What are case studies?
Case studies share what people and organisations have learned from delivering or developing a project or programme. They can help you to see what has worked on the ground and can give you ideas about how to tackle problems. They can also signpost you to people and organisations you may want to talk to.
Key contact
David Grove
Lead Officer
Economic Regeneration and Partnerships
Fife Council
Tel: 08451 55 55 55 + ext 471852
Email: David.Grove@fife.gov.uk
In a nutshell
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have become an essential part of town centre management. For the management of an area to be strategic - with performance being monitored as it evolves - identifying trends and comparing aspects of your centre to others is necessary. Furthermore, comprehensive data on your town centre can give investors, consumers and partners confidence of the vision they are buying into.
Town centre performance management can be defined as:
Using comparative and longitudinal data, performance management enables place managers to create, monitor and adapt strategies to align a location's objectives with the needs of its stakeholders.
The issues addressed
This is one of three case studies developed in partnership by the Scottish Centre for Regeneration and Association of Town Centre Management. It is designed to help Town Centre Managers (TCMs) deal with three particular issues when it comes to using KPIs:
- benchmarking your town centre against others
- ensuring the long term use of KPIs
- informing your retail planning
Although the context in which each town operates is unique, there will be much in common between the underpinning principles of these three case studies and the issues all TCMs face when developing a programme for KPIs. To demonstrate these common issues and to build knowledge of progressive international approaches to using KPIs, this case study comes from Fife. The other two case studies come from Washington DC and Toronto.
Informed retail planning: Fife's strategic approach to retail development
About Fife Council
The unitary Fife Council is the third largest local authority in Scotland. It is responsible for the health of a number of towns including those of Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes and St Andrews where around 40% of the 360,000 population live.
While Fife benefits from good accessibility to other major cities in Scotland, this access places its town centres under pressure to provide excellent retail facilities to complement its historical heritage and natural landscape in order to compete with other highly regarded Scottish destinations.
Policy context determining the need for retail planning
With the continuing devolution of powers from central government to regional and local bodies, there has been a greater need for local leaders to be the architects of their retail sector. This means responsibility for making decisions as to what type of retail development should happen and where - decisions which will positively or negatively affect the vitality and vibrancy of the high street.
Recognising the quality of such decisions can be vastly improved with the use of a comprehensive evidence base, Fife Council, has merged KPIs from a number of sources to develop a short, medium and long term strategy for its retail environment.
Although the data emanates from different sources, it is shared amongst the relevant parties to ensure effective partnership working. This strategy informs the decision-making of planners and TCMs, achieving sensible retail development within existing centres and out-of-town.
Using indicators from different sources
Working with a number of different partners and agencies, Fife Council has to be able to develop an evidence base which allows for a deep understanding of how future development should shape local retail.
Quantitative aspects of the evolution of Fife's retail sector was obtained by merging data from official statistics provided by central government, Oxford Economic Forecasting, Goad statistics from Experian and data from other private providers. This information is blended with a qualitative analysis on consumer shopping habits and business satisfaction surveys which are undertaken at three year intervals.
The 'Town Centre Perception Survey' reviews why people use Fife's town centres, how they access Fife's town centres, which nearby towns are competing for the same trade and levels of satisfaction with the services on offer. Importantly, this information is compiled and communicated with the decision-makers within Fife to help achieve a strong retail planning function.
Responding to changes in the economy and making informed decisions
While many town centres across the UK have struggled to quantify the effects of the recession, Fife was in the comparatively advantageous position of being able to undertake 'interim' research, building upon the existing evidence base to analyse the short term shifts to illuminate potential remedies.
In the case of Kirkcaldy, this brought recognition of recession-led underperformance in retail, underpinned by 16% vacancy rates by November 2009.
Although this can be common during times of recession, Fife Council has been able to pinpoint areas of development, which could lead to a reversal in fortunes. This development includes the potential to revamp the Mercat Centre and the establishment of two new neighbourhood retail centres in Kirkcaldy East with small shops of 750 sqm in floorspace or less to serve a local catchment.
By monitoring the relationship between Kirkcaldy town centre and the Central Fife Retail Park, Fife Council has also been able to develop an informed strategy for possible future out-of-town developments by restricting the sale of certain goods already available in the town centre, allowing for sensible retail diversification which will not draw trade from existing centres.
Despite the deflationary impact of the recession on consumer spend, Fife's wide use of data sources has managed to identify the strong possibility of spare retail capacity in the long term.
Its 2009 Retail Capacity Study shows that, per capita, Fife is expected to see a slight decline in convenience expenditure in the immediate aftermath of the recession, with only very modest growth between 2010 and 2019.
However, opportunities for growth can be unveiled when increases in population are taken into account with a 5% rise expected from 2006 to 2026 across the Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and St Andrews catchments. This translates to an anticipated £44 million of additional spending up to 2014 and a further £43 million additional spending between 2014 and 2019.
Despite restricted growth per capita, a cross referencing of data sources leads to the conclusion that Fife's existing centres can sustain a growth in retail floorspace in the long-term.
Lessons learnt
Retail is a vital part of any town centre, providing important goods, services and employment to local people. Developing strong knowledge on all aspects of the retail sector, from business performance to consumer satisfaction, can provide TCMs with an effective tool for retail development.
Recognising that different decision-makers in an area can be responsible for the collection of different KPIs, it is also important that data is shared amongst planners, TCMs and other relevant parties to ensure that informed, strategic development can take place in partnership. This is being demonstrated across Fife which continues to work towards the objective of a healthy and vibrant retail sector.
More information
Scottish Centre for Regeneration
This case study is published by the Scottish Centre for Regeneration, which is part of the Scottish Government. We support our public, private and voluntary sector delivery partners to become more effective at:
- regenerating communities and tackling poverty
- developing more successful town centres and local high streets
- creating and managing mixed and sustainable communities
- making housing more energy efficient
- managing housing more efficiently and effectively
We do this through:
- coordinating learning networks which bring people together to identify the challenges they face and to support them to tackle these through events, networking and capacity building programmes
- identifying and sharing innovation and practice through publishing documents detailing examples of projects and programmes and highlighting lessons learned
- developing partnerships with key players in the housing and regeneration sector to ensure that our activities meet their needs and support their work
Scottish Centre for Regeneration
Scottish Government
Highlander House
58 Waterloo Street
Glasgow
G2 7DA
Tel: 0141 271 3736
Email: contactscr@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.partnersinregeneration.com
The views expressed in case studies are not necessarily shared by the Scottish Government.
March 2010