West of England Combined Authority 

High Streets Strategic Review

The review was commissioned at a time when many town centres were facing significant structural challenges resulting from online retail growth, changing consumer behaviour and increasing pressure on public finances. A central objective was to move beyond short-term retail interventions towards longer-term regeneration frameworks capable of supporting economic resilience and place transformation.

TownCentred worked collaboratively with regional leadership, unitary authorities and wider stakeholders to explore how regeneration investment could be better aligned with local economic development, skills programmes and wider place-making objectives.

The work examined how town centres increasingly need to function as mixed-use destinations combining housing, culture, hospitality, independent business activity, workspace and community infrastructure rather than relying solely on traditional retail models.

A key theme throughout the review was the importance of partnership-led delivery structures capable of coordinating investment, governance and long-term strategic planning across multiple authorities and town centres.

Key Outcomes

• Development of strategic regeneration and investment frameworks across the West of England

• Stronger alignment between high street renewal, skills investment and economic development

• Collaboration with regional leadership and multiple unitary authorities

• Focus on long-term resilience, mixed-use regeneration and destination development

• Support for partnership-led regeneration and coordinated investment approaches

• Place-based strategies linking economy, movement, public realm and community outcomes