UK high street revival will fail without planning reform, says Next boss

By James Davey

LONDON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Attempts to revive Britain's high streets will fail unless the government loosens planning restrictions and lets market forces shape how properties are used, the boss of clothing retailer Next said on Thursday.

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has made the revival of Britain's struggling high streets a cornerstone of his domestic agenda, arguing that many have been "hollowed out" after years of decline.

His government plans to lower business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues by 20% from April, while cracking down on vape shops, betting outlets and rogue businesses.

But Next CEO Simon Wolfson, the longest-serving leader in the FTSE 100, said efforts to restore high streets to their former shape were misguided.

"If your aim is to get the high street back to where it was, you're barking up the wrong tree," he told reporters after Next published first-half results.

Wolfson said the character of Britain's high streets would ultimately be shaped by changes in consumer behaviour, noting the shift online over the last decade and the disappearance of many brands.

"There's nothing that any government could have done about that," he said.

Instead, he argued that the government should make it easier for properties to be repurposed.

"The most important thing the government could do for British high streets is let them develop."

"Don't try and decide: This should be a shop and that should be a restaurant and this should be a barbers, just let the market do its work and transform British high streets into what people most want."

Wolfson said high streets had remained vibrant in areas where councils had taken an evolutionary approach, allowing properties to be converted to residential, office, restaurant, leisure or healthcare use. By contrast, he said towns that had sought to preserve high streets in their traditional form had largely failed to arrest their decline.

(Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Louise Heavens)