Local Services: Happy Places A report for the Association of Convenience Stores October 2012

Transcription

1 Local Services: Happy Places A report for the Association of Convenience Stores October 2012 Part 1: The role of commercial infrastructure in neighbourhood satisfaction.

2 Table of contents 1. Introduction 7 2. Executive summary 8 3. Methodology Brief literature review Overview Methodological challenges Drivers of neighbourhood satisfaction Opportunities for further research Section summary 5. Neighbourhood satisfaction Overall neighbourhood satisfaction Section summary 6. The high level drivers of satisfaction How important are the different factors? Satisfaction levels with each of the high level drivers Safety and security Appearance and cleanliness Community and neighbourliness Facilities and amenities Section summary 7. Drivers of satisfaction with facilities and amenities How important are the different factors? Satisfaction levels with the drivers Public services Parks and open spaces Transportation links Quality of local shops, places to eat or drink and other local businesses Range of local shops, places to eat or drink and other local businesses Community facilities Changes in local facilities and amenities over time Section summary 8. Commercial infrastructure in depth Perceptions of local commercial infrastructure Specific local commercial infrastructure: presence and number of particular local businesses

3 Specific local commercial infrastructure: quality ratings of particular local businesses The impact that different kinds of local infrastructure has on a local area The drivers of satisfaction with local commercial infrastructure 9. Convenience stores Recap of findings related to convenience stores What qualities are important for a convenience store? Good range of products Clean and well maintained Fair prices Fresh fruit and vegetables Community involvement and engagement Describing my local convenience store The role of convenience stores in different cities, towns and villages Qualitative findings related to type of convenience store What does the ideal convenience store look like? Summary: Qualitative and quantitative findings related to convenience stores 10. Conclusions Appendices APPENDIX 1: Quantitative questionnaire APPENDIX 2: Qualitative discussion guide 3

4 List of figures Fig 1: Satisfaction with area within 10 minutes walk of respondents home 18 Fig 2: Variation from the average satisfaction with the area within 10 minutes walk of respondents home, by age group 19 Fig 3: Variation from the average satisfaction with the area within 10 minutes walk of 19 respondents home, by region Fig 4: Level of satisfaction with high level factors relating to respondents local area 22 Fig 5: Perceived improvement or deterioration in respondents local area in the last three years 23 Fig 6: Perceived improvement in respondents local area in the last three years, by region 23 Fig 7: Satisfaction with safety and security, by type and place of residence 24 Fig 8: Perceived safety and security in respondents local area 24 Fig 9: Satisfaction with appearance or cleanliness of local area, by type and place of residence 26 Fig 10: Perceived appearance and cleanliness of respondents local area 26 Fig 11: Satisfaction with sense of community and neighbourliness in local area, by type and place of residence 27 Fig 12: Perceived sense of community and neighbourliness of respondents local area 27 Fig 13: Satisfaction with range and quality of facilities and amenities in local area, by type and place of residence 29 Fig 14: Satisfaction with safety and security in local area, by type and place of residence 30 Fig 15: Satisfaction with sense of community and neighbourliness in local area, by type and place of residence 30 Fig 16: Satisfaction with appearance or cleanliness in local area, by type and place of residence 30 Fig 17: Variation from the average satisfaction with facilities and amenities and the overall area within 10 minutes walk of respondents home, by region 31 Fig 18: Satisfaction with commercial infrastructure and other high level factors 35 Fig 19: Satisfaction with commercial infrastructure and other high level factors, by age group 35 Fig 20: Satisfaction with public services, by type and place of residence 36 Fig 21: Satisfaction with parks and open spaces, by type and place of residence 37 Fig 22: Satisfaction with transport links, by type and place of residence 38 Fig 23: Satisfaction with quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses, by type and place of residence Fig 24: Satisfaction with range of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses, by type and place of residence Fig 25: Satisfaction with community facilities, by type and place of residence 41 Fig 26: Perceived improvement and deterioration in respondents local area across the high level factors 42 Fig 27: Satisfaction with commercial infrastructure in local area 45 Fig 28: Access to local shops or other businesses that stock day-to-day essentials 48 Fig 29: Access to local shops or other businesses that stock day-to-day essentials, by region 48 Fig 30: Perceptions of community in respondents local area 49 Fig 31: Perceptions of safety in respondents local area 50 4

5 Fig 32: Perceptions of economic decline in respondents local area 52 Fig 33: Types of shops, places to eat or drink and other businesses respondents list in their local area 54 Fig 34: Number of shops, places to eat or drink and other businesses respondents have in their local area 55 Fig 35: Quality rating of respondents local commercial infrastructure, by type 60 Fig 36: Perceived positive / negative impact of different types of commercial infrastructure on the local area (those identifying a negative impact are expressed as a negative percentage) Fig 37: Perceived positive / negative impact of pubs and bars, by urban or rural environment (those identifying a negative impact are expressed as a negative percentage) Fig 38: Perceived positive / negative impact of pubs and bars, by region (those identifying a negative impact are expressed as a negative percentage) Fig 39: Type of commercial infrastructure respondents think has the strongest positive impact on their local area Fig 40: Explanation for choice of the local commercial infrastructure that has the strongest positive impact Fig 41: Type of commercial infrastructure respondents think has the strongest negative impact on their local area Fig 42: Explanation for choice of the local commercial infrastructure that has the strongest negative impact Fig 43: Types of commercial infrastructure that, if introduced locally, would be positive or negative for the area (those identifying a negative impact are expressed as a negative percentage) Fig 44: Essential requirements for a good local convenience store 78 Fig 45: The three most important factors for a good local convenience store 78 Fig 46: The three most important factors for a good local convenience store, by urban or rural environment 79 Fig 47: The statements that describe respondents local convenience store 83 Fig 48: The statements that describe respondents local convenience store, and the reported importance of each Fig 49: The statements that describe respondents local convenience store, by urban or rural environment Fig 50: Perceptions of the people that run their local convenience store, by housing type (social, private rental or owned) List of tables Table 1: Correlation between respondents level of satisfaction and the high level factors 21 Table 2: Regression results: Overarching satisfaction with local infrastructure and local facilities and amenities 33 Table 3: Respondents satisfaction with the high level factors in their local area 34 Table 4: Satisfaction with public services, by region 36 Table 5: Satisfaction with parks and open spaces, by region 37 Table 6: Satisfaction with transport links, by region 38 Table 7: Satisfaction with quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses, by region Table 8: Satisfaction with range of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses, by region Table 9: Satisfaction with community facilities, by region 41 5

6 Table 10: Correlation between respondents local commercial infrastructure and their level of satisfaction with the quality and range of commercial infrastructure overall Table 11: Mean number of each type of commercial infrastructure in residents local area, by urban or rural environment Table 12: Mean number of each type of commercial infrastructure in residents local area, by region 57 Table 13: Correlation between the frequency of commercial infrastructure types locally, and respondents level of satisfaction with the range and the quality of commercial infrastructure 58 Table 14: Quality rating of respondents local commercial infrastructure, by region 60 Table 15: Correlation between how highly respondents rate the quality of local commercial infrastructure and their perceptions of the range and quality of local commercial infrastructure overall Table 16: Correlation between the perceived quantity and quality of local commercial infrastructure and the reported quality of local infrastructure overall Table 17: Correlation between the number and quality of each type of local infrastructure and the overall satisfaction with the range of local commercial infrastructure Table 18: Commercial infrastructure types with the strongest positive local impact and respondents reasons for choosing them Table 19: Correlation between types of commercial infrastructure available nearby and overall satisfaction with the range of local commercial infrastructure Table 20: Correlation between types of commercial infrastructure available nearby and overall satisfaction with the quality of local commercial infrastructure

7 1. Introduction Local Services: Happy Places provides a new invaluable insight into how the range and quality of shops, pubs, post offices and other services close to people's homes affects the way they feel about where they live. It shows that this infrastructure is crucially important to local people, and that how they feel about local services goes far deeper than just the products these businesses sell. This report shines a light on a part of our local economy and community that is often forgotten and neglected by policy. The recent excellent work of the Mary Portas Review focused on the town centres and high streets that are at the heart of towns and cities. This report goes even further - looking at the local shops and parades that provide a focal point for neighbourhoods, villages and estates. The insights of this report will be useful to all policy makers and influencers who take an interest in communities and what can make them better places to live. We will be sharing it widely. Alongside the research we have developed a series of policy recommendations for central and local Government on how to promote investment and growth amongst the businesses that are needed in our local communities. James Lowman Chief Executive Association of Convenience Stores 7

8 2. Executive summary The Association of Convenience Stores commissioned BritainThinks to conduct research into the role that local commercial infrastructure (the shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes of residents homes) plays in driving overall neighbourhood satisfaction. The project used a quantitative survey and qualitative focus groups to explore a wide range of attitudes towards neighbourhoods generally and local commercial infrastructure in particular. Alongside this, the report also sets out findings from a series of regression analyses designed to identify: The role of facilities and amenities in driving overall satisfaction with the area within 10 minutes walk of respondents homes (relative to three other high level drivers identified in the literature) The specific contribution that satisfaction with the quality and range of local commercial infrastructure plays in driving satisfaction with local facilities and amenities more broadly The features of local shops, places to eat and drink, and other businesses that are most closely associated with satisfaction with the range and quality of commercial infrastructure. Existing research around neighbourhood satisfaction Multiple studies in recent years have found consistently high levels of neighbourhood satisfaction in the UK. Across the literature, four broad factors are consistently associated with neighbourhood satisfaction: 1. Perceptions of crime, safety and security 2. Sense of social networks or community cohesion 3. Appearance and cleanliness of the area 4. The services, facilities and amenities on offer 8

9 While public services and council-run services and amenities have been the subject of numerous studies, less attention has been paid to the role of commercial infrastructure (the shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses) specifically in driving neighbourhood satisfaction Overall satisfaction Overall area satisfaction is high amongst GB adults. 76% of the population give the area within 10 minutes walk of their home a score of 7 or above out of 10. Only 4% give their neighbourhood a score of 3 or below. Broadly speaking, more rural, more affluent areas are more satisfied with the area within 10 minutes walk of their homes, although this is cross-cut by differences related to age (older people are more satisfied; younger adults are less so) and some regional variations. High level drivers of overall satisfaction The four high level factors that we identified in the literature account for a large proportion of variation with overall neighbourhood satisfaction. Satisfaction with facilities and amenities plays an important role. We asked people to rate their satisfaction with four high level factors in relation to the area within 10 minutes walk of their home: o Range and quality of facilities and amenities o Safety and security o Appearance and cleanliness o Sense of community and neighbourliness The high level drivers vary significantly with cross-cutting factors such as region, rurality and housing situation o Facilities and amenities in particular behaves differently from the other drivers, with more rural areas displaying lower satisfaction than urban areas. The high level drivers account for a sizeable proportion (38%) of variation in the measure of respondents overall satisfaction with the area within 10 minutes walk from their homes. Satisfaction with facilities and amenities accounts for a fifth of the overall explanatory power of the model. Drivers of satisfaction with facilities and amenities 63% of respondents are satisfied with the range and quality of facilities and amenities within 10 minutes walk of their home. The range and quality of commercial infrastructure (the local shops, places to eat or drink and other local businesses) in a local area has a great deal of importance for overall ratings of the Facilities and Amenities in a neighbourhood. Taken together, the ratings for range and quality of local commercial infrastructure account for 58% of the power of the regression model. o Range came top as the most powerful explanatory factor in our model, accounting for 32% of the variation explained o Quality of local infrastructure had slightly lower explanatory power, accounting for 26% of the variation explained 9

10 o Satisfaction is higher with quality of local shops than with range, although range is a more important factor in explaining satisfaction. Of the other facilities and amenities we tested, Transport Links was the most powerful driver of satisfaction with Facilities and Amenities overall. Satisfaction with Public services, Parks and open spaces, and Community facilities had the lowest levels of importance when it came to explaining satisfaction with local facilities and amenities. Drivers of satisfaction with local commercial infrastructure The survey investigated a wide range of perceptions related to the shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of respondents homes to understand which characteristics are most powerfully related to satisfaction with range and quality of local commercial infrastructure. Agreeing that you can get hold of the day to day essentials within 10 minutes walk is the single most important factor for satisfaction with the range and quality of commercial infrastructure. Offering a high rating for the quality of local independent convenience stores is strong driver of satisfaction with range and quality of commercial infrastructure. The number of restaurants and cafes in an area is important for range, and to a lesser extent for quality satisfaction ratings. Social aspects of local infrastructure are also important for driving higher satisfaction o Meeting friends and neighbours at local places to eat and drink o Seeing the local shops as an important part of the local community There is some indication that evidence of decline particularly in terms of closing shops is negatively related to satisfaction o In particular, the outward signs of this, in terms of vacant shops should be avoided to prevent the sense of decline. Local commercial infrastructure plays a number of roles that go beyond simply providing local facilities or amenities The qualitative and quantitative research found that, alongside driving views of facilities and amenities; commercial infrastructure has a much wider role to play with clear linkages between positivity about commercial infrastructure in an area, and the area s performance on the three other high level drivers safety & security; community and neighbourliness; and appearance and cleanliness. For people who currently have them within a 10 minute walk, post offices, specialist food shops and supermarket chain convenience stores are thought to have the strongest positive impact on the neighbourhood. o The strongest negative impact was associated with betting shops and pawnbrokers/moneylenders (although very few have an example of the latter nearby). 10

11 Asked which single type of shop locally has the strongest positive impact, convenience stores came top, followed by restaurants and cafes, and then by supermarkets o The type of commercial infrastructure that was most commonly cited as having the biggest negative impact locally were pubs and bars, but this was only cited by 12% of the population, and 45% could not name a business that has a negative impact. For those who don t have them: o Post offices, specialist food shops and restaurants are felt to be the additions that would bring the greatest positive benefit to the area o Fast food outlets, betting shops and pawnbrokers are felt to be the additions that would bring the greatest negative impact on the area o There is uncertainty around pubs and bars, and supermarket chain convenience stores amongst those who don t have one nearby. Convenience stores can have a real impact Convenience stores have a real role to play as the most numerous of the local infrastructure types we researched they have a significant impact on people s satisfaction with their local facilities and amenities. The most important qualities for a convenience store are: Being clean and well maintained both inside and out Having a good range of products Having fair prices Specifics about the products or the behaviours of the convenience store are also important for example having long opening hours; a free cash machine; and fresh fruit and veg. Community factors such as commitment to the local area and having information about what s going on locally are also considered important by a majority of respondents o These community elements were more highly prized by residents in more rural locations. o Qualitative research suggested that one of the main ways that a shop can demonstrate commitment to the local community is through the availability of products suited to the tastes and requirements of people in the area. o Alongside this, workshop participants felt that bumping into people that you know is most important from a social perspective. The numerical abundance of convenience stores in urban areas means that urban respondents are more concerned with price, than with range. Respondents from smaller towns and villages, who often need to get everything in one place, or have less ability to shop around, tend to prioritise range. In general, convenience stores perform well on the factors that matter most. 11

12 o Although there is a gap between the proportion of people who feel price is important, and the proportion who feel they receive fair prices from their most frequently visited store. o Similarly, having a free cash machine is felt to be important by far more people than actually have access to one in their local shop. Urban convenience stores are more likely to have long opening hours; and better prices than rural ones. Rural convenience stores tend to be better integrated with their communities, with more people knowing the people who run the store, and more feeling that those people are committed to the local area. 12

13 3. Methodology The fieldwork comprised a telephone survey of 2000 British adults aged 18+, alongside two extended workshops with members of the public recruited to reflect the breadth of neighbourhood experiences that we uncovered in the quantitative stage. Alongside the original research, we also conducted a brief literature review, designed to understand the key themes that emerge from recent research into neighbourhood satisfaction. The review was by no means exhaustive, but included the most commonly cited and top listing papers and publications which emerged through a series of defined search-terms. The review was focussed on UK research from the last four years Quantitative telephone survey of 2000 British Adults 15 minute telephone survey Conducted using random digit dialing (RDD) telephone calls to landline numbers Data were weighted to reflect the demographics of British adults, in terms of age, gender, social class, and region 3.2. Statistical analysis of quantitative data We conducted two different types of multivariate statistical analysis of the survey data: o Correlated Components Regression (CCR) was used to assess the drivers of: Overall satisfaction Satisfaction with range and quality of facilities and amenities Satisfaction with quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses Satisfaction with range of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses o Latent Class Analysis segmentation to identify clusters of respondents based on their accounts of the facilities and amenities in their local areas Qualitative workshops with members of the public In order to enhance our depth of understanding around the impacts of commercial infrastructure (shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses) on neighbourhood satisfaction, we conducted two hour workshops with members of the public one in Birmingham, and one in Bristol. In each location 12 members of the public were purposively recruited and incentivised for their time o 6 feel positive about the facilities and amenities near their home; 6 feel less positive o 4 live in a rural setting, 4 in a suburban/small town setting, and 4 in an urban area. o Respondents were recruited to include a good spread of ages, income levels, occupational backgrounds. 13

14 4. Brief literature review This study complements and adds to a significant body of research around neighbourhood satisfaction, largely conducted by local and national government, think tanks, campaign groups and academics. This very brief review of the literature is by no means exhaustive. It does however take in the major contributions to the subject over the past ten years; offers an indication of where the research seems to have been most focused and where this study may go some way to offer new insight and understanding Overview: Across a range of studies from both the UK and abroad, and over time, there emerges a fairly consistent picture: high levels of neighbourhood satisfaction, broadly driven by four key factors (see, for example, Basolo and Strong, 2002). Perceptions of crime, safety and security Sense of social networks, social capital or community cohesion Appearance and cleanliness of the area The services, facilities and amenities on offer As may be expected, some of these areas have been investigated in real depth, while others remain relatively understudied in the existing body of research. In particular, while the role of public services has been closely scrutinised particularly in the large body of research conducted by local authorities (DCLG, 2008), the specific role of commercial infrastructure (the shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within a given area) in levels of neighbourhood satisfaction has received less attention. Infrastructure is often discussed broadly, with commercial amenities grouped in with public services (Greater London Authority, 2011). However there is evidence, particularly from qualitative research, that commercial infrastructure plays an important role in how residents feel about their local areas (Clarke and Banga, 2008; Hastings, 2011) Methodological Challenges Virtually all British studies find neighbourhood satisfaction to be high, with around 80% saying they are satisfied with the area in which they live. In seeking to understand this high level of satisfaction, several academic studies have focused on the methodological challenges inherent in researching this subject. These challenges are indicated by, for example, the fact that satisfaction is often found to be no lower than average amongst deprived areas (Bashir, et al., 2011). Explanations for what may be slightly inflated levels of neighbourhood satisfaction include: The suggestion that those residents who have no opportunity to move away from a bad area may prefer to claim satisfaction, rather than acknowledge their situation more truthfully (Skifter Andersen, 2008). The extent to which it is predicated on expectations so residents of different ages, social class, housing tenure will rate satisfaction against different benchmarks (Skifter Andersen, 2008). 14

15 A further issue identified in the literature lies in the difficulty of pulling apart area satisfaction from residence satisfaction, and also determining a consistent definition of the neighbourhood or local area (RESTATE, 2004; Basolo and Strong, 2002). One response to this has been to define the local area in terms of a particular circumference around the home with measures ranging from 5 minutes walk to 20 minutes walk, or embracing a range of different distance measures. Researchers have often negotiated the challenges of understanding the perceptions that lie behind headline satisfaction measures through statistical analyses of quantitative work. Regression analyses are used to move beyond demographic variations, to isolate those aspects of neighbourhoods which drive satisfaction. These demographic variations are complex, but quite consistent across a wide range of surveys. Findings indicate that satisfaction rises with residents ability to choose the area lived in, as well as the likelihood that residents have made a commitment to the area they are currently in (See, for example, Skifter Andersen, 2008; Basolo and Strong, 2002, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2008): Overall satisfaction increases with age, which is presumed to be a result of older residents being more settled into an area which they have chosen. Those with families are more satisfied than younger, single residents, who are more likely to be transient and less attached to an area. Homeowners tend to be more satisfied than those who are renting, again, likely to be a product of having selected an area to commit to long-term Drivers of neighbourhood satisfaction Previous research has tended to group the most important drivers of neighbourhood satisfaction in to four broad, and somewhat overlapping categories. Each of these four areas touch on either or both of two main strands of neighbourhood satisfaction often identified as emotional place attachment ; that is, the role of the local area in supporting residents selfidentity or social status; and functional place attachment, referring to the functional convenience of an area as a place to live (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2008). Crime, safety and security frequently emerges as the most significant factor in driving neighbourhood satisfaction. This is a broad category, encompassing anti-social behaviour which is as detrimental to neighbourhood satisfaction as is the incidence of more serious crime. This supports an important finding that fear of crime is actually a stronger driver of satisfaction than actual crime levels (Skifter Andersen, 2008). This 15

16 category is perhaps the strongest driver of neighbourhood satisfaction given that it encompasses both functional and emotional place attachment. Sense of social networks and community cohesion driving neighbourhood satisfaction is another common finding from the existing research. Again, this is a broad grouping and encompasses relationships between different ethnic communities; feelings of belonging to the local area; perception of being able to influence local decision making; and quality and frequency of interaction with neighbours (Basolo and Strong, 2002; Bashir, et al., 2011). Appearance and cleanliness of the area is another important driver, and strongly linked to presence and quality of amenities, as well as aspects of anti-social behaviour such as graffiti, litter, and upkeep of public spaces and buildings. An approach often taken to understand neighbourhood satisfaction is to look through the prism of external opinions of an area s reputation, and how this reputation affects residents social status and identity. Appearance and cleanliness seems to be a particularly strong driver of this self-reflecting image of neighbourhood satisfaction (Skifter Andersen, 2008). Presence of services, amenities and facilities is the final significant neighbourhood feature which drives satisfaction. This is possibly the broadest category, encompassing public services (including schools, hospitals, theatres, museums and council services such as street lighting and waste collection); transport links; commercial infrastructure including availability of jobs; and parks and open spaces. Relatively few surveys distinguish between or compare the importance of each of these aspects. However, there is work commissioned by ACS to show some particulars, for example, the importance of having a local shop within 5 minutes walk from the home (Clarke/Banga, 2010). Some studies have engaged with the role of shops specifically (Gateshead Council, 2012; Greater London Authority, 2011), however they lack detail on the type of shops referred to, and the area discussed is city wide rather than more immediate local areas. Again, there are clear areas of overlap between this category and others; for example the quality of street lighting and cleaning is linked to sense of safety and community. Similarly the quality and maintenance of public and commercial amenities is linked to appearance and cleanliness. There is some evidence that, for example, convenience store owners might have a role to play in fostering a sense of community, with a recent ACS poll of members showing that 89% of the 200 retailers that responded to the survey engaging in some kind of community activity (ACS, 2012) Opportunities for further research The existing research into neighbourhood satisfaction clearly sets up four broad areas of drivers of neighbourhood satisfaction. However, aside from the significance of security and safety, it is difficult to determine a 16

17 hierarchy of importance across these four areas. This leaves room for a study to seek a better understanding of the extent to which each drives overall satisfaction. Amongst the four areas identified here, there is also scope to understand the role of commercial infrastructure in more detail, in particular to pull it apart from public services and publicly run amenities. Within commercial infrastructure, the existing research has not tended to focus on understanding public perceptions of the contribution made by services, businesses and amenities. Outstanding questions include: The different impacts of different types of shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses on the local area. The different contributions that quality of commercial infrastructure and range of commercial infrastructure can make to satisfaction in an area, The extent to which commercial infrastructure can have an impact that goes wider than simply making an area more convenient to live in (to move beyond playing a role in functional place attachment to emotional place attachment), and makes a contribution to those other drivers of satisfaction such as safety and security, cleanliness, or the sense of neighbourliness or community. This report offers a first attempt to address some of these gaps Section summary Key points: Multiple studies in recent years have found consistently high levels of neighbourhood satisfaction in the UK. Across the literature, four broad factors are consistently associated with neighbourhood satisfaction: 1. Perceptions of crime, safety and security 2. Sense of social networks or community cohesion 3. Appearance and cleanliness of the area 4. The services, facilities and amenities on offer While public services and council-run services and amenities have been the subject of numerous studies, less attention has been paid to the role of commercial infrastructure (the shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses) specifically in driving neighbourhood satisfaction 17

18 5. Neighbourhood satisfaction This research aims to investigate the role that satisfaction with local facilities and amenities plays within overall neighbourhood satisfaction (defined as satisfaction with the area within 10 minutes walk of a respondent s home). In particular, it seeks to understand the role that commercial infrastructure (the shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of home) can play in driving area satisfaction. The starting point for the survey, therefore, was to understand respondents baseline satisfaction with their neighbourhoods, and then to understand their underlying perceptions about their area Overall neighbourhood satisfaction Respondents were asked to rate how satisfied they are with their local area, defined as the area within 10 minutes walk from their home. Overall, neighbourhood satisfaction is high, with 76% of the total sample rating their local area as 7 or more out 10. Even taking into account differences in question wording and answer scales, this result is very much in line with previous research conducted on the subject (see for example DCLG, 2009). Fig 1: Satisfaction with area within 10 minutes walk of respondents home Satisfied (7-10) 76% Neither (4-6) 20% Dissatisfied (0-3) 4% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Q1. I would like you to think about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home as a whole. Please rate your satisfaction with the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: 2,001) While satisfaction may be described as high across most demographic groupings, there are, nonetheless, some important variations across the sample. Age correlates more closely with satisfaction than does social grade, whereby satisfaction broadly increases with age: Under 25 s are the least satisfied and over 65 s the most. The average satisfaction score across the sample is 7.5 out of 10; the chart below shows the deviation above or below this average, according to age bands, where the very youngest and very oldest groups show the biggest differences in levels of satisfaction. 18

19 Fig 2: Variation from the average satisfaction with the area within 10 minutes walk of respondents home, by age group Q1. I would like you to think about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home as a whole. Please rate your satisfaction with the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Where people live also influences how satisfied they are with their local neighbourhood, and we can identify some regional differences. Again, the chart below indicates deviation from the average satisfaction score of 7.5 out of 10, and we see that people living in Wales and the South West are the most satisfied with where they live. In contrast those living in London and the North East are the least satisfied. Fig 3: Variation from the average satisfaction with the area within 10 minutes walk of respondents home, by region Q1. I would like you to think about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home as a whole. Please rate your satisfaction with the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) 19

20 As in previous studies of this kind (see, for example, RESTATE, 2004), we don t see major differences in satisfaction by social grade, although there are other factors that do point towards income positively correlating with satisfaction: Satisfaction is higher among homeowners (outright and mortgage) than among council or housing association tenants Satisfaction increases in line with higher educational attainment and number of cars per household. As expected - and in line with the findings from the literature review living in a rural area has a positive impact on satisfaction, which in turn helps explain lower levels of overall satisfaction among the London population the only region that is co-terminous with a single urban area Section summary Key points: Overall area satisfaction is high o 76% of the population give the area within 10 minutes walk of their home a score of 7 or above out of 10. Only 4% give their neighbourhood a score of 3 or below. Satisfaction varies in line with socio-economic situation, and with age. Regionally, the pattern is more varied, but broadly speaking, more rural, more affluent areas are more satisfied with the area within 10 minutes walk of their homes. The following sections look at the different factors that affect overall satisfaction ratings, considering four broad drivers, before focusing on the role of facilities and amenities, and specifically on the role of different types of commercial infrastructure. 20

21 6. The high level drivers of satisfaction Based on existing research into the subject, our survey measured respondent satisfaction with the area within 10 minutes walk from their homes in terms of four broad factors that have consistently been shown to contribute towards how satisfied people are with their local neighbourhood (See, for example Skifter Andersen, 2008; Basolo and Strong, 2002). These are: Range and quality of facilities and amenities (such as public transport, shops, places to eat or drink, schools and public services) Safety and security (such as the rate of crime, level of anti-social behaviour and feelings of safety) Sense of community and neighbourliness Appearance and cleanliness (such as the way the buildings look and the amount of graffiti and litter in the local area) Importantly, this is a very parsimonious model, relying on a small number of broad drivers to explain overarching satisfaction levels. The aim here was less to describe the full range of potential factors that could affect satisfaction, and more to understand the explanatory power of each of the four main drivers that have emerged most consistently from existing research How important are the different factors? Statistical analysis allows us to look at the importance of each factor in explaining variation in respondents overall satisfaction levels. The four factors in the model explain a substantial amount (38%) of variation in the headline satisfaction measure (R 2 = 38.4%). Given the huge range of factors that could influence satisfaction (which might embrace myriad elements including an individual respondent s housing situation; life experiences; relationships with neighbours; social situation; sense of optimism or pessimism, etc.), this slimmed-down model demonstrates a good level of explanatory power. The regression analysis also shows the individual contribution of each of the four factors to the explanatory power of the model (%importance). Table 1: Correlation between respondents level of satisfaction and the high level factors Factor Correlation Importance SATISFACTION WITH Safety and security % SATISFACTION WITH Appearance or cleanliness % SATISFACTION WITH Sense of community and neighbourliness % SATISFACTION WITH Range and quality of facilities and amenities % All four factors have a strong positive correlation with overall satisfaction. Within this, Safety & Security is the most important single factor in the 21

22 model when it comes to explaining levels of overall satisfaction with local neighbourhood (29% importance), followed by Appearance & Cleanliness (28% importance) and Sense of community & Neighbourliness (23% importance). Range & Quality of Facilities & Amenities is the fourth most important factor, but still accounts for a significant proportion variation in the headline measure facilities and amenities account for one fifth of the variation in overall satisfaction levels explained by our model (20% importance) Satisfaction levels with each of the high level drivers When asked to rate their satisfaction (out of 10) with each of the four factors, overall levels are high, with appearance or cleanliness achieving the highest level of satisfaction across the sample as a whole, at 71%. Fig 4: Level of satisfaction with high level factors relating to respondents local area Satisfied (7-10) Somewhat satisfied (4-6) Dissatisfied (0-3) Appearance or cleanliness Safety and security Range and quality of facilities and amenities Sense of community and neighborliness Q3. Thinking about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, please rate your satisfaction with the [factor] in the area on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: 2,001) Of the 4 factors in the model, range and quality of facilities and amenities is the factor that is most likely to have changed for the better over the last three years. Sense of community and neighbourliness is the factor that is least likely to have changed over the last three years, and safety and security is most likely to have become worse, with 22% having seen a decline here (31% in West Midlands, 27% in London and 27% in Yorkshire & Humber). 22

23 Fig 5: Perceived improvement or deterioration in respondents local area in the last three years Better No change Worse Range and quality of facilities and amenities Appearance or cleanliness Sense of community and neighborliness Safety and security Q4. Thinking about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, has the... in the area got better or worse in the last three years? (Base: 2,001) Splitting this out by area, London stands out as having experienced the biggest improvement in facilities and amenities at 46%, and Scotland the least, relatively speaking, at 26%. Other points to note are: On average, Scotland has experienced the lowest levels of improvement across the four factors, and London the highest The North East has improved most in terms of appearance and cleanliness, with 39% seeing an improvement, followed by London (37%) and Wales (35%) Fig 6: Perceived improvement in respondents local area in the last three years, by region Facilities & Amenities Safety & Security 46 Community & Neighbourliness Appearance or Cleanliness % better South West South East London Eastern Wales East Midlands West Midlands Y & H North West North East Scotland Q4. Thinking about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, has the... in the area got better or worse in the last three years? (Base: Various) 23

24 6.3. Safety and security Safety and security is the strongest driver of overall neighbourhood satisfaction tested in our model, accounting for 29%. As Figure 7 shows, 67% express satisfaction with the safety and security of their local area. Homeowners are more satisfied than social housing tenants, and satisfaction increases with rurality unsurprisingly, those in more urban areas feel the least safe and secure (58% versus 91% living in hamlets and isolated dwellings). Fig 7: Satisfaction with safety and security, by type and place of residence 91 % satisfaction Safety & security (total) Council Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet Q3. Thinking about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, please rate your satisfaction with the safety and security (such as the rate of crime, level of anti-social behaviour and feeling of safety) in the area on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Further demographic differences in satisfaction with safety and security include: Younger people aged are much more likely to be concerned about safety and security than their older counterparts, which is likely due to older people living in more rural locations (58% satisfaction versus 76%) Social grade does come into play, with ABs having higher than average satisfaction at 72% The South West is the most satisfied region (79%) and London the least (53%) Women are only 2% less satisfied with safety and security than men Respondents were asked how far they agree or disagree with a number of statements about their local area, two of which relate to safety: Fig 8: Perceived safety and security in respondents local area I think it is safe for my children to play outside in my local area Agree Neither agree or disagree Disagree N/A 52% 20% 10% 17% I feel safer now than I did in the past in my local area 41% 42% 17% 2% Q5. Thinking about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, to what extent do you agree with the following statements on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree (Base: 2,001) 24

25 People over 65 (52%) are the most likely to feel safer now than in the past, as well as DE social grades (50%) and council tenants (51%). Scotland and the North East are the regions most likely to agree they feel safer (47%) along with villages (48%). The qualitative research showed that safety and security features strongly in the way that people feel about their local area. In particular it can have an effect on their behaviour - such as not going out at night, or avoiding certain places. Women consistently felt safety was a bigger concern than men Those living in rural areas tend to feel safer. This isn t necessarily a product of lower fear of crime. Rather, workshop participants put this down to a tendency to drive to different places, while urban residents might walk more often, and use public transport, which was thought to lead to greater exposure to crime and anti-social behaviour. However, for some in rural areas, this lack of people out and about can increase the sense of insecurity as empty streets can feel threatening. everybody drives, therefore you don t see people about the place (female, rural) Consistent themes that make people feel more safe and secure include: Adequate street lighting, speed limits and well maintained roads and pavements, adequate police presence, people being around, CCTV and well maintained buildings Consistent themes that make people feel less safe and secure include: 6.4. Appearance and cleanliness Appearance and cleanliness is the second most important factor in our model, and explains 28% of overall neighbourhood satisfaction. Satisfaction levels are high, with 71% of the overall sample rating their local neighbourhood 7 or more out of 10. Again we see a positive skew towards homeowners and rural locations. 25

26 Fig 9: Satisfaction with appearance or cleanliness of local area, by type and place of residence % satisfaction Appearance or cleanliness (Total) Council Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet Q3. Thinking about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, please rate your satisfaction with the appearance or cleanliness (such as the way the buildings look and the amount of graffiti and litter) in the area on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Other demographic variations include: Over 65 s are the most satisfied at 76%, as are the higher social grades with 72% satisfaction among ABs versus 67% for DEs. As a whole, the South is 7% more satisfied than the North, and the South West scores the highest with 78%. Again, London sits at the bottom of the rankings with 61%. Figure 10 shows three negative statements which relate to the appearance and cleanliness of local neighbourhoods: There is a pattern across all three, where we see higher agreement among DE social groups, council and housing association tenants and urban areas and towns much more so than rural areas. Regionally, the North West and Wales have the highest problem with litter (39% agreement), the North East (31%) and North West (30%) the highest perceived drug problem and the North East with people being drunk and rowdy (37%). Fig 10: Perceived appearance and cleanliness of respondents local area Agree Neither agree or disagree Disagree N/A There is a problem with people using drugs and dealing drugs in my local 24% 24% 48% 5% There is a problem with people being drunk or rowdy in public places in 28% 24% 46% 2% There is often rubbish and litter on the streets in my local area 31% 26% 43% Q5. Thinking about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, to what extent do you agree with the following statements on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree. (Base: 2,001) 26

27 6.5. Community and neighbourliness Sense of community and neighbourliness accounts for 23% of overall satisfaction explained in our model. Overall, 62% of respondents indicated satisfaction with local sense of community and neighbourliness. A similar pattern exists here, with homeowners and rural residents more satisfied than council tenants and urbanites. Within this, villagers and hamlet dwellers are likely to be much more satisfied than the average. Fig 11: Satisfaction with sense of community and neighbourliness in local area, by type and place of residence % satisfaction Sense of community & neighbourliness (Total) Council Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet Q3. Thinking about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, please rate your satisfaction with the sense of community and neighbourliness in the area on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Other demographic variations include: Satisfaction increases with age (18-24 s 54%; %) It is the lower social segments that tend to be more satisfied with sense of community and neighbourliness (C2DE 65% versus AB 60%) The South as a whole (71%) is more satisfied than the North (62%), excluding London, which achieves the lowest levels of satisfaction at 48%. The following statements relate to sense of community and neighbourliness: Fig 12: Perceived sense of community and neighbourliness of respondents local area Agree Neither agree or disagree Disagree N/A Most people in my local area have a similar social and economic background to me 52% 32% 14% 2% Most people in my local area are of the same cultural/ ethnic background as me 64% 19% 16% 1% There is a problem in my local area with people not treating each other with respect 28% 27% 44% 1% I live in an area where people from different backgrounds get on well 63% 25% 7% 5% I feel comfortable leaving a key with my neighbour 73% 11% 15% 1% I know my neighbours well 64% 23% 13% There are not enough activities for young people in my local area 47% 30% 18% 6% Q5. Thinking about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, to what extent do you agree with the following statements on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree. (Base: 2,001) 27

28 Demographic variations in agreement with these statements include: Residents under 25 are most likely to feel that their area lacks facilities for young people. Social housing tenants and people in Scotland and Eastern areas are also more likely than average to agree with this statement. Older people, villagers and residents living in Scotland and Wales are the groups most likely to know their neighbours and feel comfortable leaving a key with them. Older people are also more likely to live in areas where people have similar backgrounds to themselves, both culturally and in socioeconomic terms. This is also most likely true of people in Wales and the South West. The perception that locally people don t treat each other with respect is more common among lower social grades and urban areas, and particularly in the North West. In the qualitative workshops, participants related having a sense of community and neighbourliness with the extent to which you know people in the area on a personal basis. Therefore areas where residents have lived for longer periods of time are likely to possess a stronger sense of community compared with areas that have more transient populations. There is overall agreement that local neighbourhoods that are more established are those where there is a stronger sense of neighbourliness and community. This includes people having lived there for a long time, owner-occupied housing, businesses that have been in the area for a long time, and a general sense of people caring about their local neighbourhood. This relates both to urban and rural areas, but is perceived as having been eroded more in urban areas, where populations tend to be more transient. This sense of community is much stronger in towns and villages than in urban areas, due both to people having likely lived there for longer, as well as there being generally fewer shops and local business for people to go to meaning they tend to meet the same people more often than urban residents who have more choice. Hence, urban residents often refer to an element of anonymity in their local neighbourhood. It s the bumping into people that s important (female, rural). 28

29 In overall terms, things that positively effect sense of community include: Locally owned shops, pubs and restaurants, churches, post-offices, local schools and village halls and community centres (although the latter tend to be quite rare) High emotional involvement - tradition, familiarity, businesses and amenities that have been around for a while Things that detract from a sense of community include: Chains (supermarkets, pubs, restaurants etc.) run by people who don t live in the area, having numerous pubs and bars that can attract noisy crowds, lots of low quality take-aways and fast food places Low emotional involvement anonymity, transience of residents and impermanence in terms of the facilities and amenities 6.6. Facilities and Amenities Facilities and amenities accounts for 20% of overall satisfaction as explained by our model. Overall, 63% of respondents are satisfied with local facilities and amenities. However, satisfaction with facilities & amenities tends to behave somewhat differently to the other ratings. As Figures 13 to 16 below show, on average, the rural population is more satisfied than the urban population with each of the factors measured, except for when it comes to facilities & amenities, where urbanites are happier. It also bucks the trend in terms of tenure, with council tenants and homeowners being equally satisfied with their local facilities & amenities; for all other factors, homeowners express more satisfaction. Fig 13: Satisfaction with range and quality of facilities and amenities in local area, by type and place of residence % satisfaction (7-10) Range & quality of facilities & amenities (Total) Council Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet 34 29

30 Fig 14: Satisfaction with safety and security in local area, by type and place of residence % satisfaction (7-10) Sense of community & neighbourliness Council Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet Fig 15: Satisfaction with sense of community and neighbourliness in local area, by type and place of residence % satisfaction (7-10) Sense of community & neighbourliness Council Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet Fig 16: Satisfaction with appearance or cleanliness in local area, by type and place of residence % satisfaction (7-10) Appearance or cleanliness (Total) Council Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet Q3. Thinking about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, please rate your satisfaction with the [factor] in the area on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) From the above charts, we see that various demographic variations: Unlike the other high level factors, where satisfaction rises as respondents become more rural, facilities and amenities behave in the opposite manner There is also less of a pattern when it comes to age and gender males and females have equal satisfaction levels, and while over 65s have overall highest satisfaction, the correlation with age is not linear. DEs are somewhat more satisfied than ABs, but not significantly so. 30

31 Looking at a more regional level, the picture becomes somewhat more complex, with the relationship between ratings of facilities and amenities and those of overall satisfaction varying from region to region. Figure 17 below, shows regional differences from the national average in satisfaction with facilities & amenities and overall satisfaction. Fig 17: Variation from the average satisfaction with facilities and amenities and the overall area within 10 minutes walk of respondents home, by region Satisfaction with facilities & amenities Overall satisfaction Scotland North East North West Y & H West East Midlands Midlands Wales Eastern London South East South West Q3. Thinking about the area within 10 minutes walk from your home, please rate your satisfaction with the [factor] in the area on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) These figures offer some indication as to the differences in the contribution that facilities and amenities make to overall satisfaction across the different regions of the country. For example: People in the South West express the highest levels of overall satisfaction, but lower for facilities and amenities. This indicates that in this region, high levels of satisfaction are being driven by other factors including safety, appearance and sense of community (as well as other factors not explored by this model). In an opposite scenario, we see in the North East the low average rating of facilities and amenities being much more closely aligned to the similarly weak ratings of overall satisfaction. In London, we see lower than average overall satisfaction, but the highest level of satisfaction with facilities and amenities. This may indicate that negative ratings of factors such as safety, appearance and sense of community are dampening the effect of a positive view of facilities and amenities, which people are happier with on the whole Section summary Key points: The four high level drivers that we included in our model account for a sizeable proportion (38%) of variation in the measure of 31

32 respondents overall satisfaction with the area within 10 minutes walk from their homes. All four of the high level drivers play a significant role in the model. o While it is the least important of the four, satisfaction with facilities and amenities accounts for a fifth of the overall explanatory power of the model. The high level drivers vary significantly with cross-cutting factors such as region, rurality and housing situation o Facilities and amenities in particular behaves differently from the other drivers, with more rural areas displaying lower satisfaction than urban areas. o Regional analysis suggests that the role played by facilities and amenities in overall satisfaction varies from place to place with respondents in some types of area setting more importance by them than in others. Local facilities and amenities, and in particular those associated with commercial infrastructure (the shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within ten minutes walk of home), have received comparatively little attention as a driver of neighbourhood satisfaction. While local authorities have often looked at the role of council-run services, these studies have tended to focus both on a larger geographical area than the present project (Greater London Authority, 2011), and to given much less focus to the role that commercial infrastructure the shops, places to eat or drink, and other local business might have on satisfaction. The next sections focus on respondents satisfaction with the facilities and amenities within 10 minutes walk from their homes. Section 7 looks at the range of factors that might go to make up the broad category of facilities and amenities, while Section 8 goes into detail around the role played by commercial infrastructure in particular. 32

33 7. Drivers of Satisfaction with Facilities and Amenities As discussed above, respondents satisfaction with the facilities and amenities within 10 minutes walk from their home accounts for 20% of the variation in overall neighbourhood satisfaction explained by the four factors in our model. In order to better understand the concept of facilities and amenities, our survey asked respondents to rate their satisfaction levels with six specific factors, likely to form part of the overall grouping of facilities and amenities : Quality of the local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses Range of the local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses Parks and open spaces Public services (such as schools, health services, emergency services, council services such as waste collection) Transportation links (including public transportation, roads, cycle lanes) Community facilities (such as community centres, youth centres, sports and leisure facilities) 7.1. How important are the different factors? As with the high level drivers, above, we used regression analysis to understand the extent to which satisfaction with these six factors can explain overall satisfaction with facilities and amenities; and to understand the relative importance of those factors within the model. Table 2: Regression results: Overarching satisfaction with local infrastructure and local facilities and amenities Factor Correlation Importance SATISFACTION WITH Range of the local shops, % places to eat or drink, and other businesses SATISFACTION WITH Transportation links % SATISFACTION WITH Quality of the local shops, % places to eat or drink, and other businesses SATISFACTION WITH Public services % SATISFACTION WITH Community facilities % SATISFACTION WITH Parks and open spaces % The model explains a sizeable proportion (45.9%) of variation in satisfaction with range and quality of facilities and amenities within 10 minutes walk of respondents homes. Again, this model, with only six explanatory factors performs strongly, given the potential breadth of factors that could affect ratings of local facilities and amenities. 33

34 Looking at the relative importance of the factors within the model, it is clear that commercial infrastructure (the shops, places to eat or drink, and other business within a 10 minute walk of respondents homes) is very important in explaining overall ratings of local facilities and amenities. Taken together, satisfaction ratings with local commercial infrastructure have a combined importance within our model of 58% Range of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses is the most important factor in explaining overall satisfaction with local facilities and amenities, at 32%, Quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses add a further 26% to the explanatory power of the model (26% importance). Of the other factors we measured, satisfaction with local transportation links contributed most (27% importance). The other three factors are much lower in importance with public services accounting for 7% importance, community facilities 4% and parks and open spaces 4%. The lower ratings for these factors may, in part, be explained by the fact that some of these may be less likely to be found within 10 minutes walk of respondents homes. Thinking at this level of proximity, it may make sense that respondents ratings are more conditioned by factors such as commercial infrastructure and transport links Satisfaction levels with the drivers Satisfaction levels with each of the six factors are as follows: Table 3: Respondents satisfaction with the high level factors in their local area FACTOR AV. SCORE (OUT OF 10) % SATISFIED (7-10) Public services (such as schools, health services, emergency % services, council services such as waste collection) Parks and open spaces % Transportation links (including public transportation, roads, cycle % lanes) Quality of the local shops, places to eat or drink, and other % businesses Range of the local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses % Community facilities (such as community centres, youth centres, sports and leisure facilities) % Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the [factor] within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Satisfaction levels are relatively high overall, with all except community services having over 50% offering a score of 7-10 for satisfaction. There is more variation in scores when it comes to local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses (referred to in this report using the term commercial infrastructure ) than with regards to public services and parks and open spaces. 34

35 Fig 18: Satisfaction with commercial infrastructure and other high level factors Public services Parks and open spaces Satisfied (7-10) Commercial Infrastructure Transportation links Quality of the local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses Range of the local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses Somewhat satisfied (4-6) Dissatisfied (0-3) Not applicable Community facilities Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the [factor] within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: 2,001) Figure 19 shows levels of satisfaction with each of the six factors, according to age band. Across each factor, we can see a pattern indicating that people aged over 65 are consistently more satisfied than younger age bands. This is the only strong consistent pattern we see across the factors in terms of demographic characteristics. % Fig 19: Satisfaction with commercial infrastructure and other high level factors, by age group % satisfied (7-10) Community facilities Range of local Quality of local shops, places ot shops, places to eat and drink, eat or drink, and and other local other local businesses businesses Transportation links Parks and open spaces Public services Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the [factor] within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Public services Satisfaction with public services is high across the board (72% of respondents reported a satisfaction score of 7-10). Variation is generally low across subgroupings within the sample, but satisfaction is particularly high in villages at 76%. There is no particular relationship with social grade or tenure. 35

36 Fig 20: Satisfaction with public services, by type and place of residence 76 % satisfaction (7-10) Public services (Total) Council Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the public services (such as schools, health services, emergency services, council services such as waste collection) within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) There is 11% difference in satisfaction between the regions, showing a relatively homogenous attitude towards public services, with the North West leading on 77% and Londoners least happy on 66% (it is likely that dissatisfaction in London is driven by very negative public coverage in the media as well as overcrowding of schools and hospitals). Table 4: Satisfaction with public services, by region Region Satisfaction (7-10) with public services North West 77% East Midlands 75% Wales 75% Scotland 74% South East 74% South West 74% North East 70% West Midlands 69% Eastern 69% Yorkshire & Humberside 67% London 66% Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the public services (such as schools, health services, emergency services, council services such as waste collection) within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Parks and open spaces Overall there is high satisfaction with parks and open spaces, with 77% rating their local area 7-10 (out of 10). Tenure is related to satisfaction, with homeowners being 8% more satisfied than those in social housing and on the whole rural residents are happier with parks and open spaces than urban residents. 36

37 Fig 21: Satisfaction with parks and open spaces, by type and place of residence % satisfaction (7-10) Parks and open spaces (Total) Council Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the parks and open spaces within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) South East residents are likely to be the happiest with their local parks and open spaces, and although rural areas are generally more satisfied than urban, London as an individual region takes second place with 75% satisfaction. Table 5: Satisfaction with parks and open spaces, by region Region Satisfaction (7-10) with parks and open spaces South East 77% London 75% East Midlands 74% Wales 74% Scotland 74% South West 73% Eastern 73% North West 69% West Midlands 65% North East 59% Yorkshire & Humberside 57% Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the parks and open spaces within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Transportation links The proportion offering a satisfaction rating of 7-10 with their transport links stands at 63% for the sample overall. Unsurprisingly the biggest variation is to be found between urban and rural locations. There is a slightly higher level of male satisfaction versus female (65% vs. 61%). 37

38 Fig 22: Satisfaction with transport links, by type and place of residence % satisfaction (7-10) 41 Transport links (Total) Council Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the transport links within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Transport links are seen as being much more positive than public services in London, and achieve an excellent satisfaction score of 81%. Table 6: Satisfaction with transport links, by region Region Satisfaction (7-10) with transportation links London 81% Wales 67% North West 66% South West 64% Scotland 60% West Midlands 60% East Midlands 59% South East 58% North East 56% Eastern 56% Yorkshire & Humberside 56% Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the transport links within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Quality of the local shops, place to eat or drink, and other local businesses 62% of the population offered a satisfaction rating of 7-10 for Quality of local shops, places to eat or drink and other local businesses within 10 minutes walk of their home. Interestingly, people in smaller towns score this the most highly. While those living in villages do rate the quality of local infrastructure lower than more urban respondents, the deficit is much smaller than for range of shops etc. (see below). Meanwhile those in hamlets or isolated dwellings have lower ratings for quality as well as range. 38

39 Fig 23: Satisfaction with quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses, by type and place of residence % satisfaction (7-10) 32 Quality of local Council Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses (Total) Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Satisfaction with the quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses, varies by 20 percentage points across the regions, with people in the North West having the highest satisfaction and people in the North East the lowest at 49%. Table 7: Satisfaction with quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses, by region Region Satisfaction (7-10) with quality of local shops, places to eat or drink and other local businesses North West 69% East Midlands 65% South East 64% Wales 64% West Midlands 63% London 62% South West 60% Eastern 60% Yorkshire & Humberside 59% Scotland 56% North East 49% Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Range of the local shops, place to eat or drink, and other local businesses 54% of the population report a satisfaction rating of 7-10 for range of local shops, places to eat or drink and other local businesses. Urban residents are happier than rural, and those in social housing are slightly more satisfied than homeowners. 39

40 Fig 24: Satisfaction with range of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses, by type and place of residence 57 % satisfaction (7-10) Range of local Council Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses (Total) Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the range of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) We see a 13% variation in levels of satisfaction with range of local shops, places to eat or drink and other local businesses across the British regions, between Yorkshire and Humberside at the top with 59% and Eastern at the bottom with 46%. In rural areas, there is a significant fall off in satisfaction with range of local shops, though satisfaction with quality remains much higher. Table 8: Satisfaction with range of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses, by region Region Satisfaction (7-10) with range of local shops, places to eat or drink and other local businesses Yorkshire & Humberside 59% North West 58% East Midlands 57% London 56% South West 55% West Midlands 55% Scotland 51% Wales 51% South East 51% North East 50% Eastern 46% Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the range of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Community facilities Community facilities within 10 minutes walk of respondents homes have the lowest satisfaction of all the factors, and the main stand-out point is much lower levels of satisfaction in small hamlets or isolated areas than other locations. Villagers have the highest satisfaction levels at 45% and social segment DE has slightly higher than average satisfaction at 42%. 40

41 Fig 25: Satisfaction with community facilities, by type and place of residence % satisfaction (7-10) 13 Community facilities (Total) Council Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the community facilities within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) Wales and Scotland win the satisfaction scores for community facilities and London is firmly in last place at 31%. Table 9: Satisfaction with community facilities, by region Region Satisfaction (7-10) with community facilities Wales 46% Scotland 45% North East 44% South East 43% North West 42% South West 38% Yorkshire & Humberside 36% West Midlands 36% East Midlands 35% London 31% Q6. Please rate your satisfaction with the community facilities within 10 minutes walk of your home on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being extremely dissatisfied and 10 being extremely satisfied. (Base: Various) 7.3. Changes in local facilities and amenities over time We also looked at the extent to which respondents felt that the particular facilities and amenities within 10 minutes walk of their homes have improved or deteriorated over the last three years. 41

42 Fig 26: Perceived improvement and deterioration in respondents local area across the high level factors Better No change Worse Quality of the local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses Parks and open spaces Range of the local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses Public services Transportation links Community facilities % Agree Q7. Thinking about the [factor] within 10 minutes walk of your home, has it got better or got worse in the last three years? (Base: 2,001) The majority haven t experienced any change over the last three years; the more rural the area, the more likely respondents were to report not to have experienced any change. Quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses is the most likely factor to have got better over the last three years, but is also the most likely to a lesser extent - to have gotten worse: Better: younger (44%), urban (39%), private renters (43%) living in London or West Midlands (41%) Worse: older (24%), who own their property outright (26%), living in Scotland (26%) and Wales (25%) Range of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses also has a split between having got better (32%) and worse (21%): Better: younger (44%), (36%), urban (37%), council tenants (37%) living in London (37%), Y&H and West Midlands (37%) Worse: year olds (29%), who own their property outright (26%), living in Wales (26%) 7.4. Section summary Key points: The range and quality of commercial infrastructure (the local shops, places to eat or drink and other local businesses) in a local area has a great deal of importance for overall ratings of the Facilities and Amenities in a neighbourhood. o Range came top as the most powerful explanatory factor in our model, accounting for 32% of the variation explained o Quality of local infrastructure had slightly lower explanatory power, accounting for 26% of the variation explained o Taken together, the ratings for range and quality of local commercial infrastructure account for 58% of the power of the 42

43 regression model. Satisfaction is higher with quality of local shops than with range, although range is a more important factor in explaining satisfaction. Of the other facilities and amenities we tested, Transport Links was the most powerful driver of satisfaction with Facilities and Amenities overall. Satisfaction with Public services, Parks and open spaces, and Community facilities had the lowest levels of importance when it came to explaining satisfaction with local facilities and amenities. o This may be because these facilities are less variable overall, or because they are less prominent when thinking about the area within 10 minutes walk of a respondents home o Taken together, though, these three variables do account for a significant proportion (15%) of the variation in satisfaction with facilities and amenities explained by our model The next sections go on to explore commercial infrastructure (the shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of respondents homes) in more depth, and to understand the impact of specific types of shop and local business on satisfaction with commercial infrastructure overall. 43

44 8. Commercial infrastructure in depth The previous section established that, taken together, satisfaction with range and quality of commercial infrastructure accounts for 58% of the variation in satisfaction with facilities and amenities that can be explained by the six drivers we measured. The following section focuses on the shops, places to eat or drink and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of respondents homes to understand in greater depth the variations in experience of commercial infrastructure in Britain today, and to establish which particular aspects of commercial infrastructure are most important for driving overall satisfaction with the shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of people s homes. The section begins with analysis of perceptions of local infrastructure as a whole, looking at agreement levels with a series of descriptive statements about the safety, appearance, usefulness and social benefit of the commercial infrastructure in respondents local areas as a whole. See section 8.1, below. Following this, it looks in more depth at the roles played by the particular types of shop, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of respondents homes: The numbers of particular shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses in respondents neighbourhoods and the impacts of this on satisfaction with range and quality of commercial infrastructure (section 8.2, below) Quality ratings of particular types of infrastructure where they are present, and their relationship with satisfaction with the range and quality of commercial infrastructure overall (section 8.3, below) The perceived community impacts of particular types of local commercial infrastructure (section 8.4, below) Finally this section draws on further statistical analysis to understand which of these different perceptions and elements of commercial infrastructure have most impact on overall satisfaction with the range and quality of local commercial infrastructure overall (section 8.5, below). The ratings and infrastructure counts that are presented in this section also feature heavily in the segmentation of local areas that comprise section 9 of this report where the statistics presented in this section of the report are brought to life through the identification of eight neighbourhood types defined by residents accounts of the physical and social features of their neighbourhoods Perceptions of local commercial infrastructure Respondents were asked the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with a number of statements with regards to the local commercial infrastructure (defined as shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses used within 10 44

45 minutes walk from the home) in their local neighbourhood. Figure 27 shows these statements ranked in order of highest level of agreement (7-10 out of 10). Fig 27: Satisfaction with commercial infrastructure in local area I feel safe going to the local shops and places to eat or drink during the day The shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses nearby are an important part of the local community I can get most day-to-day essentials from my local shops or other businesses within a 10 minutes walk from my home I feel safe going to the local shops and places to eat or drink after dark I often bump into my friends or neighbours at the local shops I know the people who work at most of the shops, places to eat or drink and other businesses in my local area I often meet my friends or neighbours at the local places to eat or drink There are more empty/vacant shops in my local area than there were a few years ago In the last few years a large number of shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses have closed down in my local area Some of the local shops or other businesses around my area are poorly maintained (e.g. boarded up windows, or covered with graffiti) % Agree (7-10) Q8. Thinking about the shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses you use within 10 minutes walk from your home, to what extent do you agree with the following statements on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree (Base: 2,001) Looking at the responses overall, the more positive messages around feeling safe and sense of community receive much higher agreement than the more negative messages around decline or degradation. Importantly, agreement levels with both the positive and negative statements offer some clear evidence that commercial infrastructure s impacts and importance are not confined simply to the arena of facilities and amenities : 78% agree that their local commercial infrastructure is an important part of their local community 53% often bump into their friends or neighbours at the local shops, and 41% use the local eateries and drinking establishments to socialise with friends On a more negative note, over a fifth of people feel their local commercial infrastructure is poorly maintained, and 33% don t agree that they feel safe going to their local shops after dark. 45

46 Relationship between perceptions of local commercial infrastructure & overall satisfaction with the range and quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses Table 10 shows the correlations between agreement with each of these statements, and two of the overarching variables that were found to drive overall satisfaction with facilities and amenities (see Section 5, above): Satisfaction with the range of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of your home Satisfaction with the quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of your home. Table 10: Correlation between respondents local commercial infrastructure and their level of satisfaction with the quality and range of commercial infrastructure overall Statement AGREE - I can get most day-to-day essentials from my local shops or other businesses within a 10 minutes walk from my home AGREE - The shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses nearby are an important part of the local community AGREE I often meet my friends or neighbours at the local places to eat or drink AGREE - I often bump into my friends or neighbours at the local shops AGREE - I know the people who work at most of the shops, places to eat or drink and other businesses in my local area AGREE - I feel safe going to the local shops and places to eat or drink after dark AGREE - I feel safe going to the local shops and places to eat or drink during the day AGREE - There are more empty/vacant shops in my local area than there were a few years ago AGREE - Some of the local shops or other businesses around my area are poorly maintained (e.g. boarded up windows, or covered with graffiti) AGREE - In the last few years a large number of shops places, to eat or drink, or other businesses have closed down in my local area Correlation: satisfaction with Quality of commercial infrastructure Correlation: satisfaction with Range of commercial infrastructure Being able to get most day to day essentials correlates the most positively with satisfaction with both range and quality of local shops, places to eat or 46

47 drink, and other local businesses, with a 37% strength of relationship, echoing previous ACS commissioned research. 1 This suggests that the first function of local infrastructure is to provide local people with the goods and services they need, want and enjoy, day to day. The more fully this is achieved, the more likely they are to rate their local infrastructure highly in terms of both range and quality. Statements about community and meeting friends also correlate positively with satisfaction to a slightly lesser degree, followed by statements about feeling safe. This suggests that, alongside the functional role played by commercial infrastructure, there is a relationship between satisfaction with the range and quality of commercial infrastructure, and the extent to which it performs a range of more social/community oriented roles. Having vacant or poorly maintained businesses correlates negatively with satisfaction, and places closing down in particular negate people s satisfaction with their local neighbourhood. Interestingly, the perception that shops are closing down in the area has a negative relationship with both satisfaction with the range of commercial infrastructure and satisfaction with the quality of that infrastructure. Below we group these statements thematically and offer a deeper analysis of the survey responses to each grouping Day to day essentials The first function of local infrastructure is to provide the goods and services that local residents require day to day which may explain why agreement with this statement is most closely correlated with satisfaction with local infrastructure. 73% of the population agree that they can get most day to day essentials from local shops or other businesses within 10 minutes walk from their home. A number of demographics are more likely to agree than average in particular younger people, those living in urban areas, and those who rent their property privately. Unsurprisingly, those living in the most remote areas are much less likely to agree, at 24%. 1 Economic and Social Role of Small Shops: A Review of the Evidence 47

48 Fig 28: Access to local shops or other businesses that stock day-to-day essentials % agree 24 Getting essentials (Total) years old Social housing Private renters Homeowners Urban Town Village Hamlet Q8. Thinking about the shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses you use within 10 minutes walk from your home, to what extent do you agree I can get most day-to-day essentials from my local shops or other businesses within a 10 minute walk from my home, on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree. (Base: Various) From a regional perspective, Wales and the East have the lowest levels of agreement at 68% - a difference of 8 percentage points behind the leading regions of North West, West Midlands, London and the South West, all at 76% agreement. Fig 29: Access to local shops or other businesses that stock day-to-day essentials, by region % agree Getting essentials (Total) North West West Midlands London South West North East Y&H Scotland South East East Midlands Wales Eastern Q8. Thinking about the shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses you use within 10 minutes walk from your home, to what extent do you agree I can get most day-to-day essentials from my local shops or other businesses within a 10 minute walk from my home, on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree. 48

49 Community The second most agreed with statement in this section of the survey concerned the social role played by local commercial infrastructure. Nearby shops and other businesses are deemed important to the local community by 78% of the total sample, and particularly so among year olds (84%) and those living in Wales (87%) and the South West (86%). Fig 30: Perceptions of community in respondents local area Agree (7-10) Neither agree nor disagree (4-6) Disagree (0-3) The shops, places to eat or drink or other businesses nearby are an important part of the local 16 5 I often bump into my friends or neighbours at the local shops I know the people who work at most of the shops, places to eat and other businesses I often meet my friends or neighbours at the local places to eat or drink Q8. Thinking about the shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses you use within 10 minutes walk from your home, to what extent do you agree with the following statements on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree. (Base: Various) Interestingly, the social role of commercial infrastructure as a place where you might bump into friends; know people who work in the local shops and businesses; or meet friends and neighbours to eat and drink; is more pronounced in the North versus the South and the North East in particular. Respondents who live in villages are most likely to agree with these social statements about their local commercial infrastructure, compared with those in more urban settings. Over 65 s are more likely than younger age groups to know those who work in their local shops, and to bump into friends and neighbours locally than the younger age groupings. DE s are also more likely than more affluent social groupings to agree with these statements, as are council tenants, compared with home owners. %

50 For participants in the qualitative workshops, the extent to which local business owners and staff are connected to the local area was thought affect the extent to which a shop can impact community and neighbourliness in an area. Local business owners are thought to have a more vested interest in the prosperity of the local area, and in keeping their customers happy Participants from rural areas also tend to be served by people living locally in the area, which contributes to a feeling of community and neighbourliness Residents in more urban areas reported shopping around more, and hence being driven by more rational factors of price, convenience and range of goods available. I have lots of shops around me so I ll go to the one that is most suitable at the time for what I want. Who works there doesn t come into it (male, urban) For urban respondents, the definition of the local area is often very narrow, and a business owner need not come from very far away for people to feel that they may not be deeply connected to the community. However, when a store is long established, it can provide a casual meeting place and a source of local news (and gossip). I go in to the corner shop to have a chat really they know everything that s going on [locally] (female, urban) Safety 90% of the population feel safe visiting their local shops, places to eat or drink and other local businesses in the day-time. This falls to 67% when the question is asked about visiting after dark. Fig 31: Perceptions of safety in respondents local area Agree (7-10) Neither (4-6) Disagree (0-3) I feel safe going to the local shops and places to eat or drink during the day I feel safe going to the local shops and places to eat or drink after dark 67 % Q8. Thinking about the shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses you use within 10 minutes walk from your home, to what extent do you agree with the following statements on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree. (Base: Various) 50

51 Females (58%) and over 65 s (59%) feel the least safe after dark. Homeowners tend to feel more safe after dark than those who live in rented accommodation (especially those who rent from the local council). Those who live in rural areas feel safer than their urban counterparts. Regionally, South West (77%) and Wales (74%) feel the safest after dark and London and Yorkshire and Humberside residents the least (60%). In the qualitative research, respondents who felt they knew their local shop owners and other business people (mainly those living in more rural areas), tended to feel that this can have a positive impact on the overall safety of the area. Where commercial infrastructure is truly local eg locally owned, or run by people from the area - people tend to know one another and to look out for each other. However, on the flipside, some more rural residents and particularly those from smaller towns or larger villages - mentioned that having fewer places to go can result in gangs of people getting rowdy for example outside particular pubs or takeaways that are targeted. In particular, young people are often felt to be threatening when they hang out in groups around particular shops of parades of businesses. They (teenagers) are like moths to a flame, where there is a light, they ll be hanging around there (female, rural) 51

52 Cleanliness, appearance and economic decline More people disagree with the statements about decline in their local commercial infrastructure than agree. Fig 32: Perceptions of economic decline in respondents local area Agree (7-10) Neither agree nor disagree (4-6) Disagree (0-3) There are more empty/vacant shops than there were a few years ago In the last few years a large number of shops places, to eat or drink, or other businesses have closed down in my local area Some of the local shops or other businesses around my area are poorly maintained (e.g. boarded up windows, or covered with graffiti) Q8. Thinking about the shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses you use within 10 minutes walk from your home, to what extent do you agree with the following statements on a scale of 0-10 with 0 being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree. (Base: Various) There is a strong pattern in the data among those who do agree with each of the statements: Over 65 s, lower social grades, people renting from a Housing Association and those living in towns are all more likely to agree than average. The North East, Yorkshire and Humber, and the West Midlands fare the worst in terms of decline of local commercial infrastructure % In the qualitative workshops, participants discussed the role that shops and other businesses can play in improving the cleanliness and appearance of an area. As discussed above, boarded up shops, and shops with graffiti on the shutters or elsewhere are a real concern. Similarly businesses that create litter are a real problem particularly in more urban areas: It s basically about fast food isn t it? Creates a load of litter chip wrappers and that and it all just ends up on the floor. (Female, Urban) However, where businesses take care about their impact on the area, in particular the look of the exterior of the business, they can have a positive impact. For rural localities this is often about blending in with a traditional village look, whereas for urban participants, this is more about avoiding looking down at heel. You wouldn t want to have a really tired looking shop on a nice high street, but you also wouldn t want a really modern looking shop in a traditional village the shops need to fit in with the area (male, urban) 52

53 Having a good balance of shops is also important, with many mentioning that having lots of charity shops or estate agents clustered together can detract from the aesthetic appearance of an area. In contrast a range of specialist shops such as butchers, delicatessens, greengrocers and so on are seen as positively adding to the appearance of local neighbourhoods Summary: perceptions of local commercial infrastructure Key points: Levels of agreement with the statement I can get most day to day essentials from my local shops or other businesses within 10 minutes walk from my home has the highest level of correlation with both satisfaction with the range, and satisfaction with the quality, of commercial within 10 minutes walk of home. The second most closely correlated group of statements were those associated with the community impact of local commercial infrastructure: o The shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses nearby are an important part of the local community o I know the people who work at most of the shops, places to eat or drink and other businesses in my local area o I often bump into my friends or neighbours at the local shops o I often meet my friends or neighbours at the local places to eat or drink Third most closely correlated to range and quality ratings of local commercial infrastructure are those statements associated with safety: o I feel safe going to the local shops and places to eat or drink during the day o I feel safe going to the local shops and places to eat or drink after dark The last grouping, which have a lower overall correlation with range and quality of commercial infrastructure are those associated with appearance and the symbols of decline: o Some of the local shops or other businesses around my area are poorly maintained (e.g. boarded up windows, or covered with graffiti) o In the last few years a large number of shops places, to eat or drink, or other businesses have closed down in my local area o There are more empty/vacant shops in my local area than there were a few years ago 53

54 While they may not be closely correlated to views of commercial infrastructure, all of the perceptions discussed here are likely to be strongly related to other high level drivers (examined in Section 6, above), for example, safety and security, or the appearance of the local area. o This suggests that commercial infrastructure has an important role to play that goes wider than simply building satisfaction with the range and quality of local shops, places to eat and other businesses Specific local commercial infrastructure: presence and number of particular local businesses. An important part of this survey involved understanding the specific types of shop that respondents have within 10 minutes walk of their homes, and the number of those shops that are available to them Top of mind commercial infrastructure As an initial gauge of which commercial infrastructure people notice in their area, respondents were asked to list from memory all the types of shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within a 10 minute walk from their home: Fig 33: Shops, places to eat or drink and other businesses respondents list in their local area Q9. Please list the shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses within a 10 minutes walk from your home? (Base: 1,924) Convenience stores were the most commonly mentioned type of commercial infrastructure across the sample, with 73% of those who have some local commercial infrastructure saying that they have a convenience store within 10 minutes walk Presence and number of key commercial infrastructure The survey then went on to ask specifically about twelve particular types of commercial infrastructure asking respondents to say how many of each they have within 10 minutes walk of their home: 54

55 Independent convenience stores/newsagents Smaller chain convenience stores (Nisa, Spar, Costcutter etc.) Convenience stores that are part of a large supermarket chain (Tesco Express, Sainsbury s Local, The Co-operative Group etc.) Pubs/Bars Restaurants/Cafés Specialist food shops e.g. butchers, greengrocers, deli, bakery, etc. Post Offices Betting shops (William Hill, Ladbrokes etc.) Banks or Cash machines Pawnbrokers/ Money lending shops (Money Shop, Payday Loans etc.) Charity shops Fast food/takeaways Fig 34: Number of shops, places to eat or drink and other businesses respondents have in their local area Many (More than 4) Some (3-4) Few (1-2) None Fast food/ takeaways 35% 20% 25% 20% Restaurants/ Cafes 30% 17% 26% 27% Pubs/Bars 29% 22% 37% 11% Banks or Cash machines 22% 20% 39% 18% Charity shops 15% 13% 22% 49% Independent convenience stores 14% 20% 46% 18% Specialist food shops 14% 18% 28% 39% Supermarket convenience stores 5% 10% 48% 36% Small chain convenience stores 5% 10% 46% 38% Betting shops 5% 10% 42% 42% Pawnbrokers 2% 3% 14% 78% Post Offices 1% 3% 74% 22% Convenience stores (Combined 44% 24% 23% 9% Q10. How many [type of commercial infrastructure] do you have you within 10 minutes walk from your home? (Base: 2,001) The results of these numerical questions are broadly comparable with the top of mind question above. 91% of respondents have at least one convenience store in their area, and, taken together, convenience stores are the most common type of commercial infrastructure, with 44% having more than 4 within 10 minutes walk from home o The mean number of convenience stores within 10 minutes walk is 4.48 o 82% of the population have at least one independent convenience store within 10 minutes walk. 55

56 o 64% have at least one large supermarket chain convenience store nearby but few have more than two o 62% have at least one small chain convenience store nearby, but again, few have more than two. The second most common type of commercial infrastructure is a pub or bar, with 89% having at least one nearby. o However pubs and bars tend to be less densely concentrated, with a mean of 3.22 within 10 minutes walk. Fast food/takeaway businesses are slightly less ubiquitous in that 20% say they don t have one within 10 minutes walk of their home. o However, where they do exist, they are amongst the most densely clustered, with 35% saying they have 4 or more within 10 minutes walk. Post offices are amongst the most commonly found, but tend to be less densely spread, with the vast majority having one or two within 10 minutes walk. In general the numbers of each type of commercial infrastructure move together so urban areas tend to have more of every type of infrastructure, and villages fewer of each. Table 11 shows the mean number of each type of shop/business that we asked about for urban areas, smaller towns, villages and hamlets/isolated dwellings showing that while the more rural areas have fewer of each, the broad order stays the same across types of area: Table 11: Mean number of each type of commercial infrastructure in respondents local area, by urban or rural environment Q10. How many [type] do you have you within 10 minutes walk from your home? (Base: Various) The picture is broadly the same when looking at other factors, including social class. Looking at the regional picture, there are some interesting differences in the relative density of different types of shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses: In contrast to other regions, people in the North East (where overall area satisfaction is also lowest) have more pubs and bars and fast food outlets than average, and restaurants and cafes are relatively less numerous. 56

57 o While restaurants and cafes are the fourth most numerous type of shop/business on average, in the North East, they come seventh. In contrast, in the most satisfied region (the South West), fast food outlets are proportionately less prominent, while restaurants and cafes, and pubs and bars, move up the list. London displays both a much higher average number of each type of commercial infrastructure, but also disproportionately dense concentrations of fast food outlets; restaurants and cafes; and independent convenience stores or newsagents. o London is the only region in which the mean number of pawnbrokers/money lenders per respondent is higher than one. Table 12: Mean number of each type of commercial infrastructure in respondents local area, by region Q10. How many [type] do you have you within 10 minutes walk from your home? (Base: Various) The relationship between number of specific shops & other businesses and satisfaction with range/quality of local commercial infrastructure overall Table 13 shows the correlations between the number of each type of commercial infrastructure within 10 minutes walk of respondents homes, and two of the overarching variables that were found to drive overall satisfaction with facilities and amenities (see Section 5, above): Satisfaction with the range of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of your home Satisfaction with the quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of your home. 57

58 Table 13: Correlation between the frequency of commercial infrastructure types locally, and respondents level of satisfaction with the range and quality of commercial infrastructure Mean Correlation with Range Correlation with Quality NUMBER OF - Restaurants/Cafes NUMBER OF - Specialist food shops NUMBER OF - Pubs/Bars NUMBER OF - Convenience stores that are part of a large supermarket chain NUMBER OF - Banks or Cash machines NUMBER OF - Post Offices NUMBER OF - Independent convenience stores NUMBER OF - Fast food/takeaways NUMBER OF - Smaller chain convenience stores NUMBER OF - Charity shops NUMBER OF - Betting shops NUMBER OF - Pawnbrokers/ Money lending shops NUMBER OF Convenience stores (across all 3 categories) The number of restaurants/cafes has the strongest correlation with satisfaction for both measures, and the top five are the same in both categories: Restaurants and cafes Specialist food shops Pubs and bars Convenience stores that are part of a large supermarket chain Banks or cash machines This suggests that simply having more of each of these types of business nearby is related to residents satisfaction with both the quality and range of their local commercial infrastructure overall. In the case of both restaurants and of specialist food shops, these correlations between absolute numbers and overall ratings of range and quality of local infrastructure make sense both of these businesses tend to specialise in a particular type of product (e.g. a particular cuisine, or a specific type of foodstuff) so the implication is that additional stores lead to greater variety and likely also perceived greater quality overall. Importantly, these correlations should be considered in association with the mean number of each type of infrastructure, in order to gauge the extent to which simply having a single example of a particular type of shop is likely to have a big impact, and where it might be the case that a higher number is likely to have an increasing impact. For example: The mean number of supermarket convenience stores is 1.31, and the correlation with both range and quality ratings overall is still amongst the highest of those tested in the survey. This suggests that a lower number may be needed to make a big impact on an area s commercial infrastructure. In contrast the mean number of pubs and bars is over 3, suggesting that even where one bar is present, additional establishments might 58

59 have a reasonably large effect on overall ratings of the area s commercial infrastructure. As might be expected, for every type of commercial infrastructure we tested, the number within 10 minutes walk of home correlates more closely with satisfaction with range than with quality of local commercial infrastructure Summary: presence and number of specific types of local commercial infrastructure Key points: Convenience stores are the most numerous type of commercial infrastructure within 10 minutes walk of respondents homes, with a mean average of 4.48 convenience stores. The numbers of all types of commercial infrastructure seem to broadly rise and fall together. o Those areas with higher concentrations of one shop, will likely have higher numbers of other types of shop too. o The relative numbers of each type of commercial infrastructure varies surprisingly little, although there are some variations, with the North East having relatively fewer restaurants and cafes, and London having many more fast food takeaways, restaurants and cafes, and independent convenience stores. The number of restaurants and cafes within 10 minutes walk of home is the most strongly correlated with both satisfaction with range, and satisfaction with quality of commercial infrastructure. o The number of specialist food shops, and the number of convenience stores that are part of a large supermarket chain are also strongly correlated Specific local commercial infrastructure: quality ratings of particular local businesses. If they reported having one or more of them within a ten minute walk of their home, respondents were also asked to rate the quality of each of the 12 types of shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses that were tested within our survey. Quality ratings were highest for specialist food shops and supermarket chain convenience stores, with 81% of those who had each type of store nearby giving their local examples a quality rating of 7 or above out of

60 Fig 35: Quality rating of respondents local commercial infrastructure, by type Specialist food shops Supermarket chain convenience stores Post Offices Restaurants/cafes Banks or cash machines Independent convenience stores Small chain convenience stores Charity shops 62 Fast food/takeaways Pubs/bars Betting shops 24 Pawnbrokers 19 % high quality (7-10) Q11. Please rate the overall quality of [commercial infrastructure type] in your area on a scale of 0-10, 0 being very poor quality and 10 being very high quality? (Base: 1,633) In general, these quality ratings do not vary particularly by standard demographics or by area type. Rural areas tend to rate quality more positively overall (even though satisfaction with range is much lower), and this is reflected in the ratings they offer for particular types of commercial infrastructure. Looking at the regional level, there is again very little variation in the proportion of people offering a high quality rating against each type of infrastructure, and the rank ordering of the specific types remains fairly stable. Table 14: Quality rating of respondents local commercial infrastructure, by region Q11. Please rate the overall quality of [commercial infrastructure type] in your area on a scale of 0-10, 0 being very poor quality and 10 being very high quality? (Base: Various) 60

61 Interestingly, pubs and bars fall down in the rankings, with only 56% rating their locals 7 or above out of 10, indicating a wide variation in satisfaction. Those least satisfied with their local pubs include women (53%); year olds (47%) who likely would like a different kind of nightlife; and council tenants (48%). Those most satisfied with their local pubs include the small number of people in Hamlets or isolated areas who have a pub nearby (69% are positive); village residents (61%); Private rented tenants (64%); older age groups, and men. Satisfaction with pubs and bars is also amongst the most variable by region: South West 67% North West 64% Eastern 62% Wales 60% West Midlands 54% Y&H 54% London 52% East Midlands 51% North East 49% Scotland 45% The relationship between perceived quality of specific shops & other businesses, and satisfaction with range/quality of local commercial infrastructure overall Table 15 shows the correlations between the perceived quality of each type of commercial infrastructure within 10 minutes walk of respondents homes, and two of the overarching variables that were found to drive overall satisfaction with facilities and amenities (see Section 7, above): Satisfaction with the range of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of your home Satisfaction with the quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of your home. 61

62 Table 15: Correlation between how highly respondents rate the quality of local commercial infrastructure and their perceptions of the range and quality of local commercial infrastructure overall Correlation with Range Correlation with Quality QUALITY - Independent convenience stores/newsagents QUALITY - Fast food/takeaways QUALITY - Pubs/Bars QUALITY - Restaurants/Cafes QUALITY - Convenience stores that are part of a large supermarket chain QUALITY - Smaller chain convenience stores QUALITY - Specialist food shops QUALITY - Banks or Cash machines QUALITY - Post Offices QUALITY - Charity shops QUALITY - Betting shops QUALITY - Pawnbrokers/ Money lending shops Unsurprisingly, there tends to be a stronger relationship across the board between perceived quality of specific shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses, and satisfaction with the overall quality of a respondents local commercial infrastructure, than with satisfaction with range of commercial infrastructure. Importantly, though, the types of shops/businesses for which quality ratings are highly correlated (with both range and with quality overall), are very different from those which performed well in section 8.2.3, above. Whereas restaurants and specialist food stores had the strongest relationship between number and overall ratings, when it comes to quality ratings, the stores that seem to be most closely related to overall perceptions of commercial infrastructure are: Independent convenience stores Fast food/takeaways Pubs and bars The implication is that these are the types of commercial infrastructure where an uplift in quality is most likely to lead to an overall improvement in perceptions of the quality and range of local commercial infrastructure generally. Looking across the correlations shown in Tables 13 and 15 above, we can see that there are some types of local commercial infrastructure where what matters appears to be the quality of the local offering, and others where the number within the local area has a stronger relationship. 62

63 Table 16: Correlation between the perceived quantity and quality of local commercial infrastructure and the reported quality of local infrastructure overall Correlation between NUMBER of individual stores and satisfaction with QUALITY of local infrastructure generally Type of commercial infrastructure Restaurants/Cafes Specialist food shops Pubs/Bars Convenience stores that are part of a large supermarket chain Banks or Cash machines Post Offices Independent convenience stores Fast food/takeaways Smaller chain convenience stores Charity shops Betting shops Pawnbrokers/ Money lending shops Correlation between PERCEIVED QUALITY of individual stores & satisfaction with QUALITY of local infrastructure generally Looking first at overall satisfaction with the quality of the shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk, it is clear that there are some types of store where the relationship is much more pronounced between quality ratings and overall satisfaction, than between the number of stores available and overall satisfaction (see Table 16, above): Independent convenience stores are almost twice as closely correlated along lines of quality than along lines of number. It is therefore likely that improving the quality of the local independent store will have a greater impact on overall satisfaction, than adding additional stores. A similar story can be found for fast food takeaways, where the number in an area has very low correlation with satisfaction, while perceived quality is amongst the most closely correlated. Again, the implication is that adding new fast food outlets is unlikely to improve satisfaction, but working to raise the quality of those that are there is more likely to have an impact. Pubs and bars also display a similar pattern. Having higher quality pubs and bars displaying a stronger relationship to overall satisfaction with quality of commercial infrastructure than having more numerous examples. There are three types of shops where number has a relationship with the quality of local commercial infrastructure. When it comes to restaurants, specialist food stores and even supermarket chain convenience stores number and quality have almost equal impacts with higher numbers offering almost as strong a relationship to overall satisfaction with quality of commercial infrastructure as increased quality ratings. 63

64 o With restaurants, the implication here is that there is value simply in having more choice of restaurant, and of specialist food stores this makes sense when it is considered that access to a range of types of cuisine, or sorts of foodstuffs might well be a good in and of itself. Supermarket chain convenience stores are a different matter. It is not necessarily the case that more is better. The average number of supermarket chain convenience stores is 1.31 and 84% of the population have 0,1, or 2 within 10 minutes walk of home, so the biggest difference may be between having none, and having one or two supermarket convenience stores. o Adding another supermarket store where one already exists may offer diminishing returns, but opening one where there is none at the moment may be associated with an uplift in perceived quality. Betting shops and pawnbrokers display almost no relationship in either case. While the relationship is not negative, it is almost nonexistent. Table 17, below shows how the number of each type of commercial infrastructure and the quality rating associated with each correlates with overall satisfaction with the range of the shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk: Table 17: Correlation between the number and quality of each type of local infrastructure and the overall satisfaction with the range of local commercial infrastructure Correlation between NUMBER of individual stores and satisfaction with RANGE of local infrastructure generally Type of commercial infrastructure Restaurants/Cafes Specialist food shops Pubs/Bars Convenience stores that are part of a large supermarket chain Banks or Cash machines Post Offices Independent convenience stores Fast food/takeaways Smaller chain convenience stores Charity shops Betting shops Pawnbrokers/ Money lending shops Correlation between PERCEIVED QUALITY of individual stores & satisfaction with RANGE of local infrastructure generally When it comes to overall ratings of the range of commercial infrastructure, the dominance of quality ratings is less apparent. It would appear that, for some types of outlet, the number available is more closely related to overall perceptions of range, than the quality of those businesses: 64

65 The number of restaurants and specialist food shops are more closely related to range satisfaction than perceptions of their quality. Supermarket convenience stores, which tend to have a much more standardised offer than other types of local commercial infrastructure, are more related to overall range perceptions by virtue of their numbers than their quality ratings. o Again, the impact may be most strongly felt in the impact of having one example of a supermarket branded store, compared to having none at all. In contrast, perceptions of quality matter more for shops whose quality is likely more variable independent and small chain convenience stores, and fast food takeaways are strong examples Summary: Quality ratings of specific types of local commercial infrastructure Key points: Specialist food shops and convenience stores that are part of a large supermarket chain are the types of commercial infrastructure that are most commonly rated highly for quality o These are also amongst the three types of business where their numerical presence is most closely correlated with overall satisfaction with local commercial infrastructure. o When it comes to supermarket chain convenience stores, the impact is likely to be felt most strongly between areas that have none, and areas that have one or two within walking distance. Quality ratings for independent convenience stores/newsagents are the most closely correlated to overall ratings of the quality of local commercial infrastructure. Fast food takeaways are the second most closely correlated. o This suggests that, not only is quality in these types of commercial infrastructure particularly variable, but the relationship between high quality and overall satisfaction with the commercial infrastructure nearby is strong The impact different types of commercial infrastructure have on a local area We accessed respondents views on which commercial infrastructure had a positive or negative impact on their area in three different ways: Asking respondents to rate the impact of the different types of commercial infrastructure they have in their area Asking respondents to say which of all the commercial infrastructure locally has the biggest positive, and the biggest negative, impact, and why Asking those respondents who didn t have each particular type of commercial infrastructure, whether it would be a positive or a negative thing for the area if one were to open up locally. 65

66 Impact ratings for specific types of commercial infrastructure Respondents who had each type of commercial infrastructure within 10 minutes walk of their home were asked to rate the impact that different types of commercial infrastructure have on their local area, where 0 is a very negative impact and 10 is a very positive impact. Figure 36 below shows the results, where the green bars reflect the proportion of people saying each type of infrastructure is positive for the local area, and the light blue bars show the proportion who say their local examples of each type are negative for the area (expressed as negative figures in this chart). Fig 36: Perceived positive / negative impact of different types of commercial infrastructure on the local area (those identifying a negative impact are expressed as a negative percentage) Positive (7-10) Negative (0-3) % Q12. Please rate the impact of the [commercial infrastructure type] on the local area, on a scale of 0-10, 0 being a very negative impact and 10 being a very positive impact. (Base: Various) Most of the different types of shops and businesses are deemed to have a positive impact on a local area by a majority of those who have them nearby. There are a few important exceptions: People who have a betting shop nearby are more likely to feel it is a negative thing than a positive thing for their local area. o Village dwellers are more likely to feel their local betting shop is positive for the area (29%), and much less likely to say that it s a negative thing (15%) Similarly, those who have a pawnbrokers or money lending shop nearby are also more likely to feel that it has a negative impact than a positive one. 66

67 When it comes to Fast Food and Pubs and Bars, a significant minority feel that their local examples are negative for their local area. o Pubs and bars in particular show some real variation by rurality: Fig 37: Perceived positive / negative impact of pubs and bars, by urban or rural environment (those identifying a negative impact are expressed as a negative percentage) Pubs have a negative impact (0-3) Pubs have a positive impact (7-10) -11% -9% -4% Urban Town Rural (Village & Hamlet) Q12. Please rate the impact of the pubs and bars on the local area, on a scale of 0-10, 0 being a very negative impact and 10 being very positive impact. (Base: Various) o And by region, with respondents in Scotland being more than twice as likely to say their local pubs and bars are negative for the area as people in the South West: Fig 38: Perceived positive / negative impact of pubs and bars, by region (those identifying a negative impact are expressed as a negative percentage) Pubs have a negative impact (0-3) Pubs have a positive impact (7-10) -12% -9% -8% -9% -10% -11% -7% -7% -10% -6% -5% Q12. Please rate the impact of the pubs and bars on the local area, on a scale of 0-10, 0 being a very negative impact and 10 being very positive impact. (Base: Various) Most positive types of commercial infrastructure We also asked an open question, asking respondents to say which single shop, place to eat or drink, or other type of business within 10 minutes walk of their home had the most positive and negative impact on the area, and why they made that choice. 67

68 Figure 39 shows the top answers to the question of which has the biggest positive impact with convenience stores coming out as the most commonly mentioned shop. This is driven by mentions of supermarket branded stores (accounting for 15% of the 22% who mentioned convenience stores) Fig 39: Type of commercial infrastructure respondents think has the strongest positive impact on their local area % saying has the strongest positive impact 22% 20% 15% 14% 13% 4% 4% 4% Q13. Which type of shop, place to eat or drink, or other business within a 10 minutes walk from your home would you say has the most positive impact on the area? (Base: 1,924) There are some interesting differences: year olds are more likely than other age groups to say the local restaurants and cafes have the strongest positive impact year olds, and people of social class C2DE are more likely to say their local pub has most positive impact Figure 40 shows the most commonly cited reasons given for respondents choice of most positive type of local commercial infrastructure. The single most important reason was that the business is conveniently placed, but this is closely followed by statements about the popularity, and the social function of the business. Fig 40: Explanation for the choice of local commercial infrastructure that has the strongest positive impact Explanation for choice 19% 17% 17% 16% 8% Convenient location Provides the services/products/ everything I/ community needs Q13a. Why do you say that? (Base: 1,687) Popular/ successful/ busy Social hub/ provides sense of community /place to meet/socialise Good quality produce/ products/ goods 68

69 Table 18 below shows, for the four most commonly chosen, the relationship between the particular businesses chosen as having a positive impact, and the reason given for this choice. It demonstrates the social function played by restaurants, cafes, pubs and bars, and the more functional role played by convenience stores and supermarkets. Interestingly (although too small a number to include in this table), of the 74 respondents who chose their local independent convenience store, 11% did so because it performs a function as a social hub locally. Table 18: Commercial infrastructure types with the strongest positive local impact and respondents reasons for choosing them Large chain Restaurants/Cafes Supermarket Pubs/Bars convenience store NUMBER CHOOSING Convenient location 34% 8% 27% 6% Provides the 27% 3% 31% 2% services/products/everything I/community needs Popular/successful/busy 18% 22% 16% 12% Social hub/provides sense of community/place to meet/socialise 4% 29% 1% 48% Most negative types of commercial infrastructure Figure 41 shows the top answers to the question of which has the biggest negative impact. 55% of the sample were able to name a type of shop, place to eat or drink, or other business locally that has the most negative impact. The most commonly mentioned were pubs and bars (12%) Fig 41: Type of commercial infrastructure respondents think has the strongest negative impact on their local area % saying has the strongest negative impact 45% 12% 10% 6% 3% 5% 11% Pubs/Bars Fast food and takeaways Betting shops Restaurants / Cafes Convenience stores (combined) Other None/DK Q14. Which type of shop, place to eat or drink, or other business within a 10 minutes walk from your home would you say has the most negative impact on the area? (Base: 1,924) Figure 42 below shows the most commonly cited reasons for these choices of negative local commercial infrastructure. 69

70 Fig 42: Explanation for the choice of local commercial infrastructure that has the strongest negative impact Explanation for choice 17% 11% 9% 9% 5% Attracts the wrong people/anti-social behaviour Drinking/Drunk people Attracts young people/ hang around Creates litter General loitering Q14a. Why do you say that? (Base: 1,062) Litter is most commonly associated with fast food restaurants Pubs and bars are problematic because of drunkenness Betting shops and convenience stores, on the few occasions they were cited, were generally associated with attracting the wrong (young) people to hang around Most wanted and least wanted types of commercial infrastructure We asked those who said they did not have each type of commercial infrastructure within 10 minutes walk of their home, whether they felt it would be positive or negative for the area if one were to open up locally. Figure 43 shows, for each type of commercial infrastructure, the proportion of those who do not have one nearby who feel it would be a positive and a negative thing for their area if one were to open. Fig 43: Types of commercial infrastructure that, if introduced locally, would be positive or negative for the area (those identifying a negative impact are expressed as a negative percentage) Would be negative for the area (0-3) Would be positive for the area (7-10) 77% 70% -8% -11% 56% 56% 53% -18% -18% -18% 41% 40% 40% 39% -27% -38% -22% -32% 24% -45% 7% 7% -65% -64% Q10a. If [commercial infrastructure type] were to open within 10 minutes walk of your home, do you think that would be a positive or a negative thing for your area? (Base: Various) 70

71 Most wanted commercial infrastructure (more than 50% of those who don t have one say it would be positive if one were to open within 10 minutes walk): Post offices Specialist food shops Restaurants and Cafes Banks and cash machines Independent convenience stores Least wanted commercial infrastructure (more people say it would be negative for the area than say it would be positive): Fast food & takeaways Betting shops Pawnbrokers/moneylenders Jury s out (the proportion who feel it would be positive is broadly similar to that which feel it would be negative for the area): Supermarket chain convenience stores (40% say positive, 38% say negative) Pubs and Bars (39% say positive, 32% say negative) Summary: impact of particular types of commercial infrastructure Key points: For people who currently have them within a 10 minute walk, post offices, specialist food shops and supermarket chain convenience stores are thought to have the strongest positive impact on the neighbourhood. o The strongest negative impact was associated with betting shops and pawnbrokers/moneylenders (although very few have an example of the latter nearby). Asked which single type of shop locally has the strongest positive impact, convenience stores came top, followed by restaurants and cafes, and then by supermarkets o The type of commercial infrastructure that was most commonly cited as having the biggest negative impact locally were pubs and bars, but this was only cited by 12% of the population, and 45% could not name a business that has a negative impact. For those who don t have them: o Post offices, specialist food shops and restaurants are felt to be the additions that would bring the greatest positive benefit to the area o Fast food outlets, betting shops and pawnbrokers are felt to be the additions that would bring the greatest negative impact on the area o There is uncertainty around pubs and bars, and supermarket chain convenience stores. 71

72 8.5. The drivers of satisfaction with local commercial infrastructure Across Section 8 of this report, we have looked at a number of different factors related to satisfaction with local commercial infrastructure: A series of overarching statements about local commercial infrastructure as a whole (section 8.1, above) Reports of the number of particular types of commercial infrastructure (section 8.2, above) Reports of the quality of particular types of commercial infrastructure (section 8.3, above) This section seeks to draw together these three strands of enquiry, to develop a model of which perceptions and facts about local commercial infrastructure are most important for predicting satisfaction with two of the overarching variables that were found to drive overall satisfaction with facilities and amenities (see Section 5, above): Satisfaction with the range of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of your home Satisfaction with the quality of local shops, places to eat or drink, and other businesses within 10 minutes walk of your home. Given that this area is relatively unexplored, we were less able to predefine a parsimonious set of likely drivers. Instead, for each of overall range and quality satisfaction, we conducted a separate regression analysis, seeking out the most important factors from across 47 of those questions, business counts, and statements discussed above. The models that emerge offer the best trade off between keeping the explanatory variables to a minimum, and maximising the explanatory power of the models Drivers of satisfaction with the range of commercial infrastructure within 10 minutes walk of home. Table 19 below shows the fifteen variables that, combined, provide the highest explanatory power in relation to overall satisfaction with the range of shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses within 10 minutes walk of respondents homes. Table 19: Correlation between types of commercial infrastructure available nearby and overall satisfaction with the range of local commercial infrastructure Variable Correlation Importance AGREE - I can get most day-to-day essentials from my local shops or % other businesses within a 10 minutes walk from my home AGREE - I often meet my friends or neighbours at the local places to % eat or drink QUALITY - Independent convenience stores/newsagents % QUALITY - Pubs/Bars % AGREE - The shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses nearby % are an important part of the local community NUMBER OF - Restaurants/Cafes % QUALITY - Fast food/takeaways % QUALITY - Smaller chain convenience stores (Nisa, Spar, Costcutter) % QUALITY - Specialist food shops - e.g. butchers, greengrocers, deli, % 72

73 bakery, etc. NUMBER OF - Convenience stores that are part of a large % supermarket chain (Tesco Express, Sainsbury's Local, The Cooperative G AGREE - In the last few years a large number of shops places, to eat % or drink, or other businesses have closed down in my local area Capped Total number of Convenience Stores (across all categories) % NUMBER OF - Specialist food shops - e.g. butchers, greengrocers, % deli, bakery, etc. QUALITY - Charity shops % AGREE - There are more empty/vacant shops in my local area than there were a few years ago % R 2 = 31.9 The model explains a substantial amount (32%) of variation in satisfaction on the dependent variable (R 2 =31.9) The single strongest predictor in the regression is agreement that I can get most day to day essentials from my local shops or other businesses within a 10 minute walk of my home, accounting for 20.5% of the power of the model. Despite the focus on range, a number of the broader social measures have an effect powerful enough to be included in the model o Meeting friends and neighbours at the local places to eat or drink is the strongest of these. Quality of independent convenience stores is also an important explanatory variable, the third most powerful in the model. o Because quality perceptions around independent stores is so variable, and people often have more than one within ten minutes walk, it may be that if a proportion of independent convenience stores are of higher quality, this can contribute to perceptions around the variety (and therefore range) on offer locally. In general quality perceptions associated with particular types of infrastructure are stronger than the numbers of particular types of infrastructure. o The exception seems to be restaurants and cafes, where having higher numbers is included as a driver of satisfaction with range overall. There are two negative variables included in the model: o Agreement with the statement that in the last few years a large number of shops places, to eat or drink, or other businesses have closed down in my local area is a negative driver of overall range satisfaction, as is the perception that there are more empty/vacant shops in the area Drivers of satisfaction with the quality of commercial infrastructure within 10 minutes walk of home. Table 20 below shows the thirteen variables that, combined, provide the highest explanatory power in relation to overall satisfaction with the quality of shops, places to eat or drink, and other local businesses within 10 minutes walk of respondents homes. 73

74 Table 20: Correlation between types of commercial infrastructure available nearby and overall satisfaction with the quality of local commercial infrastructure Variable Correlation Importance AGREE - I can get most day-to-day essentials from my local shops or % other businesses within a 10 minutes walk from my home QUALITY - Independent convenience stores/newsagents % AGREE- The shops, places to eat or drink, or other businesses nearby % are an important part of the local community QUALITY - Fast food/takeaways % AGREE - I often meet my friends or neighbours at the local places to % eat or drink QUALITY- Convenience stores that are part of a large supermarket % chain QUALITY - Pubs/Bars % NUMBER OF Restaurants/Cafes % AGREE - In the last few years a large number of shops places, to eat or % drink, or other businesses have closed down in my local area QUALITY - Specialist food shops - e.g. butchers, greengrocers, deli, % bakery, etc. Total number of Convenience Stores (across all categories) % NUMBER OF Convenience stores that are part of a large supermarket % chain AGREE- There are more empty/vacant shops in my local area than there were a few years ago % R 2 = 32.5 The model explains a substantial amount (33%) of variation in satisfaction on the dependent variable (R 2 =32.5). The list of driver variables is shorter, reflecting the fact that the top three variables in this model are more powerful than in the model for satisfaction with range. Overall though, the collection of drivers is broadly similar, suggesting that there is considerable overlap between satisfaction with range and satisfaction with quality at the level of overall commercial infrastructure. The single strongest predictor in the regression is again agreement that I can get most day to day essentials from my local shops or other businesses within a 10 minute walk of my home, accounting for 20.6% of the power of the model. Quality of independent convenience stores is also an important explanatory variable, the second most powerful in the model. Interestingly, measures of social impact have more power in explaining satisfaction with quality than they do with range. o Agreement that the shops, places to eat or drink and other businesses nearby are an important part of the local community has almost twice the importance in this model than in the model explaining satisfaction with range. Quality of fast food has real strength in explaining overall quality of local commercial infrastructure. o Despite having an overall low quality rating, fast food takeaways is a strong driver because where it is felt to be good quality, respondents tend also to think well of the local commercial infrastructure more generally. 74

75 Summary: The drivers of satisfaction with commercial infrastructure Key points: The drivers of satisfaction with range and quality are broadly similar, although there are some variations in the rank ordering. Agreeing that you can get hold of the day to day essentials within 10 minutes walk is the most important factor for both. Improvements in the quality of independent convenience stores are strong drivers of satisfaction with both the range and quality of commercial infrastructure overall. Similarly the number of restaurants and cafes in an area is important for range, and to a lesser extent for quality satisfaction ratings. Social aspects of local infrastructure are also important o Meeting friends and neighbours at local places to eat and drink o Seeing the local shops as an important part of the local community There is some indication that evidence of decline particularly in terms of closing shops is negatively related to satisfaction o In particular, the outward signs of this, in terms of vacant shops should be avoided to prevent the sense of decline. 75

76 9. Convenience stores This section focuses on convenience stores, to understand which factors make for a good local convenience store; how respondents local stores measure up on those factors, and the role that convenience stores can play in neighbourhood satisfaction. The section begins with a short summary of the findings related to convenience stores that have featured in sections 1 through 8, above, before focussing on specific questions asked about convenience stores in the survey and the findings related to the sector from the qualitative workshops Recap of findings related to convenience stores Local commercial infrastructure (shops, places to eat or drink, or other local businesses) plays an important role in neighbourhood satisfaction generally. Convenience stores are the most common (and most commonly recalled) form of local commercial infrastructure. o Satisfaction with the range and quality of shops and other local businesses is the biggest driver of satisfaction with local facilities and amenities generally. o Asked to name shops in their neighbourhoods, respondents to the quantitative surveys were most likely to mention convenience stores before all others. o Participants in the qualitative workshops felt that clean, well maintained and established shops and other businesses have impacts that go beyond facilities and amenities with a major role to play in the appearance of their neighbourhoods, their sense of safety, and their sense of community in the places where they live. Taken together, convenience stores are the most common type of commercial infrastructure. 91% of respondents have at least one convenience store in their area, and 44% have more than four within 10 minutes walk from home o The mean number of convenience stores within 10 minutes walk is 4.48 o 82% of the population have at least one independent convenience store within 10 minutes walk. o 64% have at least one large supermarket chain convenience store nearby but few have more than two o 62% have at least one small chain convenience store nearby, but again, few have more than two. Quality ratings for all types of convenience stores are fairly high, but some types of store are more variable than others. o Convenience stores that are part of a large supermarket chain (for example, Tesco Express, Sainsbury s Local, Co-operative) are most consistently rated highly for quality with 81% of those who have one nearby giving a quality score of 7 or above out of

77 o Independent and smaller chain convenience stores showed a greater level of variation in quality ratings, with 70% and 67% respectively rating their local examples 7 or above. Improving the quality of independent convenience stores is a powerful way to improve satisfaction with the range and quality of commercial infrastructure more broadly. o The number of supermarket chain convenience stores is also important, although the smaller numbers in any given area suggest the impact is more about the difference between having one and not having one, than the overall numerical presence. For those who lack any type of convenience store, an independent store is most likely to be considered a positive addition to the area. o For those who don t have one, almost as many (38%) say a new supermarket chain convenience store would be a negative thing for their area, as say it would be positive (40%) o Smaller chain convenience stores would be seen as a positive addition by 41% of those who lack one nearby, and a negative addition by 27% What qualities are important for a convenience store? We asked respondents to rate the importance of a number of factors relating to convenience stores generally. Convenience stores were defined as: smaller or medium sized shops, open for long hours and selling products from different grocery categories including fresh and packaged foods, drinks, confectionary, household goods etc, and includes those attached to other shops such as petrol stations. The qualitative discussions also looked at the qualities that participants look for in a convenience store. Those insights are included here as a way to offer depth and colour to the quantitative findings. The survey asked respondents to rate the importance (out of 10) of different factors in relation to convenience stores in general (see Figure 44 below). Having a clean and well maintained store came out at the top across the whole sample, followed by having a good range of products. Stores being run by people who are committed to the local community is deemed more important than being run by people you know, which under half the sample rated as essential. 77

78 Fig 44: Essential requirements for a good local convenience store % Essential (7-10) Is clean and well maintained, both inside and out Has a good range of products Has fair prices Has long opening hours Doesn't sell alcohol / cigarettes to underage people Has fresh fruit and veg Run by people who are committed to the local Has a free cash machine Takes cards without a minimum spend requirement Has facilities for paying bills or buying energy top 95% 92% 89% 86% 84% 84% 79% 78% 73% 72% Has information about what's going on locally 66% Run by people you know 47% Q21. Thinking about what makes for a good local convenience store, please say how important each of the following are, on a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 means it's not at all important, and 10 means it is absolutely essential. (Base: 2,001) When people were asked to name their three most important factors, having a good range of products comes first, followed by the store being clean and well maintained. More general statements relating to overall range, appearance and pricing come above more specific statements such as types of products sold or specific facilities offered. Statements about community and people rank lowest, indicating that it is more rational, convenience-led factors that drive importance in comparison to more emotional factors around community engagement. Fig 45: The three most important factors for a good local convenience store Most important Has a good range of products Clean and well maintained, inside and out Has fair prices Has long opening hours Has a free cash machine Has fresh fruit and veg Doesn't sell alcohol/cigarettes to underage people Run by people committed to the local community Takes cards without a minimum spend requirement Has facilities for paying bills or buying energy top Run by people you know Has information about what's going on locally 15% 11% 11% 8% 4% 35% 33% 29% 28% 27% 24% 41% Q22. And which three of the factors that we have just discussed would you say are most important? (Base: 2,001) There is little variation in the priority order of these factors by variables such as age, gender and social class. The largest differences emerge around the type of location in which respondents live. With a couple of exceptions, 78

79 the factors still rank in the same order of importance for different types of urban versus rural locations, but the level of importance varies according to where people live. Fig 46: The three most important factors for a good local convenience store, by urban or rural environment Hamlet Village Town Urban % choosing each as amongst three most important qualities Has a good range of products Clean and well maintained, inside and out Has fair prices Has long opening hours Has a free cash machine Has fresh fruit and veg Doesn't sell alcohol/cigarettes to underage people Run by people committed to the local community Takes cards without a minimum spend requirement Has facilities for paying bills or buying energy top up cards Run by people you know Has information about what's going on locally 39% 41% 43% 36% 31% 35% 37% 26% 33% 31% 35% 23% 26% 31% 30% 26% 29% 28% 27% 24% 30% 23% 30% 21% 24% 26% 24% 17% 18% 15% 12% 15% 10% 12% 10% 13% 8% 12% 12% 6% 4% 8% 8% 8% 5% 3% 4% 47% Q22. And which three of the factors that we have just discussed would you say are most important? (Base: 2,001) Good range of products Local convenience stores having a good range of products is more important for people in the most rural locations, largely because they have fewer shops per se, and hence less choice they can t just go to the next store along. Therefore if the local store doesn t sell certain items, this means a longer trip by car to a shop further away, which can be a hassle. If you are cooking for example and you need an ingredient, you don t want to have to load the kids up into the car and drive to the supermarket it is so much easier to be able to just walk to the local shop and get what you need (female, rural) 79

80 When it comes to towns and villages, people are more likely to have more choice of local convenience store. Having a good range of products is still the most important factor, but less so compared to very rural locations. People living in towns and bigger villages are also more likely to have a large supermarket relatively nearby, which makes a short trip (by car) to the supermarket less of a burden than it can be for rural dwellers increasing somewhat their reliance on local convenience stores for providing a wide range of products. I can pop out and get things like lottery tickets or a bottle wine or some chocolate or bread, milk things like that. I wouldn t use it as my main shop, but for top-ups or treats yes you want to be able to get the things you want at the time. Having a good range of products is more important for urban residents than for people in towns, as they often use their local shops for all their needs, rather than going to larger supermarkets for the weekly big shop. This is because either there isn t a large supermarket nearby, they don t own a car, or simply preferring to shop locally. This view was particularly pronounced amongst younger people, singles and couples without children, as well as older people with no children at home. I shop on a needs basis, so I buy things every day or every few days rather than doing a big shop every week and I go to whichever shop I feel like going to, depending on what I want (male, urban) Clean and well maintained 35% of people polled said that being clean and well maintained inside and out, was one of their top three most important factors for their local convenience store. Qualitatively, this means both being well looked after (particularly the exterior) as well as not being cluttered or having crates or boxes in the aisles, and having neatly stocked shelves. Urban residents tend to have particularly high standards. Participants put this down to the wider range of choice they have they can pick and choose which shops they go to and they will favour those that look clean and well maintained and often (depending on the type of neighbourhood they live in) expect high standards of modernity. For rural residents, concern about cleanliness and maintenance of the store is driven more by a sense of pride in the local area and a feeling that people should look after both their homes and local businesses by keeping them clean and well maintained. For people who live in villages (and some smaller towns), appearance of convenience stores is more about fitting in with the local surroundings than necessarily looking up to date or modern. Interestingly, participants in the discussions raised a further issue relating to appearance and maintenance: being able to see in through the windows. 80

81 Shops that have clear glass fronts rather than boards, or multiple posters in the windows that block people s views of the inside of the shop. This was more of an issue for women, some of whom expressed concern about not being able to see what was happening inside the shop, for example if there were gangs of people inside, which could be off-putting, especially after dark. The tendency to have large numbers of posters and other signage that obscure the windows of a shop was more associated with smaller chain and independent stores, than with convenience stores that are part of a larger supermarket chain Fair prices Having fair prices is the third most important factor for the overall population at 33%. Again our qualitative workshops found that urban residents are more demanding when it comes to price. This is driven by the wider choice of shops they have and their ability to vote with their feet. As urban residents tend to rely more on local convenience stores than bigger supermarkets, they can also be very aware of the differences in prices between different shops, as they use them frequently. Urban participants talked about certain shops being markedly overpriced and these are avoided unless necessary (e.g. if open very late at night) or used for single/minimal item purchases such as lottery tickets, cigarettes, soft drinks etc for convenience purposes. Grocery shopping in bulk will be done in stores that are deemed to have fair prices. Fair prices, whilst still important, are less so for more rural residents as they have much less choice, and actually having a local convenience store in itself can be seen as a bonus. As most of the shopping is done in big supermarkets, prices in convenience stores is slightly less of an issue for these types of locations Fresh fruit and vegetables Having fresh fruit and veg is important for urban residents especially, as they are often more dependent on local convenience stores for their groceries. For urban participants in our workshops, being able to get fresh food is a strong driver of deciding where to shop. I won t go to my nearest one because if I walk five minutes down the road there s one which has much better stuff, and at the same price (Male, Urban) Again this is slightly less of a driver for rural residents, as they tend to buy fresh fruit and veg from large supermarkets in the main, as well as farm shops or local producers where these are available. Farmers markets can replace local convenience stores for urban residents, but naturally this is highly dependent on access and availability in the local area. Town dwellers are also more likely to shop at greengrocers or specialist shops, which can be more prolific in towns than either cities or very rural areas. 81

82 Community involvement and engagement In the survey, we asked respondents to rate the importance of two community factors: Being run by people you know Being run by people who are committed to the local community Both of these factors were clearly less important to respondents to the survey, coming lower down on the list, behind the more rational drivers such as being able to get what you want and the prices you have to pay. These community factors are more important for rural residents than their urban counterparts. In the qualitative workshops, participants felt this This is driven by both population size (people are likely to know each other more in smaller areas) and how long people have lived in an area. By the nature of cities, people tend to be more transient and don t necessarily build up local connections, whereas in smaller towns and villages, people tend to live in the same place for longer, naturally getting to know people. There is a general feeling of support and also an importance attached to locally-owned businesses, but these tend to be much rarer in cities, where chains and big businesses are usually the norm. Urban residents are less likely to encounter locally owned businesses, and therefore the subject of community is less close to their hearts. Local convenience stores being run by people committed to the local community (15% ranked this in their top three important factors) is more important to residents that being run by people that they know (8%). Regardless of where they lived, participants in the qualitative workshops felt that having people that care about the local neighbourhood is a positive. Qualitative discussions indicated it is this sentiment of caring that is the more important factor than local businesses necessarily being run by people that you know. When we look at factors that describe people s local stores (below) we see that being run by people you know is the one that fewest people agree to (49%), whereas being run by people committed to the local community comes in at 62%. Villagers are most likely (69%) to feel their local convenience store is run by people committed to the local community, indicating the higher level of importance of community for smaller, tightknit neighbourhoods Describing my local convenience store We asked respondents to the survey to say how far each of the qualities described the convenience store that they use most often. NB. The question wording didn t feature the geographical boundary within 10 minutes walk in order to allow all respondents to answer in relation to the store they used most frequently. Figure 47, below, shows that the statement that is applicable to the highest proportion of people s most-often-used convenience store is being clean 82

83 and well maintained, both inside and out (90% say this describes their convenience store). Fig 47: The statements that best describe respondents local convenience store Describes my local store Clean and well maintained, inside and out Has a good range of products Has long opening hours Has fair prices Doesn't sell alcohol/cigarettes to underage people Has good quality fresh fruit and veg Has facilities for paying bills or buying energy top Run by people committed to the local community Takes cards without a minimum spend requirement Has a free cash machine Has information about what's going on locally Is run by people you know 70% 67% 63% 62% 55% 52% 50% 49% 90% 86% 85% 79% Q23. Now please say whether each of the following statements describes the local convenience store which you use most often. (Base: 2,001) Figure 48, below, shows the relationship between the importance of each quality, and the proportion of people who said that each describes the convenience store that they use most often. Fig 48: The statements that describe respondents local convenience store, and the reported importance of each Important for a convenience store Clean and well maintained, inside and out Has a good range of products Has fair prices Has long opening hours Doesn't sell alcohol/cigarettes to underage people Has good quality fresh fruit and veg Run by people committed to the local community Has a free cash machine Takes cards without a minimum spend requirement Has facilities for paying bills or buying energy top up Has information about what's going on locally Is run by people you know Describes my local store 70% 67% 62% 52% 55% 63% 50% 47% 49% 90% 86% 79% 85% 89% 86% 84% 84% 79% 78% 73% 72% 66% 95% 92% Q21. Thinking about what makes for a good local convenience store, please say how important each of the following are, on a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 means it's not at all important, and 10 means it is absolutely essential. (Base: 2,001) Q23. Now please say whether each of the following statements describes the local convenience store which you use most often. (Base: 2,001) While, for the top two (cleanliness, and range of products) the proportion of people whose store displays each quality is relatively close to the proportion who say that quality is important, there are a number of gaps between expectation and delivery: 83

84 While 89% say that fair prices are very important; 79% say that their local store has fair prices. 30% of people do not believe that their local store refuses to sell agerestricted products to people who are too young. Yet 84% say this is very important. Almost a third of people would not describe their convenience store as having good quality fresh fruit and veg ; despite 84% of people feeling that this is very important for their local store. 62% say that the people who run their store are committed to the local community, while 79% feel this is very important. The largest gap is around having a free cash machine while 78% say this is very important, only 52% say this describes their local shop. There is very little variation in people s experiences of their convenience stores. Looking at the rurality of respondents, for example, there are very few large differences. Convenience stores used by people in more rural areas: Are less likely to be open long hours Are slightly less likely to be perceived as having fair prices Are more locally connected: o Rural respondents are more likely to know the people who work at the store they use most frequently; to have local information in their local convenience store; to feel that the people who run their store are committed to the local community Fig 49: The statements that describe respondents local convenience store, by urban or rural environment More Important Is clean and well maintained, both inside and out Has a good range of products Has long opening hours Has fair prices Doesn't sell alcohol, cigarettes and other age-restricted products to underage people Has good quality fresh fruit and veg Has facilities for paying bills or buying energy top up cards Is run by people who are committed to the local community Takes cards without a minimum spend requirement Has a free cash machine Has information about what's going on locally Village/Hamlet Town Urban Is run by people you know % 'Describes my local store' Q23. Now please say whether each of the following statements describes the local convenience store which you use most often (Base: Various) 84

85 9.4. The role of convenience stores in different cities, towns and villages. Our qualitative workshops showed that local convenience stores are important for all types of residents on the urban-rural scale. However, the way people look at local convenience stores differs according to their situation: Urban participants: have a wider choice of shops within easy walking distance. As such, they are less likely to require that a single store provide everything they need they can go to several shops in one trip or use different shops for different things. The immediacy of competition, and the tendency for all convenience stores to stock a basic set of branded basics, means that price is important to urban residents because prices are easy to compare between stores. If one is seen as more expensive than another, it will only be used if necessary (e.g. a 24 hour store). Likewise, as city people tend to patronise a larger number of individual stores, loyalty is low and they will go to the one most suited to their needs at the time. Competition also leads urban residents to hold high standards, so shops need to maintain appearance to attract custom. In overall terms, having a choice of shops, including local convenience stores is something they expect from where they live, and convenience, speed and range of products is what mainly drives attitude. Community (whilst nice to have) is less on urban resident s radar, both due to the size and amount of commercial infrastructure present (and hence the larger number of shops frequented) and also due to the more transient nature of residents that urban areas often have. It s much more anonymous living in the city. I ve never met my neighbours. The staff in my local shop are friendly enough but I don t know them (Urban, Female) Amongst the urban participants, there was one interesting difference when it came to housing situation. Figure 50, below shows that survey respondents who live in social housing are more likely both to know the people who run the convenience store they use most frequently, and to feel that those people are committed to the local community. 85

86 Fig 50: Perceptions of the people that run the local convenience store, by housing type (social, private rental or owned) Very important (7-10) Describes my local store 80% 80% 64% 71% 58% 62% 52% 57% 47% 49% 37% 36% Social Housing Private Renters Homeowners Social Housing Private Renters Homeowners Is run by people who are commi4ed to the local area Is run by people you know Q21. Thinking about what makes for a good local convenience store, please say how important each of the following are, on a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 means it's not at all important, and 10 means it is absolutely essential. (Base: 2,001) Q23. Now please say whether each of the following statements describes the local convenience store which you use most often. (Base: 2,001) In both the qualitative and the quantitative work, people living on social housing estates tended to have a deeper social connection to the people who ran their local convenience stores. These participants and respondents often have facilities and amenities that are very local (on the estate) which can act as focal points in the community, particularly for mums with young children and the unemployed or shift workers. I ll often pop in for a pint of milk or something and end up stopping and chattering usually to hear what people are up to nearby! (Female, Urban) Smaller towns and villages: Compared with urban dwellers, workshop participants who live in less-well served areas are less likely to rely on their local store for actual convenience (top up shops, grabbing a forgotten item, etc). Much more car-reliant, the main weekly shop and top-up shops tend to be done at the nearest big supermarket and it is less of a hassle to pop back to the supermarket if it is nearby. Having a sense of community is most important for villagers and people in smaller towns, as they often spend more time in the community, for example retired people or mums with young children at home. Participants in the workshops felt that smaller towns and suburban areas are often more settled with people (and often generations) living in the area for longer, which also fuels a sense of community when neighbours and local business owners have the opportunity to forge closer connections. For participants from villages, sense of community is also found in places such as the school gates, the local pub, church or village hall. The local convenience store can fit into this picture as a place that is run by friendly people who get to know their customers, and as a place where people bump into each other. 86

87 It s about the bumping in to each other, knowing that you ll run into people that you know when you go out, having a sense that people care about each other and look out for each other (female, rural) I go to the local shop to get the gossip (female, rural) 9.5. Qualitative findings related to type of convenience store Participants in the qualitative workshops identified some key differences between the different types of convenience store. Given the qualitative nature of this data, the findings here should be seen as indicative, rather than authoritative, however, the views reported were raised over both workshops and agreed by a range of participants. Convenience stores that are part of a large supermarket chain: For the most part, people are very positive towards having one of these types of shop locally: seen as having very fair prices (to some extent including deals such as BOGOFs or discounts). Felt to offer good quality fresh food, and as such are essential for people living in urban areas in particular. They are consistently seen as being clean and well maintained, selling a wide range of products and also as having products that are relevant things that people need and want to buy. The main concern raised by workshop participants in relation to supermarket branded convenience stores involved the belief that local shop owners might be put out of business, which was particularly concerning for those who live in more rural locations. This reflects the survey finding whereby, amongst those who do not have one within 10 minutes walk of their home, almost as many respondents felt that the addition of a supermarket-branded convenience store would be negative for the area (38%), as thought it would be positive (40%). Smaller chain convenience stores: Participants in the qualitative workshops revealed a more divided attitude towards these types of stores, depending on the quality and range of goods sold, as well as price of the particular store in question. Positive elements of smaller chain supermarkets are long opening hours (often 24 hours in city centres), and selling a wider range of products than smaller newsagents, which make them highly convenient for city workers coming home late and for people who work night shifts. I m a policeman and I often have to work at night, so a shop being open late is great for me (male, urban) Useful for a Friday night if you want to get a bottle of wine or if you have forgotten to buy a lottery ticket (female, town) The single most common concern regarding smaller chain convenience stores was that prices tend to be much higher relative to the larger chain 87

88 supermarkets. Many participants suggested that, while they might to a whole top up shop in a Tesco Express or similar, they are less likely to do so in a smaller chain convenience store. They are really expensive compared to Tesco s (male, urban) Smaller supermarket chain stores are also perceived as less likely to stock fresh produce and, for those that do, this can be limited and low quality as they have less frequent deliveries than the larger supermarket chains. Other complaints include not stocking mainstream brands, as well as the store itself not being well maintained or neat and tidy inside. You really have to check the dates on some of things they sell (female, rural) An issue that is of concern for women is that of not being able to see inside when the shop front is not glass-fronted. Often, these types of shops have obscured shop fronts (by e.g. billboards) and this can put people off from going in after dark. You can t see inside with some shops so I d be worried about who was in there, like if there was a gang of teenagers in there I wouldn t want to go in, so I don t really like that (female, town) Independent convenience stores: Attitudes towards independent convenient stores are the most divided, as they are the most variable in quality and in the range of products they stock. Dependant on their own local examples, some workshop participants were very supportive of independently owned convenience stores, while others felt that they were often down-at-heel and less likely to offer the right products at fair prices. If local stores perform well on the three most important factors (cleanliness, range and price), then people will support them, and often at the expense of a chain or supermarket branded store. However, shoppers will readily go to a supermarket chain convenience store if an independent store doesn t meet their needs. Participants in the workshops were clear that independent stores do not have the infrastructure and profits that the larger supermarket chain stores operate, and they will support local owners up to a point. Factors that are most likely to drive them to use a supermarket convenience store instead include: Not being clean and well maintained, with cluttered aisles and shelves not well stacked Failing to stock a wide range of products or stocking items that are out of date. Not selling fresh food such as fruit and veg, bread, meat and so on. In the context of price competition, participants ability to stretch their budget depends very much on their own circumstances. Some of the wealthier respondents felt that they would be prepared to spend a little more in order to support a great locally-owned and run store. However for many in the workshops, their own financial concerns meant that they only 88

89 used their local independent store for a few essentials and things like cigarettes, drinks and lottery tickets. Other positives for independent stores include the people who work there living locally and getting to know what their customers want thereby tailoring the products they sell to local needs and shops that are seen to care about the local neighbourhood in this way are appreciated by local residents What does the ideal convenience store look like? We asked participants in the qualitative workshops to write down the words and phrases that come to mind when they consider their ideal convenience store: The ideal convenience store needs to meet quality and range standards first and foremost, as well as being accessible by having parking spaces (more so for towns and villages than cities). Quality includes both quality of products as well as quality of the store being clean and well-maintained, well stocked and well-lit. Having fair prices is important to drive custom, particularly as local stores compete with the larger supermarkets, which are perceived as having the best prices, particularly when buying in bulk. Selling fresh food is important and having specialist goods such as a bakery, or delstyle counter is a strong driver to satisfaction Summary: Qualitative and quantitative findings related to convenience stores. Key points: Ratings of the range and quality of commercial infrastructure is an important driver of overall satisfaction with the facilities and amenities in a neighbourhood. Higher satisfaction with the quality of independent convenience stores is strongly and positively correlated to overall satisfaction with local commercial infrastructure o The presence of a supermarket branded convenience store is also strongly associated with higher ratings of commercial infrastructure overall. The most important qualities for a convenience store are: 89