Let’s spend this year saving our high streets

I spend a lot of time traveling the length and breadth of the UK when I’m filming television programmes and the one thing people always mention is how much they wish their high streets were revitalised.

I couldn’t agree more… but we all need to play a part if we want to breathe life back in to our home towns and villages. The irony is, it’s not that hard to bring the high street back to life. Here’s are the things I’m campaigning for in 2026 - and some tips on how you can get involved too.

Make online businesses pay

I don’t know about you but I’ve had it with online retailers. These shops helped kill off many of our most-loved high street brands because they didn’t have to pay business rates, staff, utilities bills or maintenance. And what did we get in return?

Many online retailers are now starting to charge for returns. I hear endless complaints about the poor quality of garments and goods. What’s worse, most of the big online retailers don’t have telephone numbers or email addresses for you to contact customer services if things go wrong. Why give your money to a business that doesn’t want to talk to you?

So try to cut back on your online shopping and just use the internet to browse, build a shopping list, match prices and compare. Then head out to local shops to make your purchases.

Buy local produce

Supermarkets may look like the cheapest options for fresh produce, but you may find there are much better deals at butchers, greengrocers and on market stalls. The food there won’t usually have as many air miles on it and should be super-fresh. Plus, you can get tips on meal preparation. If you’re near a rural area, there are loads of farm shops you can stock up at – and yes, you can freeze most vegetables too, so there shouldn’t be any waste.

Nag the council about empty buildings

One of the challenges facing local high streets is shops that have become derelict. These buildings are usually privately owned, but your council can ‘encourage’ the owners to make the properties available and to maintain them if they are looking tatty.

I’ve seen some great examples of revitalised high streets over the last year that used really simple techniques. For example, getting local artists to paint shutters, or negotiating with landlords to let vacant properties be used for ‘pop up’ shops for artists and creatives.

Why not support a local café or coffee shop rather than a big brand so they can stay open? I’ve seen some great initiatives where local groups have meetings in venues like cafés and restaurants, turning them in to community hubs.

Turn the high street in to an experience

My big prediction for the high street this year is the rise of the collective shopping experience. Big cities are already awash with food ‘experience’ venues where different pop-up restaurants operate together under one roof. This model could easily apply to retailers too – allowing those big empty department stores to come back to life once more.

But don’t assume that the big brands still on the high street will last if you don’t use them. Don’t order online when you can shop in-store. You can often have out of stock online items delivered to shops so you can check out the goods in person. And if your local bank closes, your community can request a ‘banking hub’ too, where customers of multiple banks are able to carry out basic banking transactions.

Speak up

If you want to save your local community – speak up. So attend meetings, speak to your MP (nicely) and make creative suggestions for empty properties. Together we can all make a difference to our towns and cities.

Martyn James is a leading consumer rights campaigner, TV and radio broadcaster and journalist. For more from Martyn, visit this link