Mary Portas's high street review resulted in Government funding.
A government scheme worth £10 million in funding aimed at bringing shops back into empty slots in British high streets has had mixed reviews. Although any incentive giving money into our failing high streets should be seen as a good think, some have looked deeper and found that some of the areas being given the funding are above the national average and not the most needy places.
For most people it is viewed that any injection of money in the high street will help the recovery and encourage prosperity across the nation.
The funding is going to several areas across the UK, including councils in Birmingham, Cannock Chase, Dudley, Lichfield, North Warwickshire, Redditch, Sandwell, Staffordshire Moorlands, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Wyre Forest. These councils will receive £100,000 each in grants.
In Dudley, one of the areas to receive the funding, there has been a record amount of company registrations. A company formation firm recorded 58 new companies in March 2012, beating the previous record of 56 in March 2008 (During better financial times). This is a great example of peoples entrepreneurial spirits, starting company’s even in financially hard times. Further good news for the Black Country town is that the amount of claimants for jobseekers allowance dropped in the quarter up to February 2012, possibly being helped by funding and new ventures arising.
Following the Mary Portas review and subsequent funding, Grant Shapps MP, Minister of State for Housing and Local Government said: “Mary
Empty high street will hopefully get turned around and get back to success.
Portas’s review made crystal clear the stark challenges our high streets face.
“With internet shopping and out-of-town shopping centres here to stay, they must offer something new if they are to entice visitors back.
“I now want to see people coming together to form their own town teams and turning their creative ideas into reality to ensure their high streets thrive long into the future”
The Government has announced plans for a further 12 towns to be placed in another similar scheme. These towns have yet to be announced, but will hopefully provide extra funding to another set of towns, helping the businesses and shoppers alike.
Given that you can have up to 5 Ukash voucher cards to spend at a time, you have the choice of merging or splitting the amount on the voucher cards if you want to make large or small purchases respectively. In simple terms, you may opt to combine the amount of money you have on different voucher cards in order to pay off a large amount online.
