News & Resources

Architecture and Design Scotland (A+DS) has commisioned a mirco version of the High Street exhibition to make it more accessible for smaller venues. The High Street touring exhibition showed the Scottish High Street’s evolution, our changing shops and shopping habits, and the impact this has had today.

STP Chief Officer, Phil Prentice and Ian Davison Porter, BIDs Scotland Director highlight the effectiveness of town centre management strategies and the Business Improvement District Model considering community empowerment and the evolution of these strategies.

The Institute for Retail Studies at the University of Stirling is a leading academic centre for retail research and education, providing independent, academic and practical research as well as commentary on retail matters of the day.

Scottish Business in the Community’s Business Connector programme and Hub network supports town centre regeneration.

Will Town Centre Connect work for you? 802 Event WiFi has developed an innovative “Zero Investment” programme. From initial small scale evaluation projects leading to full town wide deployments, that can be tailored to suit Towns of all sizes.

Free wi-fi for all is coming to Milngavie precinct at the end of this year thanks to an innovative project being carried out by Milngavie BID.

STP website relaunch with new and improved towns tools, resources and supports including the new Town Centre Toolkit which looks to provide communities with information on how they can make their town more attractive, active and accessible.

The Scottish Government's news portal has coverage and quotes from industry experts on the newly launched Town Centre Toolkit, available on our website.

The Town Centre Toolkit contains ideas and examples of how people and organisations can make their town centre more attractive, more active, and more accessible. Created by the Scottish Government, it is a valuable asset for towns practitioners and interest groups alike.

Mike Smith, BID manager, Inverness BID reviews David Downie, International Downtown Association's presentation at the BIDs Scotland Gathering.

Town Centre Empty Homes Fund

The Scottish Government has launched a call for bids for its £4m Town Centre Empty Homes Fund.  The fund hopes to create additional residential accommodation in Scotland’s urban and rural towns by funding projects to convert disused commercial premises into residential and to target problematic empty homes that require extensive refurbishment to make them habitable again.  The fund is open for bids until 21 August 2015 and further details are in the scheme outline.

The Spring Edition of the Scottish Planner includes and interview with STP Chief Officer, Phil Prentice around the role of STP. 

STP’s Funding Finder is the go-to place to source potential funding. The Funding Finder provides easy to read information on current funding streams, highlighting where new funds have been announced and where application deadlines are looming. 

To date Digital Marketing and Communications for the High Street have been focused on individual towns with little consideration given to collaborating across many towns in an area to drive greater economic development across the area.

In April 2013, Leigh Brown, City Centre Manager in Perth, met with DestinationCMS to consider a pilot project. This case study looks at the pilot project, now complete, its objectives, delivery and results.