Falkirk High Street: ‘It isn’t dying, its changing’ says BID manager

While admitting the large-scale development would cause disruption to local businesses, Falkirk Delivers manager Elaine Grant said local businesses are excited by the prospect of the council-led project, which aims to bring more footfall to the High Street.

And she believes once the plans are approved they will have a massive impact on the town.

“The arts centre and headquarters being built is fantastic for us,” she said.

“It will cause a lot of disruption in the town centre short term, but long-term we expect it to be the catalyst for other investment.”

But while Elaine believes it will have a big part to play in transforming the town centre – which has suffered from several big name closures in recent years – she insists that businesses are not sitting waiting for it to happen.

As manager of Falkirk Delivers, in charge of Falkirk’s Business Improvement District (BID), Elaine and her team have become key figures liaising between the council and the 664 businesses in the area.

She firmly believes that the regeneration is already beginning.

“Since lockdown, we have supported over 40 businesses open up in Falkirk town centre,” she said.

“These are not the big names – like Marks & Spencer and BHS – that have been lost to High Streets everywhere, but small, independent businesses.

“The High Street isn’t dying, but it is changing so it will become more service-led with coffee shops, bars, restaurants, nail bars, hairdressers, and smaller shops” said Elaine.

“There are big empty units, but the smaller units are being snapped up – if anything we’ve got a shortage.”

Firms are now being encouraged to look at turning the big, empty units into more manageable ones.

Not only does that make shops easier to let, it also frees them from the rates burden on larger premises.

Council schemes include offering support to companies who want to turn empty offices and unused space into accommodation.

All of this is being done against the uncertainty of the pandemic.

And Elaine’s track record is all the more remarkable considering she could hardly have been newer to the job.

“I started on the Friday and lockdown happened on the Tuesday, so it’s very much been a baptism of fire,” she said.

In the first lockdown, her team directly helped businesses get more than £2m of grants.

When a second was announced, within 24 hours they had set up a free delivery service for town centre businesses, allowing them to concentrate on selling on social media.

It was an astonishing success and Elaine now hopes those businesses will now back them to keep going.

The BID is up for renewal and businesses, who support it through a levy, are being balloted on whether it should continue.

She is optimistic that its work through the pandemic will stand it in good stead.

“The role the BID will play after the pandemic is more important than ever before,” she said.

“It will be about helping the businesses continue to survive, going for external funding and doing everything we can to keep our town vibrant.”

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