The UK’s retail trade events, Spring & Autumn Fair, has launched a new national campaign calling for a minimum of 90 minutes’ free parking in town and city centres across England. The campaign follows new research revealing retailers and consumers have independently identified the same practical measure to help encourage more visits to Britain’s high streets.
Launching under the banner ‘Support Free Parking. Back Local Businesses. Bring People Back’, the campaign centres around a Parliamentary petition urging local authorities to view parking as part of a wider strategy to increase footfall, support independent businesses and strengthen local economies.
The campaign has been developed from Voices of Retail, Spring & Autumn Fair’s annual research programme produced in partnership with Faire. Drawing on the views of retailers and consumers across the UK, the latest findings uncovered a striking consensus: 38% of independent retailers believe free parking would have the greatest positive impact on their business, while 63% of consumers say it would encourage them to visit town and city centres more often.
The research also highlights the opportunity facing Britain’s high streets. Almost all consumers (95%) say they would spend more if their local high street offered a better mix of shops, while 96% want to see more independent retailers alongside cafés, bakeries and other experiences that encourage them to spend longer in town centres. The findings suggest people want to support local businesses when high streets are easy to access, enjoyable to visit and offer compelling reasons to stay.
As the UK’s leading retail trade events, Spring & Autumn Fair brings together thousands of retailers, brands and industry leaders every year, giving it a unique insight into the challenges and opportunities facing the sector. Jackson Szabo, Portfolio Director at Spring & Autumn Fair, said: “Retailers aren’t asking for special treatment. They’re asking us to remove one of the practical barriers that both businesses and shoppers believe is discouraging visits to our town centres. When retailers and consumers independently arrive at the same conclusion, I don’t think we should ignore it, we should act.”
Rather than viewing parking solely as a transport issue or source of revenue, the campaign encourages it to be considered as one of several practical tools available to support local economic growth. Making town centres easier to access encourages people to spend more time on the high street. More time creates more opportunities to browse independent retailers, stop in cafés and bakeries, visit markets and support the wider mix of businesses that give every town centre its character.