The West Midlands has launched a £10m fund to bring empty high street shops back into use and attract more visitors across the region.
West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker announced the scheme earlier this week, stating that it will support hundreds of businesses and tackle what he described as one of the highest shop vacancy rates in the country:
“It’s been a bruising few years for our high streets and sadly, many have become tired and run down.”
“I want high streets that are clean, safe and bursting with life from morning to night.”
The fund is being developed by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) in partnership with the West Midlands Growth Company and local councils, including Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Solihull, and Walsall.
This cash injection comes after more than two decades of regeneration projects aimed at reshaping Birmingham’s city centre.
The Bullring opened in 2003 after a major redevelopment estimated to have cost around £500m. This was followed by the transformation of New Street station and the opening of Grand Central in 2015.
However, neighbourhood high streets have proved harder to revive.
In 2022, Birmingham City Council applied for £10.75m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund to regenerate Erdington High Street. The plans proposed new public spaces, housing, business support and a community and enterprise hub. The bid was rejected in January 2023, along with four other Birmingham applications.
Similarly, towns such as Walsall have particularly struggled with high vacancy rates, with figures showing rates as high as 26%. The town was ranked the second-worst area in England to start a business in 2025.
The latest funding comes after Andy Burnham’s government announced that it would give councils greater powers over high-street businesses, including new restrictions on vape and betting shops which have “hollowed out high streets”.
The Mayor welcomed the new measures implemented by the Prime Minister, adding that
“taking back control of the high street is only half the job. We also need the investment to fill it with something better.”
“That’s what this £10m is for. It will bring boarded-up shops back into use, get new market stalls and street food venues onto our high streets, and back the businesses that give people a reason to visit, not just pass through.”
The WMCA said the programme would support businesses struggling to compete with online shopping and help create more commercial activity in local centres.
The specific locations receiving funding are expected to be announced in due course.
