborations.
“Graham is excellent at his job, building relationships with ease, linking locals together and raising the profile of small businesses. He’s got a great eye for photos and has built so many local connections in his four years in post.
“He even he organised and brought around one of the Durham University student reporters – the write up in Palatinate has been so unbelievably helpful and my business is now on the university and student radar too.”
Tarryn from The Nook, a small indie bakery in Durham indoor market, specialising in vegan and gluten-free foods
Can we help your place improve like Durham has?
Graham Soult is the Retail Cupid, matching up retail businesses with their perfect premises
Every place is different, but there are elements of the Indie Durham City project – such as the place promotion, support for independent businesses, and “Retail Cupid” matchmaking of empty shops with new occupants – that can be readily applied to other locations.
Get in touch if you are interested in a chat about how we can help your town.
