Episode 9
Strengthening Communities Like Knowle Through Consistent Place Marketing and Local Events
Welcome to another episode of Retail Reckoning! I'm Clare Bailey and this week, I'm joined by the dynamic Kim Hulse, a true leader in placemaking and retail strategy.
Having spent years revitalising high streets and supporting local businesses, Kim shares her journey from corporate retail to transforming communities, like Knowle, across the UK through destination marketing, collaborative events, and hands-on partnerships.
Together, we're outlining practical strategies that bring vibrancy back to our towns, from creating engaging events and consistent branding to tackling vacancy rates and fostering pride of place.
Whether you're a retailer, community leader, or just passionate about your local area, this episode is packed with ideas and inspiration to help your high street not just survive, but thrive. Let's get into it!
Mentioned in this episode:
Retail Reckoning Podcast Insights Newsletter
Get Retail Reckoning Podcast Insights and Goodies - https://retailreckoningpodcast.co.uk/newsletter
Retail Reckoning Podcast VIP newsletter
Transcript
Today I'm joined by my colleague Kim Hulse. She's a powerhouse
Speaker:in place making and retail strategy. We've worked
Speaker:together for the best part of five years and so I
Speaker:thought it'd be great to introduce her and some of the things that she's been
Speaker:doing for clients via this podcast.
Speaker:Kim's one of those people that understands that shops don't thrive in isolation,
Speaker:they thrive in streets, in towns and in communities.
Speaker:And she's worked hands on with places across the UK to bring that to life.
Speaker:So welcome to Kim. Yeah. Retail
Speaker:reckoning. Retail reckoning.
Speaker:No space for dusty shelves Cause
Speaker:retail reckoning owns the floor.
Speaker:Kim, would you give us a snapshot? How have you gone from
Speaker:corporate retailer to placemaker? Hi,
Speaker:Claire. It all started with a conversation about high
Speaker:streets with another retailer about how bids and place
Speaker:partnerships can make a real difference. And after
Speaker:quite a few conversations of this could work in my
Speaker:place, we actually called a meeting and made it happen.
Speaker:Retail experience gave me the insight, but
Speaker:realise individual retailers can succeed even more
Speaker:when the wider place is thriving. So it pushed me
Speaker:from that talking about it to doing it and getting
Speaker:involved in calling a meeting. And we now work with
Speaker:councils and local groups to create teams and
Speaker:environments where businesses can actually flourish.
Speaker:What I'm hearing is you kind of saw the bigger picture from past
Speaker:experience before many others did and then coached them along
Speaker:the way. Getting practical, can you share some
Speaker:destination marketing projects you've been involved with and
Speaker:also explain how those have benefited the local community
Speaker:and the places where those have happened? In Knole, I co founded
Speaker:Visit Knole, which is a place wide campaign
Speaker:which has four pillars. We look after
Speaker:events bringing footfall to our place. Business
Speaker:support in keeping our businesses informed with what's going
Speaker:on. Street scene to make the area a
Speaker:nice place to spend time and of course marketing.
Speaker:We chose a few choice projects and did them well. Built
Speaker:strong foundations and over the last five years we've steadily built
Speaker:that. Our social engagement has grown by
Speaker:thousands. Events has boosted footfall
Speaker:and collaboration between the businesses is stronger than ever.
Speaker:In another town we've tied seasonal events to a year round
Speaker:calendar. Things like trails, markets,
Speaker:summer festivals instead of one off spikes the
Speaker:place become a consistent rhythm of activity
Speaker:and that predictability keeps locals engaged and
Speaker:attracts visitors too. Marketing the place is really important
Speaker:for the businesses there as well. If a business
Speaker:markets and showcases the town they are
Speaker:based in and works with the place making organisation
Speaker:by sharing information and sharing posts, then together
Speaker:you're raising the profile of a place not just for your business
Speaker:but for your town. Can you share some of the destination
Speaker:marketing projects you've delivered, some of the websites,
Speaker:some of the activities and events and what actual
Speaker:tangible results they've had for the places?
Speaker:I know you've done a couple of destination marketing websites, you know,
Speaker:not just the Visit Knoll, but others. And it'd be interesting, I
Speaker:think, for listeners to understand the amount of work that goes into things
Speaker:like creating trails, creating reasons to visit
Speaker:and also pushing that out there and reaching audiences not
Speaker:just local, but further afield to keep that
Speaker:ongoing stream of footfall through all the different seasons of the year.
Speaker:So I've looked after the visit now on marketing
Speaker:for five years now. I've actually worked with the brilliant
Speaker:branding person who's also part of the Retail Champion team,
Speaker:Zoe. Zoe's made a real difference because all the
Speaker:branding we have is consistent. So any posters,
Speaker:any social media graphics, all the website all
Speaker:ties in with colors, with fonts, with
Speaker:the way we use imagery. So we are really keen
Speaker:to implement the branding of a place across all the
Speaker:platforms and all the work we do. So place marketing,
Speaker:often it's being about creating consistent
Speaker:campaigns and creating that pride in place,
Speaker:really highlighting the good stories and the
Speaker:interesting stories, the new openings, the successes, the
Speaker:award winning events, things that people
Speaker:get engaged with. You know, in smaller places, you walk into
Speaker:a shop and the shopkeeper knows the customer's name.
Speaker:And connecting via social media,
Speaker:residents to those shops, showing the faces and the
Speaker:backstories is what's really made the difference. In other
Speaker:towns we created websites, the destination websites,
Speaker:targeted not just at tourists coming for maybe half a day or a
Speaker:day, but also to residents who might not
Speaker:know that there's a shop that will sharpen knives or there's
Speaker:a restaurant with a particular menu that's new to the area.
Speaker:So showcase what a place can offer
Speaker:in retail, hospitality, wellness, beauty and
Speaker:business makes a place more attractive for
Speaker:everyone. Another hot potato of
Speaker:vacancy rates. They're a huge issue up and down the country
Speaker:and, you know, they're twofold really, aren't they? Businesses
Speaker:closing, a lack of desire to open retail units,
Speaker:worries about footfall and sustainability. What
Speaker:actually works to reduce vacancy rates in two
Speaker:directions. One, in terms of keeping the businesses who are
Speaker:currently present sustainable and successful,
Speaker:and two, in terms of helping to attract businesses
Speaker:to vacant units, whether that be on a short term or long term
Speaker:basis. Can you tell us a bit more about what you've been doing in Noel?
Speaker:Well, yes, vacancy rates are a challenge across the
Speaker:country, but it's all about understanding the what and the
Speaker:why. Obviously you can use data data to track
Speaker:your vacancies, how long they've been vacant for, but
Speaker:often there's a story behind it. Often there are
Speaker:plans that take time to realize. Reasonable
Speaker:sized town near me has got a huge
Speaker:rejuvenation plan for the town centre. It's
Speaker:really exciting. It's looking at where
Speaker:the high street is going in the future, looking at what should be there.
Speaker:But meanwhile some of the units are going to be
Speaker:empty and more will become empty over the next
Speaker:year or so. So it's telling the businesses that
Speaker:are there and the residents that this is a short
Speaker:term blip and the future is going to be even better.
Speaker:And engaging with the businesses that are there and offering the
Speaker:reassurance is key. We can look at meanwhile uses
Speaker:and there might be some matchmaking services going on and there might
Speaker:be some changing use for those vacant units,
Speaker:but really it's understanding the why and
Speaker:engaging with the landlords, the businesses, the
Speaker:stakeholders and making sure that vacancy
Speaker:rates are going in the right direction. And meanwhile
Speaker:uses are maximized. There's also
Speaker:of course, making sure that the street seeing is as good
Speaker:as it can be whilst units are vacant.
Speaker:You can use vinyls on the shop windows to tell a story,
Speaker:give good information, but generally, what's the
Speaker:lighting like? Is the street clean, is it
Speaker:accessible? Making sure the area is
Speaker:vibrant and attractive despite the empty units.
Speaker:And lastly, it's about shining a light on
Speaker:who is there. Just because there's a few vacant
Speaker:units doesn't devalue the businesses that are there
Speaker:and trading well and trading successfully. So
Speaker:it's up to a place to share that positive narrative and
Speaker:to support the businesses that are there and to talk up the town.
Speaker:Yeah, that's so true. I mean, yes, no one wants to shop in a
Speaker:ghost town or a place that looks run down and a little bit
Speaker:derelict. Boarded up units and that funny white
Speaker:cloudy paint that they put on the inside of windows of empty shops so people
Speaker:can't see inside. It just adds to the sense of
Speaker:it's sort of dying a bit. Whereas the vinyls, that's
Speaker:a brilliant idea, make it look really more cheerful. And the
Speaker:communication strategy so that people know that for a short term
Speaker:perhaps if there is a redevelopment going as you say, that they know
Speaker:why it is as it is and they've got something also to look forward
Speaker:to. I think the thing is that there's a lot of
Speaker:snapshot moments in time. You can walk down a high street and think,
Speaker:oh, there's not really much here, but that's because we're too busy
Speaker:noticing the negative and not seeing the positive. There is, however,
Speaker:the caveat that there are some places that are overspaced and no matter
Speaker:how cheap the rent, there will never be the demand for certain units. And
Speaker:that's where government obviously have to step in and consider
Speaker:turning empty units, all the office spaces above, into housing and
Speaker:putting a population back in a community to bring the equilibrium back. So
Speaker:now there are shoppers living next to the places that need the footfall.
Speaker:But yes, it's an interesting and a thorny issue.
Speaker:Another thing I know you've been involved in a lot which help drive footfall
Speaker:and interest, both with the locals and from people further afield
Speaker:are events. And whether those are events like music
Speaker:festivals or speciality markets or even business
Speaker:networking, I personally know the effort and the passion that goes into
Speaker:driving those, but also the positive outcomes. But from your perspective
Speaker:and thinking on all the things that you've done within your time at Visit Knoll,
Speaker:how have you and the team there made them work? Key word in that
Speaker:question is team. There wouldn't be events if there wasn't a team of
Speaker:volunteers pulling it together and making it happen.
Speaker:Without the four, five individuals
Speaker:that put their heart and soul into events, there simply wouldn't be
Speaker:any. But consistency is key. You
Speaker:need to have events that appeal to
Speaker:the target audience. And Big Bang
Speaker:events are brilliant. They bring footfall, they bring
Speaker:social media followers and social media engagement
Speaker:and increase that pride in place. But actually
Speaker:smaller regular activities can really help
Speaker:build loyalty and footfall over time. So
Speaker:that might be regular markets, it might be a Halloween
Speaker:trail or an Easter trail. It could be a community
Speaker:day. Sometimes they can be the big events, but
Speaker:sometimes it can be working with a local community organization
Speaker:who wants to do something centred around the high street, and
Speaker:you're simply collaborating with them. It doesn't have to be
Speaker:expensive, but they do have to be promoted well and
Speaker:tied to the identity of the place. And using those place
Speaker:organisations to tell residents and visitors that there
Speaker:are these events and trails on can help maximise it
Speaker:and make all that effort in organizing it worthwhile. So
Speaker:events definitely help build pride in place. And if you love where
Speaker:you live and where you work, you'll spend more time and money there.
Speaker:And isn't that what we want? Exactly. I mean, I really like
Speaker:the small, consistent events because of the loyalty factor. I think that's really
Speaker:important. The big ones, you know, it's all a bit of pizzazz, but when
Speaker:it's gone. It's gone. I feel like, as you say, the events should
Speaker:be part of the place's DNA and aligned to the
Speaker:messaging and branding and the needs and wants of the community and not just random
Speaker:gimmicks. So leading on from that, obviously you've
Speaker:touched on the marketing and the consistent messaging and so on. When it comes to
Speaker:marketing a place, how important are all the
Speaker:different channels of marketing to place marketing management?
Speaker:In a word, vital. And marketing is
Speaker:two ways. It's talking to the residents and the visitors,
Speaker:but it's also talking to the businesses that are there so
Speaker:that they're up to date with your campaigns and what you're doing.
Speaker:You can have the best shops and events, but if you don't
Speaker:know that it's there, then no one's going to come. You need
Speaker:clear branding, clear messaging across digital
Speaker:and print and press releases. And that's
Speaker:as important for places as it is for retailers or
Speaker:restaurants or businesses. You got to treat
Speaker:the place like a brand. Consistent,
Speaker:visible and engaging marketing that bring people
Speaker:to your place. And of course, it's marketing to the businesses
Speaker:too, so they understand your campaigns and they can
Speaker:maximise your campaigns to grow their footfall too.
Speaker:Again, it's building that pride in place, that love where you
Speaker:live. It's so true. Places that market themselves
Speaker:well and create that pride and momentum, it becomes
Speaker:contagious. And I do think that a lot of places
Speaker:miss one trick. They're either not speaking to
Speaker:the community and the customer base and the footfall that visit the place, or they're
Speaker:not speaking to the businesses. But they actually have to have a two
Speaker:channeled approach where they engage the businesses and help
Speaker:the businesses to understand how they themselves can cascade the
Speaker:message to bring people in. Because if you have 10 businesses who each
Speaker:have 10 different customers, but they start cross promoting each other,
Speaker:suddenly you've got 10 businesses with potentially 90 new customers
Speaker:each. And that's why these kind of collaborations, sort of
Speaker:supported, I guess, by the place marketing, are really important
Speaker:for driving growth and, and also helping the businesses
Speaker:be sustainable. I mean, honestly. Thank you so much, Kim.
Speaker:It's been really interesting to share thoughts with you and you've
Speaker:hopefully shown that placemaking is about the detail and the
Speaker:consistency as much as it is the vision and the strategy.
Speaker:And for anyone listening, whether you're a retailer, a supplier
Speaker:working in local authority business improvement districts, or just someone
Speaker:who loves your town and your place, the message, I think is
Speaker:clear. Places can be transformed when we
Speaker:plan, collaborate and market with purpose and
Speaker:Moreover, consistency. You've been listening to Retail
Speaker:Reckoning. My name's Clare Bailey, the Retail Champion. See you next
Speaker:time,
Speaker:Else.
