Reinventing the high street

How do we design a high street as if the world mattered? That was the question set by Retail Reset at the Changemakers Fayre at Westminster Hub, last night.

As the post-it notes and scribbles started flying, pretty soon a debate emerged about chain stores and big business – where do they sit in all this? Do they have a role to play or are they just a recipe for clone town Britain? How can they contribute more positively to our high streets?

Which got me thinking…because while it’s great to see more and more businesses think seriously about how they can have a more positive impact, too often this feels hidden behind a CR report – a series of (albeit well-meaning) programmes, initiatives and commitments which can seem removed from the everyday activity of the company on the high street.

Surely there’s a missed opportunity here? Rather than just talking about what’s going on elsewhere, why not show it in action? Have a clothes retailer give over a section of their shop floor to provide working space for young designers, or a supermarket run regular classes in seasonal cooking in their store, or a bank deliver drop in business advice sessions for young entrepreneurs, or a communications company provide a space to support small business…

You get the idea.

Companies need to be brave about showing people what it means to them to be a good business – and through doing so they can not only talk to their customers more effectively, but play a vital role in making our high streets more exciting, inspiring and interesting places to be.

Sweet Success

As someone who grew up in a house next door to 6 buzzing hives, I’ve always had an interest in bees.

When we were small, it was all about the delicious honey and trying to avoid standing on the bees that had decided to take a break on the garden lawn. Now, well, it’s still about delicious honey, but I’ve also come to appreciate just how unique and interesting the whole concept of bee-keeping is.

Honey’s great because it’s so easy to be local. And I mean really local, because bees will go far and wide to hunt nectar. This summer, Travelocity identified The Fairmont Royal York in Toronto as one of its top-5 green hotels. The 10,000 bees on its roof, which produce honey for its restaurant, are key to its success and branding as a Honey Moon Suite.

Honey is linked with sustainability – in our minds and in reality. People love honey because it's natural. Its production relies on, and is friendly to, the environment. It can also be a social solution in areas where few sustainable farming options exist. From London to Afghanistan, from NYC to Malawi, bee-keeping is a trend that’s good for the environment and good for communities.

There’s a community in Sweden that’s so convinced by honey as the symbol of sustainability that they’ve made a local currency out of it: the Djing in Lund isn’t backed up with gold, but jars of the golden stuff. Perhaps honey money isn’t the solution for the Euro crisis. But let’s hope bees keep their growing role in our ideas about sustainable success.