Innovative Solutions for a Thriving Town Centre

Darlington Council is committed to revitalising its town centre, which has seen a decline in footfall and a reduction in retail offerings due to the rise of online shopping and out-of-town retail parks. In response to these challenges, the Council has already launched several initiatives, including cultural events and marketing campaigns, to attract more visitors and support local businesses. However, more innovative solutions are needed to drive footfall, attract investment, and sustain economic growth. The Council is looking for creative, cost-effective ideas that can further enhance the town centre's appeal, support local retailers, and ensure long-term viability.

Solutions should be scalable and adaptable, with the potential to be implemented in other town centres facing similar challenges. These solutions must also align with the needs of residents and visitors while being mindful of budget constraints.

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Over recent years, Darlington has witnessed a significant decline in its town centre, with many retailers closing their stores and numerous vacant properties now lining the high street. This shift has largely been driven by the growing popularity of online shopping and out-of-town retail parks, trends that were further accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, Darlington’s town centre is in need of transformation to bring life back to the area, attract visitors, and create a thriving business environment once again.

Darlington Council is dedicated to reversing this decline and fostering a sustainable economic future for the town. In addition to its existing efforts, such as organising events like Darlington by the Sea and Pride, the Council is now seeking new ideas and partners to help achieve its goal of creating a vibrant, competitive town centre that meets the needs of both residents and visitors.

People current state and future state

Current state

Future state

Darlington Council
Darlington Council utilises its existing expertise and assets available wherever possible. The council is striving to develop and grow offers to satisfy stakeholders needs. As a local authority, it wishes to do more to:

Foster and nurture innovation by reducing barriers e.g. high costs and complex bureaucracy.
Support local and regional economic growth by creating an environment that supports the growth of all local businesses, big and small.
Incentivise private landlords in maintaining and developing commercial and residential properties.

The Council values external insights to explore new and better ways to boost the town's visibility and attract and retain businesses in the area. There is likely to be internal and external pressures to move further and faster on this issue over the coming years, providing motivation for improvements and potentially investment.
Not addressing the issues makes the area less competitive against nearby out of town retail offers.

Darlington Council would like to be in position where:

It ensures the town remains competitive going forward and it continues to support significant local growth, including through attracting more visitors by having an improved retail offer.
It can provide improved solutions to local businesses that champion innovation by testing and validating new offers in the town centre which increase footfall.
Is able to retain and attract a range of appropriate and high quality retail businesses and visitors with a viable and competitive offer within the town centre.
Is able to connect organisations to support local collaboration and economic growth.

Technology current state and future state

Current state

Future state

Darlington Council collaborates with various stakeholders, including private landlords, parking and land managers, businesses of all sizes, public spaces, and private organisations, to support the town's development.
More details will be provided to the shortlisted solution providers in Phase 1.
Currently, engagement and communication is limited by the following factors:

Limited understanding of demographic needs to tailor retail offerings that attract visitors at different times of the day and year.
Insufficient insights into needs of retailers and businesses for new or improved models to develop and implement effective solutions in the area.
A lack of clarity on target audience needs to create suitable offerings.
The perception of Darlington from national brands doesn’t reflect the reality as there are wealthy residents and shoppers but they don’t come to town regularly as the retail offering needs to improve. There are examples in the town centre of retailers that offer higher quality products, who are doing well and attracting those customers.
Cost implications and resource constraints for implementing solutions is a key factor for the Council

By the end of this project, Darlington Council aims to achieve improvements in the town's reputation, visibility and appeal across the wider region for stakeholders such as SMEs, large retailers, organisations and visitors. To accomplish this, the following will likely be required:

Developing a tool, activity or system to coordinate efforts among stakeholders and boost overall footfall in the town centre that directly links with current processes.
Creating roadmaps to enhance offerings and expand the town's reach for sustainable growth.
Gathering and analysing additional intelligence on visitor and organisational needs to support the development of new, improved and innovative offers.
Change the perception to national retail brands that Darlington is a town that can successfully sustain a range of high-end retail offers.

Finance current state and future state

Current state

Future state

Current risks include:

Long term sustainability of the town centre’s offering, including the retention of diverse businesses and stakeholders.
Costs associated with enhancing competitiveness with other retail providers along with potential overlaps in activities that may lead to resource waste.
Cost of solution implementation - as the Council seeks a one-off solution without monthly costs.

A successful outcome will enable:

Growth of footfall in the town centre
As a result of above provide the evidence to further develop a varied retail and wider business offer within the town centre that suits the needs of local and regional visitors leading to an increase in footfall.
Enable continued competitiveness from local and national businesses within the area through support to innovate and develop new offers.
Ensure robust engagement and communication with stakeholders.
Directly support current and new businesses to test validate and action new retail opportunities.
Develop solutions that would be beneficial and replicable in other areas with similar challenges.

In scope

 
    Your solution Could address some of the following:
Enhance the Council’s efforts in targeting increasing footfall.
Develop a pilot concept that can be practically tested to demonstrate results.
Allocate at least 50% of the awarded funding to implementation of the solution. 
Benefit retail businesses of all sizes by creating, testing and validating new offers.
Facilitate effective communication of opportunities and available offerings to all stakeholders in the town centre.
Involve new or improved approaches to engagement and retention using existing communication assets and channels.
A marketing campaign with a difference could be considered. The Council has tested a number of campaigns previously including videos, silent disco tours and online posts on a variety of platforms.
Darlington Council, like other local authorities, has limited budgets so any solution needs to demonstrate value for money and show potential for a return on investment.

 

Out of scope

 
    Your solution should not:
Repeat existing promotions and events organised by the Council.
Incur ongoing costs to the local authority once the solution is developed.
Be heavily oriented towards digital solutions.
Focus solely on data analysis and data generation.

 

Apply for this challenge

To access this support, you must be a small or medium-sized business based in Tees Valley (Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland, or Stockton-On-Tees).

Support is fully funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Tees Valley Innovation Challenge is delivered by Edge Innovation Ltd and Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria on behalf of the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority, and the Tees Valley Business Board.

Tees Valley Innovation Challenges - Application form

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