Plans to rejuvenate Middlesbrough high-street must include and protect locals

Middlesbrough high-street has long been under considerable strain, and 2025 especially was a year in which the town centre saw profound closures. For those still working on the high street, they’re acutely aware of how the town is lagging. Kim Hutchison, who co-owns Sacred Fury, a tattoo and piercing shop dotted right outside the Hill Street Shopping centre, spoke on what she sees everyday. ‘In the 9 months we have been open, we have seen NEXT, Millets, Bodycare and Boots close to name just a few… the variety of shops/businesses has dropped significantly, and vape shops, barbers, hair & beauty salons, and mobile phone repair and accessories shops dominate the centre’.

Labour mayor Chris Cooke believes a main cause of high-streets decline is linked to the convenience of online shopping, meanwhile the lack of footfall on the high street itself is creating a more unsavoury image of the town. To combat the decline, the solution proposed is a revisioning of the town centre, where Middlesbrough will step away from retail, and towards an experience-based economy, focusing on leisure, food and drink ‘while keeping a stable retail base’, alongside the development of thousands of new homes. While rejuvenation is welcome, the push for a leisure-based economy could also run the risk of pricing out locals already working, running businesses and living in Middlesbrough if not inputted with care.

A move towards offering leisure has worked well for other high-streets. Yarm, just fifteen minutes away offers a variety of experiences from pubs, restaurants, cafes to even an escape room. Experience based shops are those which are also surviving in Middlesbrough despite the low footfall. Kim’s own studio, Sacred Fury, is one of these places. ‘The business itself is thriving and we are seeing lots of new faces, as well as returning clients. Tattooing and piercing are of course in-person services that can’t be done online or remotely’ Kim said. Despite this, the low footfall is still a concern, ‘as retail is shifting more and more online, it means less people in the centre. People only come to Middlesbrough if they have a specific reason to – not to “have a look around town” like many of us used to’.

When talking about what currently works well for the town, Kim said ‘events like the Orange Pip market on Baker Street draw in a lot of people, art exhibitions and installations too. People want to make a day of it when they go somewhere’. The council certainly agrees, pointing to successful sights in the high-street such as STACK and the Odeon Luxe, while also promising to pull even more leisure-based businesses into the centre, as well as continued investment into Teesside University, the Northern School of Art, and MIMA.

More commercial leisure spaces alone however may not be enough to truly improve the living situation for many locals. Cost of living and high business rates still means local independents struggle. ‘Our main challenge is the costs associated with the running of the studio - our rent and rates are high considering the drop in open businesses around us’ Kim explained. She is especially baffled by property owners’ refusal to lower rates ‘surely having someone paying 75% of the rent is better than the unit being unoccupied and the landlord getting nothing for it?’.

Kim further outlined the vicious cycle high rents can pose for local businesses. ‘We pay a private company for our household waste to be taken away… online stores and services have much lower overhead costs than bricks-and-mortar businesses – meaning they can lower their prices on goods/services, and so with many of us looking to save money, this of course makes them a more appealing option’. The issue here being, that locals themselves, whether it be a business or resident, are incentivised to save costs instead of funding other potential enterprises around town.

If protections aren’t put in place for high-street independents, it would seem more likely that while Middlesbrough welcomes experiential services, the main beneficiaries would be chains like the new Wendy’s or STACK, which can stomach low profit yields easily due to their range of businesses nationwide, a luxury an independent, locally owned business does not enjoy.

While a higher footfall could occur, and businesses begin to thrive, rent prices are also likely to increase alongside property value as Middlesbrough becomes more appealing to investors. If rent prices increase alongside footfall, the risks and challenges for businesses like Sacred Fury largely remain the same.

The other factor which needs to be addressed is that Middlesbrough still remains a town whose populace has a low spending power, a key difference separating the area from successful high-streets like Yarm. While offering leisure activities themselves may drive in higher footfall from visitors further afield, we have to ask how much of these activities will benefit Middlesbrough locals themselves.

Alongside the push for greater leisure experiences in town, the council aims to build 3,400 houses and apartments, built in the area around the Old Town Hall and towards the waterfront at Middlehaven Dock. While new homes immediately sound like a positive, more questions should be asked surrounding the affordability of the new developments. The council is partnering with housing developer Capital & Centric to deliver this project, who have previously been criticised for dodging building affordable housing across their various projects in Manchester, with the CEO himself admitting they would not invest if they were under obligation to build homes locals could afford.

The risk here becomes that as Middlesbrough high-street develops its leisure experiences, drawing in higher earning visitors and potential residents, property values again rise and current residents could be priced out of town. 

How can this be negated while still shifting to a leisure and experiences based offering? While creating jobs for locals is on a positive trend upwards, Middlesbrough’s productivity remains low. A Lancaster university study stated how locals in the area have less money to spend due to Middlesbrough being populated by ‘a higher-than-average rate of 'severe insecurity', featuring involuntary part-time and involuntary temporary forms of work’. The Director for the centre of cities stated how focusing on job creation numbers only can leave out how important it is that these jobs result in wage growth and disposable income. To ensure locals are not left out of the shift towards a more leisure-based town centre, Middlesbrough needs investment in not just more jobs, but better-quality jobs, alongside affordable living.

A more experience-based economy for Middlesbrough is undoubtedly welcome, this means a greater capacity for community, higher footfall, and renewed urban vitality. However, the plans to rejuvenate the town must also involve and protect the people who live and work in Middlesbrough already. 

The government should look beyond merely drawing in more businesses. A recent suggestion by the Green Party may help protect both locals and independent businesses. When interviewed on the BBC recently, Zack Polanski put forward the idea of rent controls decided by regional mayors, which could lessen the cost of doing business for independents like Sacred Fury, not to mention protect locals from rising rent prices and encourage more spending. 

Ultimately, both Middlesbrough locals, and independent businesses such as Sacred Fury, depend on a stable income and being able to afford rent. And while large food chains, as well as residents with a higher income could no doubt thrive if the high-street were to become a successful leisure base like Yarm, local and national government must take a big picture approach, and ensure those already residing in Middlesbrough can grow alongside the new vision for the town, as opposed to being pushed out.