Graham Soult FIPM
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grahamsoult.bsky.social
Graham Soult FIPM
@grahamsoult.bsky.social
410 followers 450 following 300 posts
Retail Cupid 💘, high street champion, Fellow of the Institute of Place Management (IPM), Durham Business Group chairman. BBC: "The North East's best-known retail expert". Učim se slovenščino! https://www.cannyinsights.com/
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grahamsoult.bsky.social
Graham Soult FIPM @grahamsoult.bsky.social · 2d
East Sussex high-street businesses 👇

Free workshops + one-to-one support are on the way. Dates soon. Register interest:
www.cannyinsights.com/high-street-...

#HighStreetBoost #HighStreets #EastSussex
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
harrywallop.co.uk
Hero of the day. Tony Slater, who rummaged through discarded McDonald’s litter on verge, found a receipt, contacted the local environmental health officer. Who contacted McD, who used CCTV to work out the car responsible.
Result: £500 fine. 💥
(Via @thetimes.com)
January 29, 2026 at 7:55 AM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
westonmale.bsky.social
I don't often lavish praise but this #HelloSpalding app is the best promotional tool for the town that I've ever seen! I need to lie down now to get over the excitement!
#Spalding #SHollandDC #SpaldingBID #SarahFletcher
@lincsonline.bsky.social
@spaldingvoice.bsky.social
@grahamsoult.bsky.social
westonmale.bsky.social Tony Britton @westonmale.bsky.social · 1d
I'm very impressed by the new 'Hello Spalding' app which I've just uploaded to my phone. It was launched by the #SpaldingBID people earlier this month - sorry I missed the launch, my attention must have been elsewhere:
www.facebook.com/hellospalding
January 27, 2026 at 6:43 PM
grahamsoult.bsky.social
East Sussex high-street businesses 👇

Free workshops + one-to-one support are on the way. Dates soon. Register interest:
www.cannyinsights.com/high-street-...

#HighStreetBoost #HighStreets #EastSussex
January 27, 2026 at 12:27 PM
grahamsoult.bsky.social
Leatherhead: first impressions at a moment of change

Seeing Leatherhead through fresh eyes highlights both its strengths and the opportunities ahead as a new BID prepares to get started.
Leatherhead: first impressions at a moment of change
Seeing Leatherhead through fresh eyes highlights both its strengths and the opportunities ahead as a new BID prepares to get started.
www.cannyinsights.com
January 21, 2026 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
kientan74.bsky.social
🛍️ Staying with LinkedIn, 💯 hard agree with @grahamsoult.bsky.social here... The failures of Claire's and TOFS have less to do with the "health of the high street", and more with the lack of health (and, indeed, lack of relevance) of those two retailers...
#retail #highstreet #highstreets | Graham Soult FIPM | 17 comments
This morning I was invited on to BBC Radio Cumbria to talk about the collapse of the Modella Capital-owned Claire's and The Original Factory Shop, and was deliberately a little more provocative than u...
www.linkedin.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
kathrynmorrison.bsky.social
Marking 10 years of buildingourpast.com - 100 posts focusing on historic shops and retail history.
Today's offering: Saxone shoe shops. buildingourpast.com?p=11352&prev...
January 3, 2026 at 3:27 PM
grahamsoult.bsky.social
Smol... like my following on Bluesky! 😁 www.merriam-webster.com/slang/smol
January 2, 2026 at 9:00 AM
grahamsoult.bsky.social
I could not be more thrilled to share my "Boosting Festive Footfall" film with everyone! 🎬

Working on it with Tees Valley Combined Authority was a pleasure, and the end result is a celebration of #Darlington, of the #TeesValley, and of independent retailers in general.

youtu.be/j_5dDdr9zIo?...
Boosting Festive Footfall | Business Tees Valley
YouTube video by Business Tees Valley
youtu.be
December 17, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
westonmale.bsky.social
@grahamsoult.bsky.social Plenty of life still on the High Street! 'Retail Cupid' Graham talks with Nikki Clarke OBE about his retail matchmaking - filling six empty units in Durham, after partnering with local council. 39 minutes of discussion. Impressive stuff!
#Durham #RetailCupid #HighStreet
December 5, 2025 at 4:28 PM
grahamsoult.bsky.social
Some thoughts from me in this podcast with UMi!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGwO...
Reviving the high street - Graham Soult - UMicast
YouTube video by We Are UMi Network
www.youtube.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:40 AM
grahamsoult.bsky.social
"Independents are rooted in the town, they build relationships with customers and offer delight you can't get on your smartphone."

Some comment from me here in this BBC News article about my "Boosting Festive Footfall" workshops for the Tees Valley Combined Authority!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Teesside shop owners say it is 'not too late to save High Street'
Retailers on Teesside are being invited to a series of workshops aiming to boost town centre trade.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 8:18 AM
grahamsoult.bsky.social
Still time for #TeesValley retailers and other businesses to sign up for my "Boosting Festive Footfall" workshops starting on Monday!

www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/2562147...

#retail #highstreet #highstreets
Support package to boost North East high street businesses this Christmas
A new support scheme launched by the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority aims to boost high street businesses during the critical Christmas…
www.thenorthernecho.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
westonmale.bsky.social
@grahamsoult.bsky.social
@lincsonline.bsky.social
@springfields.bsky.social
At last, welcome evidence-base study about #SpaldingTownCentre
Town loses est £174m a year as shoppers prefer Bourne, Springfields & Peterborough | LincsOnline | 13 November 2025:
premium.lincsonline.co.uk/spalding/new...
Town missing out on potential £174 million as shoppers are urged to change their habits this Christmas
Consumers are urged to buy local and ditch online shopping as it is revealed that a town centre is missing out on a potential £174.5million a year.
premium.lincsonline.co.uk
November 13, 2025 at 2:24 PM
grahamsoult.bsky.social
As you may have seen, I'm looking forward to delivering eight "Boosting Festive Footfall" workshops - in person across the #TeesValley, and online - over the next few weeks. The sign-up link for local businesses is at www.eventbrite.com/cc/retail-wo....
Retail Workshop Series – Boosting Festive Footfall
Free workshops with retail expert Graham Soult to help Tees Valley retailers boost festive footfall, visibility, and sales.
www.eventbrite.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
vacantshopsacademy.bsky.social
Maybe go #HighStreetPositives as @grahamsoult.bsky.social suggests: “Retail is a major employer with determined, resilient, innovative people at every level. It’s doing great stuff in challenging times and could make an even bigger contribution to your growth target given supportive policy & regs…?”
November 11, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
sparksstirling.bsky.social
Not really my point. The BRC data show high street footfall up by 0.7% but the article and the headline (especially) is designed not to tell you that.

Whether the data from varying sources differ is a different thing. It os the pushing of a narrative despite the data that riles me here
November 10, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
harrywallop.co.uk
The encapsulation of Britain’s post-industrialised economy morphing into a experiential/wellness one.
Visit the excellent @beamishmuseum.bsky.social, go down a 1910s mine and then luxuriate in Coal Mine bath salts from the gift shop 🧐
October 21, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
mrsteveleach.bsky.social
Proud to reopen our #Nettleham food store tomorrow after 6 months of hard work, after a fire gutted the building - the #LincsCoop team have all pulled together with a pop up shop to support the community while we’ve repaired the original store 🫶
October 21, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
kientan74.bsky.social
Completely agree! How many developed markets in the world can say this? And not just for customers but also new entrant challenger suppliers: can't get listed by one grocer, try another one!
October 19, 2025 at 2:47 PM
grahamsoult.bsky.social
It was nice to pop up on BBC Politics North just now, and be described as "a leading retail expert"!
October 19, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
mrsteveleach.bsky.social
What a transformation for our #Horncastle funeral #LincsCoop team now relocated into a brand new £1.2m purpose built home to continue to provide outstanding care for our community 🫶
October 19, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
kientan74.bsky.social
🇺🇿 I mean, once in a lifetime, amiright?
Tashkent, you have been a joy… Sorry I only got to spend one free evening, but you were a beaut…
Chorsu Bazaar at night Inside Chorsu Bazaar at night Friendship of the Nations Flagstaff Tashkent Metro
October 15, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
bryanroberts72.bsky.social
Sainsbury’s Marsh Mills. 11 sail-like panels to create a nautical canopy to honour Plymouth’s heritage. Known locally as the Sainsbury’s Opera House
October 12, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
harrywallop.co.uk
The piece went online a fortnight ago, but is in print today.
Here’s a gift link, if you’d like to read free:

Middle-class families are choking on the £100 ‘casual meal out’
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/96d6c66...
Middle-class families are choking on the £100 ‘casual meal out’
A table for four hitting triple digits is triggering ‘bill shock’, to the detriment of Britain’s best-known restaurants
www.telegraph.co.uk
October 11, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Graham Soult FIPM
bryanroberts72.bsky.social
Waterstones in Bradford 🥰
October 8, 2025 at 2:14 PM