How to halt the decline of local and regional town centres in the face of online and out-of-town shopping centre competition is a question that has challenged experts for many years. More recently this has been exacerbated by the movement towards working from home, causing demand for office space to fall and fewer people visiting town centres.

Town centres evolved primarily as retail and commercial centres with buildings designed for these uses, making it difficult to repurpose them. Research shows that town centre decline is worse in places which have suffered economically, whereas wealthier towns are better placed to thrive, particularly if these have a high number of small, independent shops.