Graham Soult with representatives from Darlington Borough Council on the October 2022 Expert visit
In a nutshell
The High Streets Task Force (HSTF) was a government initiative, set up in 2019, that worked with local authorities and communities in England to identify challenges facing high streets; develop solutions and actions to support high streets; and strengthen local place leadership.
Images from the Darlington UYPP visit, and the report cover. All photographs by Graham Soult
IPM Fellow status is available to those that have reached a very high level of personal and professional achievement, within the industry.
Institute of Place Management website
The HSTF used a delivery format that was agreed with the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), and previously tried and tested by the Institute.
As an elected Fellow of IPM, Graham Soult from CannyInsights.com was invited to be one of the Experts who would deliver Task Force support across England. IPM Fellow status is only available to “those that have reached a very high level of personal and professional achievement, within the industry.”
(Hence, although the HSTF drew from the same consultancy skills that Graham employs within CannyInsights.com, the relationship was specifically with Graham as an individual rather than with his business.)
Between 2020 to 2024, Graham led the Task Force’s “Unlocking Your Place Potential” (UYPP) diagnostic workshops and town tours in ten different locations – including Darlington, in North East England, in February 2022 – and provided follow-up specialist Expert support in another seven towns and cities.
Each UYPP report outlined how the HSTF could provide further support for the place in question.
In most cases, the Expert delivering the next stage of support was different to the one who had hosted the UYPP. However, Darlington’s North East location, and the particular challenges identified in its UYPP, meant that Graham was considered the most suitable Expert to also deliver the additional support.
This took place between July 2022 and March 2023.
What Graham did
Unlocking Your Place Potential visit
Visiting Darlington’s historic Clarks Yard as part of the UYPP town tour. Photograph by Graham Soult
The HSTF UYPP diagnostic visit in February 2022 was hosted by Darlington Borough Council and led by HSTF Expert Graham Soult, bringing together representatives from the local authority, business and the wider community, as well as an observer from MHCLG.
Though Graham had visited Darlington many times previously since 2009, so already knew the town well, this was the first time he had worked there in a formal capacity.
The purpose of the visit was to diagnose what the HSTF referred to as “the main barrier to Darlington’s transformation” – in other words, “what problem, if not resolved now, will make it difficult for the town to change.”
To do this, Graham wanted to understand more about the challenges facing the town and the existing plans for transformation, meet key stakeholders, ask questions, and undertake a town centre tour.
As a result of the diagnostic process, Graham identified:
“A need to further diversify the town’s offer and experience – linked to the “4R” theme of “Reinventing” – as the immediate and main barrier to transformation in Darlington.”
Additionally, Graham’s report noted that:
“To some extent, it is a case of doing more of what the town is already doing well, and that makes it distinctive, but also – linked to the 4R theme of “Rebranding” – being more forceful in defining and communicating that USP, and ensuring that more people know about it.”
What is “Reinventing”?
The 4Rs Framework, as used by the High Streets Task Force and IPM. The graphic shows the types of challenges that typically fit under each R – not any specific application to Darlington
Within IPM’s 4Rs Framework, which the HSTF had in turn adopted, “Reinventing” entails developing a programme of activity to increase footfall and spend through interventions that attract either a wider range of residents, or encourage other visitors, to visit and stay longer in the centre.
This can include events, festivals, pop-up retail, reuse of vacant shops, and basic improvements to the appearance of the town centre.
New activity can also be used to trial products or services that both diversify the local offer and begin to adapt the centre to meet the needs of future users.
Darlington’s High Streets Task Force Placemaking Programme workshop
This workshop, again using a format designed by IPM, was well attended and, based on feedback Graham was given during his later visit, very well received.
The PMP brought together a much wider range of key stakeholders to identify the challenges and opportunities for their high street, and to agree short-term and long-term priorities that could be the focus of a placemaking action plan.
Though the team in Darlington appreciated the continuity that came from having Graham involved in the Task Force support from start to finish, the different ideas, experiences and perspectives that Steve and Joe brought as part of the PMP were also flagged as extremely valuable.
Cover of the report produced at the end of Graham’s Expert support
Following delivery of the UYPP report in April 2022 – and given his expertise in helping places reinvigorate vacant units, as well as his established relationship with Darlington – Graham was appointed to deliver two days of further Expert support to the town.
Additional discussions with the Town Centre Partnership & Events Manager at Darlington Borough Council highlighted the potential areas of support that the HSTF could offer, and helped to pin down what the work should focus on.
Notably, these conversations reiterated the council’s desire to attract new businesses to Darlington, alongside wishing to better engage with some of the commercial property agents who were marketing premises in the town.
An external expert perspective can be very powerful in helping reinforce the case for change.
Graham Soult, High Streets Task Force Expert
Hence, a follow-up HSTF visit by Graham to Darlington was arranged for October 2022, with the purpose of meeting further key stakeholders; promoting positive messages about Darlington; and identifying key problem vacant units in the town.
During the visit, officers from the council took Graham around the town centre to identify the most stubborn voids, and highlight apparently empty units where work was already underway. This tour informed Graham’s later analysis of 15 of the most prominent empty units, included within his final report.
After the tour, Graham also met with the council’s Senior Marketing Officer to discuss strategies for place marketing in Darlington, drawing from his experience in locations such as Durham.
Following the visit, Graham interviewed two commercial property agents who were active in the area. Encouragingly, both agents felt that they already had good relationships and communication channels with Darlington Borough Council, but were happy to be cited in the report and contacted by the council for any follow-up conversations.
The interviews were invaluable in shedding light not just on how agents saw Darlington, but also on the place perceptions of the clients they were seeking to attract, and the actions that might make those potential new occupants more likely to consider trading in the town.
To conclude the HSTF support package, Graham produced a short (14-page) “Expert Solution-Based Report”, capturing the key outputs from the Expert support that had been delivered, summing up the findings, and recommending additional steps that the council might wish to take forward on its own.
What impact Graham had
Graham’s Twitter (X) and LinkedIn posts about his October 2022 visit to Darlington – talking about the constructive conversations and experiences from the day – gained over 10,000 impressions in total, helping to get positive messages about the town in front of his network of influential North East, retail and placemaking contacts
Drawing from Graham’s interviews and own desk research, the Solution-Based Report included an analysis table of the town centre’s key vacant units – including properties highlighted by council officers during his visit – making it easier to compare the available options.
Council officers digested and reviewed the UYPP and Expert Solution-Based reports, and discussed and agreed ways forward for Darlington based on the findings. The face-to-face Expert visits and conversations were also beneficial in themselves as an opportunity to share ideas and challenges among peers.
Thanks to the kudos attached to the HSTF, some of the report content helped to amplify and add weight to good work that Darlington Borough Council was doing already, such as reinforcing the case for having an active events programme. Since the Task Force’s involvement, the council’s creative, and often low-cost, efforts to animate the town have only increased.
Other findings put forward new ideas or suggestions, drawing from the experience of both Graham and the HSTF of working in many other towns across the country. As Graham argued in his report, “an external expert perspective can be very powerful in helping reinforce the case for change.”
For example, Graham was able to use his “Retail Cupid” experience from elsewhere to get under the skin of some stubborn long-term empty shops that were detracting from Darlington’s offer. This included identifying units that were not being as well promoted (on site or online) as they might be, and looking at what simple interventions might help.
In response to barriers and misconceptions highlighted by the UYPP, the council is also now building an evidence base that will help it reinforce the positive case for investing in Darlington.
Building on themes from the reports, and the council’s already productive relationship with local agent Carver Commercial, the local authority launched a new campaign in October 2023 “to encourage businesses to move or set up in the town centre”, aiming to “add to the already vibrant mix of businesses… but also fill some of the vacant properties in the town.” This followed the Solution-Based Report highlighting the potential for the council to say more via its online channels about the town centre and retail opportunities.
The council also organised an innovative “High Street Showcase” event in March 2024 for entrepreneurs, commercial investors and business agents. Taking the form of a “silent disco”, a series of tours highlighted the opportunities for interesting businesses to trade in a vibrant, welcoming and creative town.
Most recently, in November 2024, Darlington was named as one of only three “early adopter” councils for High Street Rental Auctions. The HSTF Expert work has, arguably, made a contribution towards Darlington becoming an exemplar in how councils can tackle retail vacancy.
Graham wrote a column for the Northern Echo putting the planned closure of Binns – now reversed – in context.
The productive and ongoing relationship between Graham and Darlington’s Town Centre Partnership & Events Manager continues to endure even now that the HSTF’s work is complete. This tie-up has proved valuable in being able to address, and place in context, potential negative stories about the town – such as the planned closure (now reversed) of the Binns department store – and to help positive stories reach a wider audience.
Get in touch
The work of the High Streets Task Force may now be complete, but Graham and CannyInsights.com continue to work across the country helping councils to understand the challenges and opportunities facing their high streets.
