October 27, 2025 • 16 mins
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!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Today I'm joined by my colleague Kim Hulse. She's a powerhouse
in place making and retail strategy. We've worked
together for the best part of five years and so I
thought it'd be great to introduce her and some of the things that she's been
doing for clients via this podcast.
(00:22):
Kim's one of those people that understands that shops don't thrive in isolation,
they thrive in streets, in towns and in communities.
And she's worked hands on with places across the UK to bring that to life.
So welcome to Kim. Yeah. Retail
reckoning. Retail reckoning.
No space for dusty shelves Cause
(00:45):
retail reckoning owns the floor.
Kim, would you give us a snapshot? How have you gone from
corporate retailer to placemaker? Hi,
Claire. It all started with a conversation about high
streets with another retailer about how bids and place
partnerships can make a real difference. And after
(01:07):
quite a few conversations of this could work in my
place, we actually called a meeting and made it happen.
Retail experience gave me the insight, but
realise individual retailers can succeed even more
when the wider place is thriving. So it pushed me
from that talking about it to doing it and getting
(01:30):
involved in calling a meeting. And we now work with
councils and local groups to create teams and
environments where businesses can actually flourish.
What I'm hearing is you kind of saw the bigger picture from past
experience before many others did and then coached them along
the way. Getting practical, can you share some
(01:52):
destination marketing projects you've been involved with and
also explain how those have benefited the local community
and the places where those have happened? In Knole, I co founded
Visit Knole, which is a place wide campaign
which has four pillars. We look after
events bringing footfall to our place. Business
(02:14):
support in keeping our businesses informed with what's going
on. Street scene to make the area a
nice place to spend time and of course marketing.
We chose a few choice projects and did them well. Built
strong foundations and over the last five years we've steadily built
that. Our social engagement has grown by
(02:36):
thousands. Events has boosted footfall
and collaboration between the businesses is stronger than ever.
In another town we've tied seasonal events to a year round
calendar. Things like trails, markets,
summer festivals instead of one off spikes the
place become a consistent rhythm of activity
(02:59):
and that predictability keeps locals engaged and
attracts visitors too. Marketing the place is really important
for the businesses there as well. If a business
markets and showcases the town they are
based in and works with the place making organisation
by sharing information and sharing posts, then together
(03:21):
you're raising the profile of a place not just for your business
but for your town. Can you share some of the destination
marketing projects you've delivered, some of the websites,
some of the activities and events and what actual
tangible results they've had for the places?
I know you've done a couple of destination marketing websites, you know,
(03:44):
not just the Visit Knoll, but others. And it'd be interesting, I
think, for listeners to understand the amount of work that goes into things
like creating trails, creating reasons to visit
and also pushing that out there and reaching audiences not
just local, but further afield to keep that
ongoing stream of footfall through all the different seasons of the year.
(04:06):
So I've looked after the visit now on marketing
for five years now. I've actually worked with the brilliant
branding person who's also part of the Retail Champion team,
Zoe. Zoe's made a real difference because all the
branding we have is consistent. So any posters,
any social media graphics, all the website all
(04:28):
ties in with colors, with fonts, with
the way we use imagery. So we are really keen
to implement the branding of a place across all the
platforms and all the work we do. So place marketing,
often it's being about creating consistent
campaigns and creating that pride in place,
(04:51):
really highlighting the good stories and the
interesting stories, the new openings, the successes, the
award winning events, things that people
get engaged with. You know, in smaller places, you walk into
a shop and the shopkeeper knows the customer's name.
And connecting via social media,
(05:12):
residents to those shops, showing the faces and the
backstories is what's really made the difference. In other
towns we created websites, the destination websites,
targeted not just at tourists coming for maybe half a day or a
day, but also to residents who might not
know that there's a shop that will sharpen knives or there's
(05:35):
a restaurant with a particular menu that's new to the area.
So showcase what a place can offer
in retail, hospitality, wellness, beauty and
business makes a place more attractive for
everyone. Another hot potato of
vacancy rates. They're a huge issue up and down the country
(05:56):
and, you know, they're twofold really, aren't they? Businesses
closing, a lack of desire to open retail units,
worries about footfall and sustainability. What
actually works to reduce vacancy rates in two
directions. One, in terms of keeping the businesses who are
currently present sustainable and successful,
(06:17):
and two, in terms of helping to attract businesses
to vacant units, whether that be on a short term or long term
basis. Can you tell us a bit more about what you've been doing in Noel?
Well, yes, vacancy rates are a challenge across the
country, but it's all about understanding the what and the
why. Obviously you can use data data to track
(06:40):
your vacancies, how long they've been vacant for, but
often there's a story behind it. Often there are
plans that take time to realize. Reasonable
sized town near me has got a huge
rejuvenation plan for the town centre. It's
really exciting. It's looking at where
(07:02):
the high street is going in the future, looking at what should be there.
But meanwhile some of the units are going to be
empty and more will become empty over the next
year or so. So it's telling the businesses that
are there and the residents that this is a short
term blip and the future is going to be even better.
(07:24):
And engaging with the businesses that are there and offering the
reassurance is key. We can look at meanwhile uses
and there might be some matchmaking services going on and there might
be some changing use for those vacant units,
but really it's understanding the why and
engaging with the landlords, the businesses, the
(07:46):
stakeholders and making sure that vacancy
rates are going in the right direction. And meanwhile
uses are maximized. There's also
of course, making sure that the street seeing is as good
as it can be whilst units are vacant.
You can use vinyls on the shop windows to tell a story,
(08:08):
give good information, but generally, what's the
lighting like? Is the street clean, is it
accessible? Making sure the area is
vibrant and attractive despite the empty units.
And lastly, it's about shining a light on
who is there. Just because there's a few vacant
(08:29):
units doesn't devalue the businesses that are there
and trading well and trading successfully. So
it's up to a place to share that positive narrative and
to support the businesses that are there and to talk up the town.
Yeah, that's so true. I mean, yes, no one wants to shop in a
ghost town or a place that looks run down and a little bit
(08:52):
derelict. Boarded up units and that funny white
cloudy paint that they put on the inside of windows of empty shops so people
can't see inside. It just adds to the sense of
it's sort of dying a bit. Whereas the vinyls, that's
a brilliant idea, make it look really more cheerful. And the
communication strategy so that people know that for a short term
(09:13):
perhaps if there is a redevelopment going as you say, that they know
why it is as it is and they've got something also to look forward
to. I think the thing is that there's a lot of
snapshot moments in time. You can walk down a high street and think,
oh, there's not really much here, but that's because we're too busy
noticing the negative and not seeing the positive. There is, however,
(09:35):
the caveat that there are some places that are overspaced and no matter
how cheap the rent, there will never be the demand for certain units. And
that's where government obviously have to step in and consider
turning empty units, all the office spaces above, into housing and
putting a population back in a community to bring the equilibrium back. So
now there are shoppers living next to the places that need the footfall.
(09:57):
But yes, it's an interesting and a thorny issue.
Another thing I know you've been involved in a lot which help drive footfall
and interest, both with the locals and from people further afield
are events. And whether those are events like music
festivals or speciality markets or even business
networking, I personally know the effort and the passion that goes into
(10:18):
driving those, but also the positive outcomes. But from your perspective
and thinking on all the things that you've done within your time at Visit Knoll,
how have you and the team there made them work? Key word in that
question is team. There wouldn't be events if there wasn't a team of
volunteers pulling it together and making it happen.
Without the four, five individuals
(10:40):
that put their heart and soul into events, there simply wouldn't be
any. But consistency is key. You
need to have events that appeal to
the target audience. And Big Bang
events are brilliant. They bring footfall, they bring
social media followers and social media engagement
(11:02):
and increase that pride in place. But actually
smaller regular activities can really help
build loyalty and footfall over time. So
that might be regular markets, it might be a Halloween
trail or an Easter trail. It could be a community
day. Sometimes they can be the big events, but
(11:24):
sometimes it can be working with a local community organization
who wants to do something centred around the high street, and
you're simply collaborating with them. It doesn't have to be
expensive, but they do have to be promoted well and
tied to the identity of the place. And using those place
organisations to tell residents and visitors that there
(11:47):
are these events and trails on can help maximise it
and make all that effort in organizing it worthwhile. So
events definitely help build pride in place. And if you love where
you live and where you work, you'll spend more time and money there.
And isn't that what we want? Exactly. I mean, I really like
the small, consistent events because of the loyalty factor. I think that's really
(12:10):
important. The big ones, you know, it's all a bit of pizzazz, but when
it's gone. It's gone. I feel like, as you say, the events should
be part of the place's DNA and aligned to the
messaging and branding and the needs and wants of the community and not just random
gimmicks. So leading on from that, obviously you've
touched on the marketing and the consistent messaging and so on. When it comes to
(12:32):
marketing a place, how important are all the
different channels of marketing to place marketing management?
In a word, vital. And marketing is
two ways. It's talking to the residents and the visitors,
but it's also talking to the businesses that are there so
that they're up to date with your campaigns and what you're doing.
(12:55):
You can have the best shops and events, but if you don't
know that it's there, then no one's going to come. You need
clear branding, clear messaging across digital
and print and press releases. And that's
as important for places as it is for retailers or
restaurants or businesses. You got to treat
(13:17):
the place like a brand. Consistent,
visible and engaging marketing that bring people
to your place. And of course, it's marketing to the businesses
too, so they understand your campaigns and they can
maximise your campaigns to grow their footfall too.
Again, it's building that pride in place, that love where you
(13:40):
live. It's so true. Places that market themselves
well and create that pride and momentum, it becomes
contagious. And I do think that a lot of places
miss one trick. They're either not speaking to
the community and the customer base and the footfall that visit the place, or they're
not speaking to the businesses. But they actually have to have a two
(14:02):
channeled approach where they engage the businesses and help
the businesses to understand how they themselves can cascade the
message to bring people in. Because if you have 10 businesses who each
have 10 different customers, but they start cross promoting each other,
suddenly you've got 10 businesses with potentially 90 new customers
each. And that's why these kind of collaborations, sort of
(14:24):
supported, I guess, by the place marketing, are really important
for driving growth and, and also helping the businesses
be sustainable. I mean, honestly. Thank you so much, Kim.
It's been really interesting to share thoughts with you and you've
hopefully shown that placemaking is about the detail and the
consistency as much as it is the vision and the strategy.
(14:47):
And for anyone listening, whether you're a retailer, a supplier
working in local authority business improvement districts, or just someone
who loves your town and your place, the message, I think is
clear. Places can be transformed when we
plan, collaborate and market with purpose and
Moreover, consistency. You've been listening to Retail
(15:08):
Reckoning. My name's Clare Bailey, the Retail Champion. See you next
time,
Else.
Today I'm joined by my colleague Kim Hulse. She's a powerhouse
in place making and retail strategy. We've worked
together for the best part of five years and so I
thought it'd be great to introduce her and some of the things that she's been
doing for clients via this podcast.
(00:22):
Kim's one of those people that understands that shops don't thrive in isolation,
they thrive in streets, in towns and in communities.
And she's worked hands on with places across the UK to bring that to life.
So welcome to Kim. Yeah. Retail
reckoning. Retail reckoning.
No space for dusty shelves Cause
(00:45):
retail reckoning owns the floor.
Kim, would you give us a snapshot? How have you gone from
corporate retailer to placemaker? Hi,
Claire. It all started with a conversation about high
streets with another retailer about how bids and place
partnerships can make a real difference. And after
(01:07):
quite a few conversations of this could work in my
place, we actually called a meeting and made it happen.
Retail experience gave me the insight, but
realise individual retailers can succeed even more
when the wider place is thriving. So it pushed me
from that talking about it to doing it and getting
(01:30):
involved in calling a meeting. And we now work with
councils and local groups to create teams and
environments where businesses can actually flourish.
What I'm hearing is you kind of saw the bigger picture from past
experience before many others did and then coached them along
the way. Getting practical, can you share some
(01:52):
destination marketing projects you've been involved with and
also explain how those have benefited the local community
and the places where those have happened? In Knole, I co founded
Visit Knole, which is a place wide campaign
which has four pillars. We look after
events bringing footfall to our place. Business
(02:14):
support in keeping our businesses informed with what's going
on. Street scene to make the area a
nice place to spend time and of course marketing.
We chose a few choice projects and did them well. Built
strong foundations and over the last five years we've steadily built
that. Our social engagement has grown by
(02:36):
thousands. Events has boosted footfall
and collaboration between the businesses is stronger than ever.
In another town we've tied seasonal events to a year round
calendar. Things like trails, markets,
summer festivals instead of one off spikes the
place become a consistent rhythm of activity
(02:59):
and that predictability keeps locals engaged and
attracts visitors too. Marketing the place is really important
for the businesses there as well. If a business
markets and showcases the town they are
based in and works with the place making organisation
by sharing information and sharing posts, then together
(03:21):
you're raising the profile of a place not just for your business
but for your town. Can you share some of the destination
marketing projects you've delivered, some of the websites,
some of the activities and events and what actual
tangible results they've had for the places?
I know you've done a couple of destination marketing websites, you know,
(03:44):
not just the Visit Knoll, but others. And it'd be interesting, I
think, for listeners to understand the amount of work that goes into things
like creating trails, creating reasons to visit
and also pushing that out there and reaching audiences not
just local, but further afield to keep that
ongoing stream of footfall through all the different seasons of the year.
(04:06):
So I've looked after the visit now on marketing
for five years now. I've actually worked with the brilliant
branding person who's also part of the Retail Champion team,
Zoe. Zoe's made a real difference because all the
branding we have is consistent. So any posters,
any social media graphics, all the website all
(04:28):
ties in with colors, with fonts, with
the way we use imagery. So we are really keen
to implement the branding of a place across all the
platforms and all the work we do. So place marketing,
often it's being about creating consistent
campaigns and creating that pride in place,
(04:51):
really highlighting the good stories and the
interesting stories, the new openings, the successes, the
award winning events, things that people
get engaged with. You know, in smaller places, you walk into
a shop and the shopkeeper knows the customer's name.
And connecting via social media,
(05:12):
residents to those shops, showing the faces and the
backstories is what's really made the difference. In other
towns we created websites, the destination websites,
targeted not just at tourists coming for maybe half a day or a
day, but also to residents who might not
know that there's a shop that will sharpen knives or there's
(05:35):
a restaurant with a particular menu that's new to the area.
So showcase what a place can offer
in retail, hospitality, wellness, beauty and
business makes a place more attractive for
everyone. Another hot potato of
vacancy rates. They're a huge issue up and down the country
(05:56):
and, you know, they're twofold really, aren't they? Businesses
closing, a lack of desire to open retail units,
worries about footfall and sustainability. What
actually works to reduce vacancy rates in two
directions. One, in terms of keeping the businesses who are
currently present sustainable and successful,
(06:17):
and two, in terms of helping to attract businesses
to vacant units, whether that be on a short term or long term
basis. Can you tell us a bit more about what you've been doing in Noel?
Well, yes, vacancy rates are a challenge across the
country, but it's all about understanding the what and the
why. Obviously you can use data data to track
(06:40):
your vacancies, how long they've been vacant for, but
often there's a story behind it. Often there are
plans that take time to realize. Reasonable
sized town near me has got a huge
rejuvenation plan for the town centre. It's
really exciting. It's looking at where
(07:02):
the high street is going in the future, looking at what should be there.
But meanwhile some of the units are going to be
empty and more will become empty over the next
year or so. So it's telling the businesses that
are there and the residents that this is a short
term blip and the future is going to be even better.
(07:24):
And engaging with the businesses that are there and offering the
reassurance is key. We can look at meanwhile uses
and there might be some matchmaking services going on and there might
be some changing use for those vacant units,
but really it's understanding the why and
engaging with the landlords, the businesses, the
(07:46):
stakeholders and making sure that vacancy
rates are going in the right direction. And meanwhile
uses are maximized. There's also
of course, making sure that the street seeing is as good
as it can be whilst units are vacant.
You can use vinyls on the shop windows to tell a story,
(08:08):
give good information, but generally, what's the
lighting like? Is the street clean, is it
accessible? Making sure the area is
vibrant and attractive despite the empty units.
And lastly, it's about shining a light on
who is there. Just because there's a few vacant
(08:29):
units doesn't devalue the businesses that are there
and trading well and trading successfully. So
it's up to a place to share that positive narrative and
to support the businesses that are there and to talk up the town.
Yeah, that's so true. I mean, yes, no one wants to shop in a
ghost town or a place that looks run down and a little bit
(08:52):
derelict. Boarded up units and that funny white
cloudy paint that they put on the inside of windows of empty shops so people
can't see inside. It just adds to the sense of
it's sort of dying a bit. Whereas the vinyls, that's
a brilliant idea, make it look really more cheerful. And the
communication strategy so that people know that for a short term
(09:13):
perhaps if there is a redevelopment going as you say, that they know
why it is as it is and they've got something also to look forward
to. I think the thing is that there's a lot of
snapshot moments in time. You can walk down a high street and think,
oh, there's not really much here, but that's because we're too busy
noticing the negative and not seeing the positive. There is, however,
(09:35):
the caveat that there are some places that are overspaced and no matter
how cheap the rent, there will never be the demand for certain units. And
that's where government obviously have to step in and consider
turning empty units, all the office spaces above, into housing and
putting a population back in a community to bring the equilibrium back. So
now there are shoppers living next to the places that need the footfall.
(09:57):
But yes, it's an interesting and a thorny issue.
Another thing I know you've been involved in a lot which help drive footfall
and interest, both with the locals and from people further afield
are events. And whether those are events like music
festivals or speciality markets or even business
networking, I personally know the effort and the passion that goes into
(10:18):
driving those, but also the positive outcomes. But from your perspective
and thinking on all the things that you've done within your time at Visit Knoll,
how have you and the team there made them work? Key word in that
question is team. There wouldn't be events if there wasn't a team of
volunteers pulling it together and making it happen.
Without the four, five individuals
(10:40):
that put their heart and soul into events, there simply wouldn't be
any. But consistency is key. You
need to have events that appeal to
the target audience. And Big Bang
events are brilliant. They bring footfall, they bring
social media followers and social media engagement
(11:02):
and increase that pride in place. But actually
smaller regular activities can really help
build loyalty and footfall over time. So
that might be regular markets, it might be a Halloween
trail or an Easter trail. It could be a community
day. Sometimes they can be the big events, but
(11:24):
sometimes it can be working with a local community organization
who wants to do something centred around the high street, and
you're simply collaborating with them. It doesn't have to be
expensive, but they do have to be promoted well and
tied to the identity of the place. And using those place
organisations to tell residents and visitors that there
(11:47):
are these events and trails on can help maximise it
and make all that effort in organizing it worthwhile. So
events definitely help build pride in place. And if you love where
you live and where you work, you'll spend more time and money there.
And isn't that what we want? Exactly. I mean, I really like
the small, consistent events because of the loyalty factor. I think that's really
(12:10):
important. The big ones, you know, it's all a bit of pizzazz, but when
it's gone. It's gone. I feel like, as you say, the events should
be part of the place's DNA and aligned to the
messaging and branding and the needs and wants of the community and not just random
gimmicks. So leading on from that, obviously you've
touched on the marketing and the consistent messaging and so on. When it comes to
(12:32):
marketing a place, how important are all the
different channels of marketing to place marketing management?
In a word, vital. And marketing is
two ways. It's talking to the residents and the visitors,
but it's also talking to the businesses that are there so
that they're up to date with your campaigns and what you're doing.
(12:55):
You can have the best shops and events, but if you don't
know that it's there, then no one's going to come. You need
clear branding, clear messaging across digital
and print and press releases. And that's
as important for places as it is for retailers or
restaurants or businesses. You got to treat
(13:17):
the place like a brand. Consistent,
visible and engaging marketing that bring people
to your place. And of course, it's marketing to the businesses
too, so they understand your campaigns and they can
maximise your campaigns to grow their footfall too.
Again, it's building that pride in place, that love where you
(13:40):
live. It's so true. Places that market themselves
well and create that pride and momentum, it becomes
contagious. And I do think that a lot of places
miss one trick. They're either not speaking to
the community and the customer base and the footfall that visit the place, or they're
not speaking to the businesses. But they actually have to have a two
(14:02):
channeled approach where they engage the businesses and help
the businesses to understand how they themselves can cascade the
message to bring people in. Because if you have 10 businesses who each
have 10 different customers, but they start cross promoting each other,
suddenly you've got 10 businesses with potentially 90 new customers
each. And that's why these kind of collaborations, sort of
(14:24):
supported, I guess, by the place marketing, are really important
for driving growth and, and also helping the businesses
be sustainable. I mean, honestly. Thank you so much, Kim.
It's been really interesting to share thoughts with you and you've
hopefully shown that placemaking is about the detail and the
consistency as much as it is the vision and the strategy.
(14:47):
And for anyone listening, whether you're a retailer, a supplier
working in local authority business improvement districts, or just someone
who loves your town and your place, the message, I think is
clear. Places can be transformed when we
plan, collaborate and market with purpose and
Moreover, consistency. You've been listening to Retail
(15:08):
Reckoning. My name's Clare Bailey, the Retail Champion. See you next
time,
Else.
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