How local trade associations benefit UK communities

If you’re a pro-active independent business in the UK, you may wonder how to connect with like-minded individuals in your area. Being part of a local traders group can be an excellent way to network, share ideas, gain valuable insights and make a positive impact on your community. You may be wondering how trade associations benefit communities and if it’s something you should investigate for your high street.

Trade associations play a crucial role in supporting and promoting local UK businesses and the communities where they trade. Often they get started when a handful of business owners, who are change-makers, come together for the greater good of the high street or town centre. When local businesses collaborate they become a powerful force for change, helping to improve profits by coming together and the overall trading conditions and influencing policy and decision-making. In this blog article, we explore how the benefits of organising a trade association locally far outweigh the challenges.

Understanding your niche

When starting a local trade association, it’s a good idea to understand what makes your high street, town centre or individual business unique. It’s tempting to look towards the next town or one of your neighbouring businesses and think to yourself. “if that’s working for them, it will work for me.” It usually doesn’t resonate with locals who will recognise a lack of authenticity, so it’s better to concentrate on what makes your business district unique. For example, are you a tourist destination or a place where locals shop every day? You can often find inspiration on a local and national level to include as part of your unique selling point and the content you create to promote it. Knowing who your customers are and delivering an experience for them is vital to success.

Clustering for the common good

Community businesses that come together have a noticeable advantage over clusters that go it alone because they emphasise collaboration and a shared agenda of social benefit. When collaboration is the state of play, businesses look outwards and become more inclusive in their approach, not only on their survival and success. This mindset enables an “infrastructure for people to bring up their ideas.” helping high streets transform and survive in the face of ongoing challenges. The logic follows when businesses support each other, they are more likely to grow and thrive as a whole.

People rather than buildings make places

Members of a trade association are often behind the regeneration of  UK high streets across by working together to maximise footfall and animate spaces, creating reasons to be there. Where businesses build on existing attachments and forge new emotional bonds between people and place, there are big opportunities for a transformative and supportive environment to evolve. By involving businesses, community champions and professionals, you create a united front, promoting and advocating for local businesses within the community. Actions like these can help to raise awareness for every local business, large or small.

Fostering economic development

Trade associations also play a vital role in promoting economic development within the local community. One of the main functions of a trade association is to actively support local businesses and professionals, which helps to create jobs and boosts the local economy. They also work to attract new businesses and investment to the area, promoting improvements and growth in the community. They help stimulate discussions that deliver financial support and have the knowledge and expertise to work with local councils to develop programmes that protect jobs, livelihoods and support the long-term transformation of the local economy, infrastructure and services.

Building stronger community ties

If business owners and councils started visualising high street as “hubs; this could result in stronger community ties with a shared purpose locally along with a dynamic high street emerging. As mentioned in this blog article, identifying your niche as a business district can help drive this change. By turning high streets into destinations catering to consumers, with activities such as arts and creative pursuits, community gathering places, food and drink spots, and adding places for co-working are a good places to start. Few of these activities involve retailing as their primary activity, but as your “hub approach” takes hold and grows, retailers can gather around them. High streets are well-placed to host mix use of businesses and places.

When business owners “give back to the community”, this boosts their reputation and builds trust with locals. One key area that could result in a positive impact is recruiting and retaining staff. Job seekers align themselves with businesses that demonstrate caring behaviours and support the local community.

Unlocking the network effect

Starting a trade association in your local area unlocks valuable opportunities to network and collaborate. When forming a trade association, the group can kick-off with a WhatsApp or private Facebook group to arrange meetings and events at convenient times and locations for the participating members. By regularly connecting with other business owners locally, the group will find they start formulating winning ideas, apply learnings and create strategies that translate to real improvements for trading and better experiences for customers in the area.

Hosting ongoing meetings/events will help foster an environment for partnerships and collaborations to emerge within the group, leading to further growth and development. You will also attract new and returning customers to the area by adding timely events that complement what makes it so unique to the location and community; here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Seasonal events and festivals such as the upcoming Coronation street parties, or local high street summer fairs and festivals
• Evens that promote greener, environmentally friendly initiatives, such as cycle rides, walks or Net Zero road races
• Run competitions to promote arts & culture, or encourage entrepreneurs to get involved with a redesign or ideas for a mixed-use space

Influencing policy and decision-making

Forming trade associations can also have a powerful influence on policy and decision-making. Current government initiatives such as the Towns Fund and the Levelling Up programmes may be more of a stopgap than a long-term solution. Members of a trade association can get involved with the direction of travel for future planning of policies that contribute to broader placemaking objectives, such as encouraging active travel, initiatives that promote sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and policies that strengthen the high street and plans for the future.

What are the range of benefits

In conclusion, organising a trade association has many positive benefits for local UK communities. When business owners, champions, and others in the community join forces, the result is an overall environment that promotes business support and economic development, builds stronger community ties, unlocks collaboration and influences local policy and decision-making.

These benefits positively impact the local community, promoting growth, development, and prosperity. If you’re interested in organising a trade association in your local community, SaveTheHighStreet.org offers the resources and services to help you get started. By working together towards common goals, trade associations can make a meaningful difference in the local community, promoting a vibrant and thriving local economy. Have we convinced you that trade associations benefit local UK communities yet?

Get in touch today if you’re thinking of starting a local trade association or want to know more about our services by emailing partners@savethehighstreet.org.