Winsford Town Centre - Future Town Centre Strategy

 

About the brand

Cheshire West and Chester Council purchased Winsford Cross in 2018 (which accounts for the majority of the town’s retail offer).

The Council have since been working on plans to redevelop the shopping centre as part of a wider long-term town centre regeneration programme, recognising that there has been a shift in the way consumers interact with local town centres and the need to evolve the offer to heighten the town’s appeal and relevance to its catchment.

The Challenge/Task

Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWCC) required a detailed understanding of the most appropriate strategy for Winsford town centre regeneration and were seeking a strategic partner to help to develop their visionary town centre masterplan.

WHAT WE DID

Pragma formed a collaborative relationship with the team at CWCC, in addition to working alongside a variety of stakeholders, such as shopping centre management and leasing agents to inform the following workstreams:

  • Understand the current market, supply and demand, including detailed consumer profiling, a full audit of the town centre and a field based assessment of competing locations in the wider catchment, to assess the impact for the category mix and target positioning of Winsford town centre

  • Define Winsford’s future catchment and explore the composition of the addressable market, including quantifying turnover and supportable space for retail, food & beverage, leisure and cultural activities, based on consumer demand, potential environment and ideal mix

  • Explore how evolving consumer trends and user needs are impacting consumer and occupier behaviour and assess how smaller town centres need to adapt to increase their relevance to consumers, illustrated through the use of case studies of how landlords, local authorities and occupiers have evolved their offer to increase their relevance

  • Develop a framework to review and assess the suitability of the Council’s masterplan, detailing Winsford’s regeneration strategy, vision and working principles, into workable and achievable objectives

The Result

Pragma presented a clear, quantified vision for the future of Winsford town centre, which included a thorough assessment of the Council’s masterplan, with appropriate additions suggested and clear recommendations of the future role of retail in the town centre.  As well as driving future strategy, report outputs were used within the successful application for funding from the Future High Streets Fund.