Talk of the Town

Towns, and the businesses, traders, and independent shops that reside in them are the backbone of communities up and down the UK.

Towns bring people together and offer a place for communities to thrive and grow. Crucially, they also provide jobs and economic prosperity to the local area.

Despite their huge potential, our research has found that 86% of the UK’s towns have untapped potential, with businesses held back by a range of factors; from skills shortages to limited infrastructure.

And with businesses around the country facing ongoing challenges, we need to explore how to unlock that potential, enabling enterprise to flourish, commerce to grow, and communities to prosper.

This is why Visa is starting a national conversation with policymakers about the conditions required to stimulate regional growth across the country.

In the Let’s Talk About Towns report, together with the Social Market Foundation and the British Retail Consortium (BRC), we have leveraged Visa data to better understand the economic vitality of our towns and how it can be supercharged.

An analysis of more than 900 towns across five economic indicators – economic prosperity, people and skills, infrastructure, business environment and sustainability – found remarkable characteristics which if understood better, could benefit hugely, local businesses and communities alike, not to mention the whole UK economy.

We discovered that around 100 towns across the UK are demonstrating real economic promise, with strong underlying foundations. These towns all have shared characteristics, like good infrastructure, transport links and pro-business environments – so building on these strong foundations, with the support of business and government alike, will be vital if we are to unleash the potential currently locked away in these towns.

We also learnt from this study that towns – and the businesses in them – are far from homogenous. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to unlocking growth. That’s why a crucial part of our Talk of the Town initiative is to start a conversation. With local and national government, with communities, and with businesses. We want to hear what the local barriers to growth are and work with them to overcome them.

We also want to go beyond the data and celebrate some of the unique stories our towns have to tell. That’s why, in partnership with the BRC, we’ve launched Let’s Celebrate Towns, a nationwide showcase of the hundreds of towns helping local businesses and communities to thrive. Winning towns will receive a cash prize provided to help fund a local community initiative as well as a learning and development package for local businesses.

We’re committed to playing our part in realising the economic potential of our towns. Every day, we strive to uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid. At the heart of all we do is deliver an innovative, reliable, and secure payments network for businesses and consumers, no matter where they are.

Talk of the Town is where the Visa mission and ambition for supporting local economies to prosper come together. We are doing this because we know that when towns do well, everyone can benefit. This means more businesses on the high street, more jobs for local people, greater market access which contributes to home-grown growth, and more opportunities for communities to set up local initiatives that serve local people.

In the next phase of Talk of the Town, we will focus on meeting businesses, policymakers and trade associations, to help understand the specific requirements for navigating the economic headwinds ahead and develop a policy roadmap for unlocking the potential of towns. If you would be interested in contributing, please get in touch via [email protected].

To learn more from our line-up of industry and political experts about how your business can unlock its potential for growth book now for your place at the CBI Annual Conference 2022.