Ramsgate's High Street Revamp: A Playground for Ambitious Entrepreneurs Ramsgate's Royal Temple Yacht Club recently hosted a game-changing gathering where experts, business leaders, and government reps brainstormed how to revive the town's high street. With empty shops on the rise, the event aimed to find solutions that could turn Ramsgate's struggles into a blueprint for high streets across the UK.

Hosted by Emma Jones CBE, founder and CEO of Enterprise Nation, a London based organisation that supports entrepreneurs, small businesses, and startups by providing resources, advice, and networking opportunities, the event aimed to tackle the challenges facing high streets across the UK, with a particular focus on Ramsgate's empty shop crisis. The seaside town is buzzing with potential – and if you're an entrepreneur, this is the perfect moment to get involved.

Picture this: affordable spaces, a community of creative thinkers, and a high street that's ripe for change. Ramsgate is making room for new businesses, and it's offering the chance to be part of something special, with local support to help your idea take off. The gathering, which included advisers from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Energy, Security, and Net Zero, brought together a powerful mix of high street regeneration specialists, data experts, finance professionals, and local entrepreneurs. Louise Brooks, co-founder of Ramsgate Space CIC, a community-led initiative focused on transforming Ramsgate's empty shops, co-hosted the event.

The goal? To unite expert perspectives and collaborate on innovative ways to revive high streets, encourage new retailers to fill vacant spaces, and help existing businesses thrive. The conversation centered on the urgent need to breathe new life into struggling high streets and create vibrant, sustainable spaces. The first panel of the event addressed the need for a strategic, collaborative approach to building a sustainable and attractive high street.

The discussions highlighted the importance of creating high streets that not only attract shoppers but also foster a sense of community, with a balance of retail, services, and cultural attractions. The insights shared at the meeting will be instrumental in shaping the next steps for Ramsgate's regeneration and could offer valuable lessons for other towns grappling with similar challenges.

Becky Jones, co-founder of Someday Studios, works in partnership with Westminster Council and landlords to help reshape Oxford Street for the future by identifying and placing emerging start-ups and creatives in prime empty shops, rent free. 

Becky said: "There is no shortage of demand for space. The difficulty is that there's no one in the pipeline plugging the gap between start-ups and empty spaces. It's a very complex area for a new business to navigate between landlords, agents and local authorities, but there's no one demystifying this process and until that happens, you won't see much progress." 

Stuart Langley, owner of Ramsgate-based award-winning Seabird restaurant in Addington Street, moved to Ramsgate in 2016 from London. He still operates two thriving pub restaurants in London, but he started out running the charismatic pop-up Disappearing Dining Club, so is used to drumming up customers out of nowhere in challenging locations.  He adds: In Ramsgate there is plenty of local loyalty, the challenge is long-term commitment. There is no smash and grab restaurant scene here in Ramsgate.  You have to build your business customer to customer, meal to meal, drink to drink and bill to bill. Every single customer has to leave having eaten and drunk well, experienced a great space and great service and feel it was value for money." 

The panel heard from Laura Reynolds, a Ramsgate jeweller and founder of Godessa Jewellery, who wants to move from online sales to a high street shop. She's excited about regeneration but worries higher rents could price her out. Jess Hudsley, founder of Light Up Ramsgate, an annual event featuring festive lights, displays, and activities to celebrate the holiday season, noted the town's creative scene is thriving and stressed that collaboration will be key to its growth.

The next panel discussed strategies for rebuilding town centres, drawing on successful examples from Hastings and Folkestone. Adrian Lockwood, a key figure in Creative Folkestone, shared how the town transformed into a creative hub, thanks to strong support and the vision of Saga philanthropist Sir Roger de Haan.

"He started buying up empty properties and doing them up and letting them to creative businesses one by one. He has now invested more than £50 million in the town, repurposing 90 buildings, more than 250 different units, flats and work/live projects that are all occupied. There are no chains. All the businesses are independent, it was one of the stipulations of Sir Roger's programme of regeneration." 

If the ideas shared in Ramsgate take root, this small seaside town could set the stage for a nationwide high street revival, proving that with the right mix of innovation, community spirit, and collaboration, even the most forgotten corners of the UK can come back stronger than ever.