The Post-Covid Strategy for Cardiff’s Business Centres

The decline of the UK’s high streets and city centres has been a concern of business leaders for a long time. The increase in people choosing to shop in out of town retail parks and online has led to less footfall in our towns and cities.

This trend has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, thanks to lockdowns and social distancing, with research showing that the proportion of purchases made online jumped to 35.2 percent in January 2021, up from 19.5 percent in January 2020.

However, whilst the pandemic may have caused problems for traders in city centres in the short term, it may help to save them in the long term. According to a survey conducted by Barclays Corporate Banking, home and hybrid working patterns introduced by the pandemic are likely to boost footfall and help local high streets and city centres. Cardiff is poised to make use of these changes as part of their strategy to help the city streets thrive once again. 

What is the Post-Covid Strategy for Cardiff?

FOR Cardiff was previously known as Cardiff’s Business Improvement District (BID). They are a business-led, not for profit organisation with a plan to transform Cardiff city centre, making it a welcoming and vibrant city, both for customers and retailers. FOR Cardiff began their first five year term in 2016 and since then have already invested £7.5 million back into the city. More than 750 businesses in the city centre contribute and the proceeds are used to improve it. To help speed up post-Covid recovery, FOR Cardiff has launched a manifesto outlining actions that can help high streets and city centres adapt to and thrive within the changes that are expected to stay with us after the pandemic. Here are some of their suggestions for building Cardiff back better.

Make Cardiff an ‘Equality City’

FOR Cardiff is committed to making Cardiff into one of the UK’s first equality cities, which means making it a fairer place with equal opportunities for everyone. It will work with its members to help them make a commitment to change where it is needed and provide businesses with training to help them transform.

Support Green Initiatives and Healthier Travel Alternatives

Due to the climate emergency, recognition and awareness of environmental issues has never been more important. FOR Cardiff will continue to encourage healthier travel alternatives, increase green spaces and work with partners to support better waste collection initiatives. Healthier travel alternatives include cycling, walking and taking public transport. These methods of travel free up city centres from traffic, parking issues and pollution, making them nicer places to spend time. 

Making Cardiff Cleaner and More Attractive

Cardiff has a cleansing team that undertakes essential work on the streets of the city, such as removing graffiti and chewing gum, and deep cleaning private property. The team was rated ‘excellent’ by 74 percent of the FOR Cardiff’s member businesses, due to its huge contribution in making the city a more pleasant place to shop and eat. Another way to increase the visual appeal of a city centre is to invest in public art, which can revitalise unloved buildings and vacant sites. Public art makes culture accessible to everyone and can also be the catalyst for new community projects. 

Encourage Young Professionals to Find Jobs Locally

Cardiff has several excellent universities on its doorstep, with thousands of young people graduating every year. More needs to be done to retain these graduates and offer them interesting and challenging roles so they don’t leave for other cities. They will be especially needed in the post-Covid world, to ensure local firms are able to grow and strengthen the local economy. FOR Cardiff is planning to create a university internship scheme and develop a young professional’s network. This will help to bridge the gap between talent and businesses in the capital, allowing young people to make connections and find jobs they love.

Encourage Local Spending

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of spending locally and, because we have had so few opportunities to travel, reintroduced people to the shops on their high streets. It’s important that this continues after Covid, but local spending can and should go further than that. To help local businesses survive and thrive, Cardiff is being encouraged to commit to a local procurement policy. This involves giving preference to locally produced goods and services, purchased from local and independent business, rather than those produced further away. This encourages important reinvestment in the local economy, rather than allowing money to be spent outside of the community.

Continuing to Support the Homeless

Since the pandemic, the number of rough sleepers in the UK has fallen significantly, and in Cardiff city centre it dropped right down to single figures. FOR Cardiff is committed to expanding the Cardiff Homeless Charter, which was launched before the pandemic in 2019. The Charter is designed to unite people, schools, universities and businesses to tackle homelessness in Cardiff together. As well as collecting funds, the Charter encourages people to help in other ways, such as offering time, skills, service and employment to those experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Make Cardiff Safer

If people feel safe and welcomed in a space, they will want to spend time there and return on a regular basis. Cardiff has worked hard to make the city centre a safe place to be at night, through initiatives such as the Night Marshalls, who help to identify anti-social behaviour, work on crime prevention and support residents and visitors to get home safely. 

All of these actions will help Cardiff city centre to recover from the pandemic and build back stronger than ever. Through initiatives such as street cleaning, vibrant and accessible culture, training courses and encouraging young professionals to remain in the area, Cardiff will bounce back to become a busy and thriving place once again.