Government aims to drive consumers back to high street with £1m prize

Executives in FMCG sales jobs should be aware of a new £1 million government scheme to bolster high streets in light of the Mary Portas review.

Local government minister Grant Shapps has announced that 12 lucky high streets will take a share of the £1 million pot after submitting creative ideas for driving consumers offline and back into real-life outlets.

The minister said retailers do not need to produce a professional video to voice their ideas, but a YouTube style presentation would be enough to put them into the running for a part of the prize.

Local councils and shopkeepers will then be expected to use the funding to make their high streets more appealing to consumers, who increasingly make purchases via the internets.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) welcomed the move, however, it suggested the funding would be thin when divided among 12 winners.

BRC director of business and regulation Tom Ironside said: “Introducing pilots to address specific issues could identify new innovations and approaches which might also work elsewhere.

“But this is no magic bullet and must be accompanied by other steps, as swiftly as possible.”

Posted by Jake Cantrell

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