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Acknowledgement

This research was carried out by Accelerate Business Coaching, supported by

the Economic Department of Tipperary County Council

February 2016.

3

Chapter 1 – Introduction and Background 4

Chapter 2 – Macro Environment of Town Centres 7

Chapter 3 – Strategic Capabilities 13

Chapter 4 – Structure and Governance 16

Chapter 5 – Marketing for Town Centres 20

Chapter 6 – Finance and Funding 24

Chapter 7 – Town Overviews 28

Thurles 32

Roscrea 41

Templemore 50

Chapter 8 – Common Town Centre Initiatives Recommendations 61

Chapter 9 – Monitoring, Implementation and Conclusion 63

Appendix 1 64

Bibliography 65

4

Chapter 1

Background

Introduction

Tipperary has a strong network of towns

spread across the county, all of which

have felt the effects of the downturn in

economic activity to a greater or lesser

extent. Tipperary County Council, as the

new unified authority for Tipperary,

identified a need to develop a coherent

Town Centre Strategy to help restore

vibrancy and vitality to the retail areas in

the centre of the major towns.

Scope of the initiative

The towns of Clonmel, Nenagh, Thurles,

Carrick-on-Suir, Roscrea, Tipperary,

Cashel, Cahir and Templemore represent

40% of the population of Tipperary and the

influence of these towns extends across

the full county. This was considered an

important fact in terms of focusing

particular targeted attention to these

centres. The population of the towns is

shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Towns included the Town Centre

Initiative and their Population

.

Description of the Initiative

Experience from Ireland and abroad

demonstrates the value of local

partnerships in developing well-considered

and effective solutions and this was at the

core of the Town Centre Initiative (TCI).

The success of measures to support town

centres is predicated on facilitating a

strong town centre partnership vision and

strategy that takes account of the town

people, economy, heritage, physical

features and role within the wider network

of town centres.

The initiative focused on two parallel

approaches – facilitating town centre

groups and consolidating a range of other

council supports to town centres, backed

by additional, innovative measures.

Town Centre Forums

Retail Excellence Ireland recently

published a “Strategy for Rural Retailing”

document which emphasises the

importance of town centre groups in

driving positive change for towns. It

suggests that these groups should

comprise local stakeholders from across

the public, private, voluntary and

community sectors. Facilitating these

groups to organise effectively and devise

plans to drive increased footfall and

commercial activity in the town centre,

thus generating increased vibrancy and

vitality, was a key requirement of this

initiative.

Town Centre Forums had already been

developed in South Tipperary under the

South Tipperary Retail Development

Programme 2012, therefore the initial

objective of this process was to evaluate

the effectiveness of these models, identify

Town 2011 Population

Clonmel 17,048

Nenagh 8,439

Thurles 7,933

Carrick-on-Suir 5,886

Roscrea 5,403

Tipperary 5,310

Cashel 4,051

Cahir 3,578

Templemore 2,071

Total Population 59,719

Source: 2011 Census of Population, CSO

5

a model of best practice and implement

this model across the towns in Tipperary.

The Town Centre Forums were

subsequently tasked with contributing to

the development of their own 3-year

Action Plan, including identifying priorities

and sourcing potential funding.

Complementary Council Supports

The council provides a wide range of

additional supporting measures, including

grants and incentives for retailers, support

to groups to deliver festivals in their town,

and business mentoring supports amongst

others.

In the context of the Town Centre Initiative

(TCI), the council will commit to providing

some seed funding over the 3 years for

initiatives agreed by the Town Center

Forum. It is expected that this seed

funding will be matched by contributions

from the retail trade itself and/or other

sources. The Council will also commit to

having an appropriate senior staff member

attend the TCI meetings, including

convening and minuting the meetings if so

required by the group. Finally, the council

will use the advice and knowledge at its

disposal to assist the TCF groups to

maximize the value for their area.

External Funding Sources

There are a number of programmes and

other initiatives run by government

departments and agencies to support

towns to help themselves which will be

identified in this report.

Methodology

As part of this research, the following work

was undertaken to inform the content of

the action plans:

A review of National, regional and

local policies and strategies and

identifying the overarching retail policy

considerations and objectives to be

implemented by planning authorities.

Particular emphasis was placed on the

settlement hierarchy; enhancement of

the built and natural heritage and

vitality of the nine town centre’s; and

assessment of the appropriate retail

mix in each of the towns.

A full SWOT analysis was undertaken

and a physical audit of the retail

streetscape was undertaken. Within

the analysis there are details on

vacancy, retail mix and suggested

usages to be targeted.

The review also included a comprehensive

overview of retail and economic data

which includes national and local trends. A

review of the grocery and comparison

goods sectors was undertaken with

particular emphasis on the impact that

online retailing has on the sectors. The

potential role of technology in retailing

within each of the towns is also assessed.

Consultation with Stakeholders:

A consultation process with stakeholders

was conducted. Key stakeholder opinions

were sought and documented. On

completion, a briefing document was

distributed to each of the towns which

incorporated the opinions expressed. This

has formed the basis for discussion

regarding the development of the Town

Centre Forums.

Following on from this and taking into

account the research undertaken with

retailers, other stakeholders and

consumers and customers, an action plan

was developed for each town. The

component of each plan consists of:

1. An analysis of the town and its retail

sector including a review of the

vacancy and retail mix.

6

2. Identification and analysis of each

town’s strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities and threats – a SWOT

analysis.

3. Development of a mission (or purpose)

statement for each of the towns.

4. The recommended model for the Town

Centre Forum structure

5. Town specific marketing

recommendations (as applies).

6. Presentation of a draft three-year

Action Plan with specific goals and

objectives for each town to assist the

initial work of the newly established

Town Centre Forums and to enable

the development of basic strategies to

fulfil their mission or purpose.

Conclusion

An overall Town Centre Strategy for

Tipperary with detailed strategies for each

of the nine towns is presented. Funding

sources have been identified through all

existing and potential national programs

(including LEADER programs) plus

European programs. It also includes a

detailed and targeted marketing plan

framework.

Findings and recommendations with

particular emphasis on a county and sub

county perspective are presented also.

The report is conscious of new game

changing innovative strategies and

incentives that could be submitted to

Central Government and existing

European projects for possible funding for

either the towns or county.

7

Chapter 2

Macro Environment of

Town Centres

Introduction

Many Irish towns and villages are in a very

distressed state. Following years of out of

town retail development, the growth of on-

line shopping and reduced consumer

spending, the town centre can lack

consumer engagement, in many cases

suffers from significant vacancy and has

for some become a secondary shopping

alternative for many consumers. The

problem is not a result of the economic

cycle – the problem will remain long after

market growth returns. It is likely that the

deterioration of Ireland’s towns and

villages will intensify without strategic

intervention.1

Understanding the Macro

Environment of Irish Town Centres

In order to understand the macro

environment of Irish town centres, the

PESTEL framework was used. This

framework highlight six environmental

factors in particular; political, economic,

social, technological, ecological and legal.

This range underlines that the

environment is not just about economic

forces; there is an important non- market

environment”2. The key impact areas are

identified under the various headings

rather than exhaustive lists.

Political

There appears to be a general acceptance

in Irish Government that town centre

retailers and other businesses are

experiencing difficult times and that a

strategic approach is needed to revitalise

town centres. In September 2015, a €30

million package of spending was

announced by the government to revitalise

the attractiveness and sustainability of

towns and villages.

Some of the key policy documents in

Retail and Town Centre Development

currently referred to by government

include:

Retail Ireland – Strategy for Retail 2014 -

20163,

Retail Planning Guidelines 2012,

Retail Excellence Ireland ‘A Strategy for Rural

Retailing’4

Ireland’s Rural Development Programme 2014

– 2020)5

At a local government level, the key policy

documents which are relevant in this

project at a County level are:

South Tipperary County Development Plan

2009 - 201567

North Tipperary County Development Plan

20108

South Tipperary County Retail Strategy 20109

North Tipperary County Retail Strategy 201110

South Tipperary Retail Development

Programme 201211

At a town level, the most important policy

documents are the Town Development &

Environs Plan which set out the strategic

objectives for town centres and these

have been referenced in this document.

Economic

In 2015, Retail Ireland Director Thomas

Burke stated that “Outside of construction,

the retail sector was the worst hit by the

recession with sales falling by a

staggering 24% from the peak. While the

recovery is gaining momentum in major

urban centres, many regional towns and

villages are still struggling with a lack of

consumer spending and empty retail units

on the main street. Urgent investment is

needed to make them more attractive

places for consumers and businesses

alike, and ensure they are not left behind

by the recovery."12

8

In a more positive vein, Retail Excellence Ireland CEO, David Fitzsimons commented on October 23rd 2015 in Checkout magazine that “Q3 2015 experienced the best quarterly performance since Q2 2007 as all major sectors rebounded (Diagram 1). Diagram 1: Retail Sales Index August 2015.

Source: CSO

13

There was a decrease of 1.7% in the

value of retail sales in August 2015 when

compared with July 2015 and there was

an annual increase of 5.6% when

compared with August 2014.

If Motor Trades are excluded, there was a

monthly increase of 0.3% in the value of

retail sales and an annual increase of

3.7%. According to the CSO Retail Sales

Index Report for August 2015, the sectors

with the largest month-on-month volume

increases were Furniture & Lighting

(+13.2%), Other Retail Sales (+5.8%) and

Hardware, Paints & Glass (+4.1%).

The sectors with the largest monthly

decreases were Motor Trades (-4.6%),

Books, Newspapers/Stationery (-0.3%)

and Non-Specialised Stores excluding

Department Stores (-0.2%) (Diagram 2).

However, David Fitzsimons contends that

the Grocery sector continues to track

behind the retail industry average as it

sees intense competition and continued

price deflation. Considered a good

barometer of footfall and consumer

activity, the Hot Beverage category saw

quarterly gains of 13.15%. A recent

Kantar Worldpanel report for the 12 weeks

to October 11th 2015, “…show a year-on-

year growth in sales of 2.1% across the

Irish grocery market”. This tells a more

positive story about the Irish grocery

market.

David Berry, Director at Kantar

Worldpanel, explains: “This is the most

positive performance the market has seen

in over five years. The growth in sales this

period was ahead of the rate of inflation

indicating that consumers are becoming

less restrictive in what they buy and

adding extra items to their baskets.”

Diagram 2: Annual & Monthly Volume %

change for Combined Groups.14

9

This positive trend towards less restricted

purchasing patterns among Irish

consumers also bodes well for non-

grocery retailers.

Consumer sentiment

It should be noted that there are

differences in consumer sentiment

between Dublin and the rest of the

country. There is a general perception

that the Irish economic recovery has been

concentrated to a large degree in Dublin

with far less perceivable improvements in

the regions. This view is supported by the

differences and divergence in consumer

sentiment15 highlighted in Diagram 3.16

Diagram 3: What Does the Recovery mean

for the Average Irish Consumer?

National improvements in the state of the

retail sector need to be considered in the

context of the consumer sentiment

differences identified here. Anecdotal

evidence suggests that significant

challenges remain for retailers in rural

towns with consumer spending

improvements perceived as marginal at

best.

Access to Credit

Access to appropriate debt finance and

other funding options continues to be a

challenge for businesses. The issue is

substantiated in the report by the

Commission for the Economic

Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA)

Energising Ireland’s Rural Economy which

identifies the need “to improve access to

finance by enterprises by addressing

problems with loan guarantee and micro

finance schemes”.17

Retail and Tourism

The economic opportunities created by

tourism are significant for town centre

development. Increased footfall and

visitor numbers to Town Centres create

opportunities for retail sales among

retailers.

Revenue from overseas tourism in 2014

was €3.5 billion18 so Government expects

an increase of in excess of 42% in

overseas tourism revenue up to 2025.

This represents a very significant

economic opportunity for town centre

businesses. The Department of

Transport, Tourism and Sport policy,

‘People, Place and Policy Growing

Tourism to 2025,19 also refers to the

economic opportunities presented by the

Diaspora and the opportunities to make

local communities more attractive through

festivals and events.

Social

Macro environmental social considerations

for town centre development include

megatrends like an aging population and

the depopulation of town centres. The

overall share of the national population

living in towns fell from 12% to 9%

between 1991 and 2011.

There are several interrelated drivers

behind these developments which when

taken together undermine the social and

economic viability of many towns which, in

turn, has affected their capacity to attract

and sustain investment.

10

Other pertinent social issues include the

responsible use of alcohol and anti-social

behavior, ethical sourcing of products, fair

business practices and the promotion of

healthy lifestyle choices. Making town

centres safer and more appealing for night

time trade is of significant importance from

both a social and economic perspective.

Technological

Online shopping and the opportunities

presented through Digital Marketing

including Social Media are the key

considerations here. The joint committee

on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in their

March 2015 paper - Policy Options to

Support Business Growth and Job

Creation and Retention in Town and

Village Centres state that “according to the

Department of Communications, Energy

and Natural Resources, Irish consumers

are now spending more than €6 billion

online every year. However, less than a

third of this spend goes to Irish retailers,

and only 23% of small Irish companies

have engaged in online sales.”20

Retail Ireland identified a strategic action

around ecommerce and assisting retailers

operating bricks and mortar outlets in

Ireland to gain a larger share in the

growing online market in the following

ways:

Annually surveying members

regarding their existing online

presence, their plans to develop that

presence and their experience of

online retailing.

Identifying barriers to online trading

and drawing up proposals that would

help members to provide an online

offering.

Presenting proposals to increase

domestic retailers share of this market

to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise

and Innovation and other

stakeholders.

Working with the IBEC Retail Skillnet

to provide advice and training to

retailers seeking to trade online, or

improve their online offering.

In the 2013 book ‘Social Media Marketing

– A strategic Approach’21, Barker et al

define Social Media Marketing as “… a

term that describes the use of social

networks, online communities, blogs, wikis

or any other online collaborative media for

marketing, sales, public relations and

customer service. Common social media

marketing tools include Twitter, blogs,

LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.

In the context of internet marketing, social

media refers to a collective group of web

properties whose content is primarily

published by users and not direct

employees of the company (e.g. the vast

majority of video on YouTube is published

by non-YouTube employees). Typically,

the end goal of social media marketing is

a “conversion”, such as the purchase of a

product, subscription to a newsletter,

registration in an online community, or

some other desirable consumer action.”

A key recommendation of this report is the

continued and augmented support of

businesses and towns to harness the

power of Digital Marketing and to explore

options around online sales.

Environmental

The natural and built environment is a

strategic resource for many towns in

Ireland. The result of Fáilte Ireland’s

survey (Diagram 4 over) indicates the

importance of the natural and built

environment for tourists visiting Ireland.

11

Diagram 4:

Importance and rating of destination issues among overseas holidaymakers (%) Source: Fáilte Ireland’s22

Protecting, appreciating and leveraging

the natural and built environment are all

equally important considerations in town

centre development. Many of the towns

under review have extensive resources

available to them, resources which could

be perceived as under-appreciated and

under-utilised.

The alignment between the economic

management of these resources and local

access to them for the purposes of

augmenting the attractiveness of towns for

both local people and visitors, can pose a

problem for local initiatives.

The Retail Planning Guidelines 201223

refer to the importance of design quality in

supporting town centre environments:

“Quality design ensures attractive,

inclusive, durable, adaptable places which

contribute positively to making places

more pleasant for people to work in, to live

in, to shop in, or pass through”.

Legal (including Legislative and

Regulatory considerations)

The key Irish Government Policy

Document which sets out the required

best practice and regulatory

considerations in Retail Development in

Ireland is the Guidelines for Planning

Authorities Retail Planning 2012. The key

messages in the document are:

To continue to support competitiveness and choice in the retail sector commensurate with promoting the vitality and viability of city and town centres.

The retail sector is a key element of

the national economy in terms of

employment, economic activity and the

vitality of Ireland’s cities and towns.

From a retail planning context, development must:

Follow the settlement hierarchy of the state and be appropriate to the scale and function of the settlement or part of the settlement in which it is located.

Enhance the vitality and viability of city and town centres in all their functions through sequential development.

A range of caps on the size of convenience and retail warehouse stores is required to ensure both competitiveness in the retail sector and strong city and town centres.

The planning system has facilitated a

major expansion of retail development

and activity; however more work

needs to be done to ensure that such

0 20 40 60 80 100

Friendly, hospitable people

Beautiful Scenery

Safe & Secure Destination

Good range of natural attractions

Interesting history & culture

Natural unspoilt environment

Attractive cities & towns

Easy, relaxed pace of life

Satisfied

Important

12

development takes place in city and

town centres.

Planning for retail development must

also take account of the wider policy

context in relation to relevant planning

guidelines, smarter travel, climate

change and architecture.

Opportunities and threats to Town

Centre and Retail Development

The following represent the most

significant opportunities and threats for

Town Centre Development in County

Tipperary.

Opportunities

Town centres need to capitalise on a

projected increase in excess of 42% in

overseas tourism revenue up to 2025,

to increase footfall to town centres and

thus an increase in town centre retail

revenues.

Leverage off the natural and built

environment to improve the

attractiveness of towns and generate

increased footfall.

Digital Marketing and Online Sales

opportunities. Collective and digital

marketing of town centres, digital

marketing of individual businesses and

business groups, collective online

sales opportunities and individual

online sales opportunities (e.g. LEO

Trading Online Vouchers).

Festival and events to create a buzz in

towns, generate the activities and

stories to market towns both online

and offline and generate increased

footfall in town centres

Creating and maintaining links with the

Diaspora

Threats

Spend leakage due to online sales

Town depopulation and the resultant

reduction in town centre vitality,

vibrancy and potential reduction in

customers

Challenges for towns to achieve a

balance between conserving heritage

and using natural heritage challenge of

overcoming issues regarding access.

Lack of recovery in consumer

spending in regional towns compared

to large urban centres like Dublin.

Lack of accessible and appropriate

finance for business development.

13

Chapter 3

Strategic Capabilities

The key resources that all subject towns

have could be listed under the following

six headings:

1. Natural and Built Environment

2. Heritage

3. History

4. Culture

5. Local People

6. Retail and Services Offering

Towns have differing key resources with

some towns stronger than others. The

resources are to a large extent fixed in

nature – towns have what they have. The

key determinant of development, success

and progress is in how these resources

are appreciated, leveraged and capitalised

on.

This is where competencies in Town

Centre development; the systems and

processes by which they are managed;

the relationships and cooperation between

people; their adaptability; their innovative

capacity; their relationships with

customers and suppliers and the

experience and learning about what works

well and what does not are vital.

Some of the key competencies required in

towns are as follows;

Structures that allow people to work

effectively together e.g. Town Team

structures as suggested by Retail

Excellence Ireland24 and the Association

of Town and City Management.

Organised Groups. Within any Town

Team structure there needs to be

cohesive and well organised groups who

have particular areas of interest. These

groups can operate as sub groups in the

Town Team Group structure to lead

relevant actions for the benefit of all.

Examples would include Tidy Town

Groups leading public space

enhancement projects or Chamber of

Commerce groups leading vacancy

reduction initiatives.

Partnership approaches between local

community groups, business groups and

government agencies including the local

authority. Creating a forum where such

relationships can be forged and developed

to drive the local agenda maximises the

potential and resources of all.

Stakeholder engagement in supporting

and developing their ‘local place’.

Activation of resources

In general terms, the research of this

project found that resources in towns are

often under-appreciated and under-

utilised, particularly in how they can be

leveraged to improve the vitality, vibrancy

and commercial success of towns.

Notwithstanding, some towns and their

stakeholders have engaged proactively in

developing these competencies.

Good stakeholder engagement is the key

competency which is a fundamental

precursor to developing all other key

competencies.

One of the key objectives of this research

was to create an atmosphere of

engagement through an inclusive, positive

process which culminated in a practical,

deliverable action plan. The philosophy

here is that creating momentum locally

through the successful delivery of this

action plan would further foster

engagement and a sense that progress

was being made. This would create further

opportunities for the town team to design

and develop bigger, more challenging

strategies and plans.

14

Benchmarking

In order to understand what is possible in

town centre development, examples of

initiatives in other towns were researched.

There have been initiatives in Limerick

City25, Waterford City26, Dublin City

Centre27, Carlow Town28, Dún

Laoghaire29, Dundalk30 and elsewhere

which have had varying levels of success.

The town centre initiative that was

considered most relevant to this project is

in Letterkenny Town31. Their Town Team

initiative commenced in mid-2014, after a

consultative and strategy forming period

when local stakeholders came together in

partnership to actively engage with a view

to improving the town for all.

Following an agreement between a local

business grouping and the Local Authority,

finances were put in place to recruit a

Town Centre Manager to manage and

steer the project. This manager took up

his post in 2014 and the Town Team

began the implementation phase. Some of

the key challenges in Letterkenny which

spurred on their project included:

Dwindling retail mix

Traffic management, accessibility, car

parking

Vacancy levels

Online trading and consumer

behaviour

Rates and charges on commercial

property

Linkages to extended areas

Currency trends

Against this backdrop, a backdrop familiar

to many of the subject towns in this project

(with the exception of currency trends),

Letterkenny Town Team devised the

following mission statement to guide their

endeavors:

“To promote Letterkenny as a vibrant,

modern, safe and secure town centre

environment that will attract potential

investors and increase citizen

engagement. Utilising all available

resources to the maximum potential will

allow us to think globally, interact

regionally and act locally”

The Town Team organised themselves

into three sub committees to achieve three

distinctive objectives;

1. Attracting Retail Investment

2. Fostering Citizen/Visitor Engagement

3. Transform the Town Centre

Key activities

There are a number of initiatives and

activities under each objective. These are

the key activities of most relevance:

Attracting Retail Investment

Retail mix assessment and gaps

identification.

Prospectus of vacant properties.

Proactive identification and targeting of

attractive national and multinational

brands.

Fostering Citizen/Visitor Engagement

Development of a dynamic Marketing

Plan (online and offline focus).

Creation of a distinctive Local Brand

Identity.

Host and promote seasonally themed

international, national, regional and

local events.

Engage in partnership approaches to

linking with the Donegal Diaspora.

Transform the Town Centre

Strive to achieve a Purple Flag status

for the Town Centre’s night-time

economy from ATCM.

15

Introduce concepts that will increase

digital footfall to the commercial

sector.

Encourage the reintroduction of

traditional trading practices and street

entertainment.

Underpinning all of these actions and

activities is an understanding of the

importance of stakeholder engagement.

With this in mind, a Stakeholder

Engagement Plan was devised to ensure

clear, high quality communication

practices were fostered and supported.

Key Performance Indicators

A number of Key Performance Indicators

(KPI’s) were identified in order to

benchmark the impact and progress of the

Initiative. These were based in the

following areas:

Vacancy rates

Footfall count

Feedback from businesses and

community

Digital analytics and local media

coverage

Consumer behaviour analysis

Key Results to date

Improvement in occupancy rates –

Over an eighteen month period

occupancy in the Town Team focus

area, the traditional town centre,

improved from 75% to 85%.

Improvement in citizen and visitor

engagement – Emphasis was placed

on improving and augmenting existing

events with anecdotal evidence

suggesting a four to five-fold increase

in the support of these events.

Marketing Plan in place and driving

increased footfall – two very prominent

and well established retail businesses

in the town centre installed footfall

counters and reported a 30% increase

in footfall in December 2015 compared

with December 2014

Local and National media interest and

coverage through a number of

avenues but most effectively by

Letterkenny winning the title of

“Ireland’s Tidiest Town 2015 for the

first time.

Key Challenges to date

The most significant challenge

experienced by Letterkenny Town Team is

the absence of a sustainable funding

model to maintain the initiative. The

funding which sustained the model since

its inception has been exhausted and

alternative funding has not been secured.

The initiative in its current form has

therefore come to an end.

Conclusion

The Letterkenny strategy is relevant to all

subject towns in this project. The Purple

Flag award may not be a plausible or

beneficial use of resources in all towns;

however, reviewing the town resources

through the Purple Flag framework32 could

be a useful exercise, without applying to

get the award.

Attracting national or international brands

might not be realistic in certain towns,

however understanding the town retail mix

and the town’s position within the retail

hierarchy and proactively dealing with a

weak mix would be desirable.

All of the other objectives and the

supporting activities identified would make

practical sense in all of the subject towns.

16

Chapter 4

Structure and Governance

Structures for Town Centre Forums

There are a number of potential structures

which may make sense for Town Centre

Forums depending on town specific

considerations.

In some towns there are existing

groups/structures in place which appear

suitable to drive the Town Centre agenda.

This Plan reviewed these structures to

ensure that their governance is

appropriate and fit for purpose. If aspects

of governance are deemed sub-standard,

actions to address/rectify same are

proposed.

In other towns there are no appropriate

structures currently in place and a Town

Centre Forum structure is proposed for

same.

There are decisions to be made in terms

of whether Town Centre Forums require

an incorporated identity i.e. company

limited by guarantee with no share capital,

or an unincorporated identity. There are

advantages and disadvantages to both

options. Decisions on the appropriate form

for each Town Centre Forum will be

informed by factors including; pre-existing

structures, whether there will be an

employee(s) of the Forum, will the Forum

be required to be incorporated in order to

access particular funding, will the Forum

Steering Committee or Board need the

protection of an entity with its own legal

personality and definition.

For the purposes of many Forums, a

simple unincorporated structure which is

run along good governance procedures is

appropriate. Whether Forums decide to go

the incorporated or unincorporated route,

there are comprehensive advice

documents, checklists and other

resources available on The Governance

Code website33. Using the resources and

templates available correctly, will ensure

the Town Centre Forum is run in

accordance with best practice governance

procedures for organisations of this type.

Examples of the most relevant documents

for Forums which choose to be

unincorporated and without employed staff

members are the Governance Code for

Type A Organisations34 and the Checklist

for Type A Organisations. If an

incorporated structure is deemed more

suitable, the relevant information is

included is the Governance Code for Type

B Organisations35 and the Checklist for a

Type B Organisation.

Constitution

The appropriate starting point in the

governance of a Town Centre Forum is a

written constitution. This document sets

out what the Forum is going to do and how

it is going to do it. It is a valuable

document for a number of reasons:

It is the fundamental communication

tool that allows people to understand

what the Forum is about.

It sets out the basic rules of the

Forum.

It allows those outside the Forum (e.g.

funders) to see that the Forum has

sound fundamental procedures, is

democratic and is accountable. It also

serves as a reference point and allows

for clarity when decisions are proving

difficult or when boundaries are

blurred.

Some appropriate headings for a written

constitution for a Town Centre Forum, and

some possible entries, are set out in the

Constitutional Template shown over leaf.

17

Constitutional Template

These are suggested heading which should be included in a written constitution. There

will be other headings deemed appropriate depending on town specific situations.

Name of the Forum

Function, Purpose and Vision – (A vision statement is proposed in each of the

individual Town Action Plans)

Principle Objective (e.g. To increase the Vibrancy and Vitality of our Town Centre)

Supporting Objectives (e.g. To increase footfall to the Town Centre; To support all

activities that increase footfall to the Town Centre; To devise strategies and activities

that convert footfall into business revenues; To make our Town Centre a more

attractive place to live in, work in and visit, etc.)

Membership

Statement of Equal Opportunities

Structure

Board of Directors/ Steering Committee

Subcommittees

Officers – Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer

Officer duties

Election to Board/ Steering Committee

Rotation of positions on Board/ Steering Committee (e.g. annually or

biannually)

Nomination procedure & length of service on the group

Feedback structures to representative groups/organsiations

Management of subcommittees

AGM’s and other meetings

Board/ Steering Committee meeting frequency

Attendance requirements

Subcommittee meeting frequency

Communication procedures from/to board/ committees

Rules of Procedure

How are decisions made? (ideally consensus or else simple majority)

How will meeting be run?

Finances

Annual budgeting

Funding Partners and Status of Funding

Financial Management procedures

Spending sign off procedures e.g. two officer signatures for cheques

Statement of accounts at each Board/ Steering Committee meeting

Full financial overview statement at AGM’s

Annual Financial Statements for Revenue (incorporated)

Changes to the Constitution

In what cases and the procedure

Dissolution of the Forum

How can this decision be made

What is the procedure

18

Effective Partnerships

Retail Excellence Ireland set out some

suggestions around the structure and

governance of a Town Centre Forum in

“A Strategy for Rural Retailing.”36 They

advise that the Town Centre Forum

could be drawn from a wide range of

organisations and individuals including:

Local authorities

Retailers

Town Centre Shopping Centre

Managers

Landlords

Employers

Local media

Chambers of Commerce

Business Associations

Residents

Tourism Groups and Agencies

An Gardaí Siochana

Charities & Community groups

Universities, Colleges, or Schools.

The REI document makes further

suggestions on structure and approach:

It is noted that for the team to be

effective it should have a core of

perhaps ten members or less. It must

actively communicate decisions and

progress reports to all other town

stakeholders.

These partnerships must focus on the

needs of the town and devise a succinct

and measurable plan for the town

centre. It must be a realistic,

collaborative, prioritised plan and the

inclusion of costings is necessary. The

partnership must take responsibility for

the plan and engage with all the relevant

stakeholders.

To enable implementation of agreed

actions the partnership requires funding.

It is unfair and unrealistic to expect one

partner to fund the plan and thus the

partnership must implement a more

collaborative and innovative approach to

funding its activities.

Recommendations for Structure

and Governance

The Key recommendations for the

structure and governance of Town

Centre Forums in Tipperary are as

follows:

1. Ensure the correct stakeholders are

involved. Local situations will direct

this, but the key relevant stakeholder

groups may include:

Tipperary County Council,

Chamber of Commerce,

Business Associations,

Retailer Specific Groups,

Tidy Towns,

Festivals & Events Groups,

South Tipperary Development

Company,

North Tipperary LEADER

Partnership,

The Office of Public Works.

2. The group should be unincorporated

unless there is a specific reason to

incorporate it (e.g. if it is a

requirement to access particular

financing or funding or if it is deemed

necessary to protect the Directors or

those running the Forum). A suitable

incorporated form would likely be a

company limited by guarantee with

no share capital.

3. The representative groups (i.e. non

agency) need to elect a new person

every two years and no one person

19

can serve for more than 2

consecutive years on the Forum

(non-agency).

4. The steering committee would have

a chairperson, secretary and

treasurer.

5. Three to five sub committees

formed, each with an agreed set of

actions.

6. Each subcommittee has a convener

and one other nominee to an overall

steering committee. The convener

and nominee would be elected by

the subcommittee and rotate every 2

years as would the steering

committee membership.

7. Initially the Steering committee

meets every 2-3 months and sub

committees every month.

8. Clear communication procedures

between steering committee and sub

committees.

9. Decisions based ideally on

consensus but alternatively on

simple majority vote.

10. A Stakeholder Engagement Plan

devised and actioned to ensure

clear, high quality communication.

11. Each action of the Town Centre

Forum Strategic actions will be

identified. It is recommended that a

partnership approach is adopted in

relation to funding.

12. These structures can be adjusted to

accommodate town specific

requirements.

13. Adoption of a written constitution or

guidance document as described

previously.

20

Chapter 5

Marketing for Town Centres

Marketing

In a recent presentation on Strategic

Marketing Professor John Fahy, University

of Limerick, refers to creating a business

model which involves value creation and

value capture. In terms of town centre

development; tourism, festivals, local

events, markets and similar activities

which generate footfall in the town centre

represent value creation activities. These

create increased footfall levels and

therefore increased numbers of potential

customers for retailers. The focus for

retailers then needs to be “How do we

convert this footfall into retail sales?” This

is the value capture. In order to develop

an effective Marketing Plan, this question,

in terms of the Marketing Mix, needs to be

addressed. In this context, designing an

effective marketing plan for a town needs

to focus on marketing the town as a

whole.

Towns will differ in terms of their SWOT

analysis and target markets and each

Town’s specific considerations will be

dealt with in the individual town plans.

In a recently produced document called

Local Authority Retail Support – Improving

our Cities and Towns, it is stated that “A

positive retail experience is often sufficient

reason for people to return to a town.

However, the provision of added

attractions impacts the overall visitor

experience, and contributes significantly to

footfall. These include heritage and civic

buildings together with ancillary activities

such as festivals and events, which are all

critically important to provide that added

value and boost retail trade. “37

Further to this, Retail Excellence Ireland’s

strategy for rural retail suggests that “Our

town centres are owned by the people. It

is their public realm. It is thus important

that we remind citizens that the public

realm is theirs to enjoy. Anything that

attracts citizens into their town and

increases their dwell time in that town

must be cherished. As stated above, a

fundamental to citizen engagement is

having an engaging retail and hospitality

product. But many other matters can

influence consumer behaviour such as

reminding people that the town is

theirs to enjoy and support.

There are many ways to engage citizens

with their public realm. One of the best

ones is to host regular events in the town

centre.38 Any town marketing plan needs

to incorporate tourism, festival and events,

as well as retail, into its design.

Whilst the focus of a marketing plan on the

town as a whole for certain

activities/promotions is important, it is

equally important to develop actions that

bring strict focus upon the retail strengths

of the town. Choosing a particular

marketing theme such as ‘the grey pound’,

‘youth days’; ‘sport’ themes; or town ‘shoe

blitz’ days, and by retailers selling similar

products collaborating together, greater

reach can be made into a wider and

broader catchment area.

Retail Marketing

There is numerous worthwhile

collaboration with the retail sector

involving market research, marketing and

promotion. The four Dublin authorities

publish a quarterly Dublin Economic

Monitor that includes retail sales as one of

its key indicators. Tourism websites have

21

also been used to brand locations with a

positive impact on retail, including

examples such as www.intokildare.ie and

‘Destination Athlone’.39 Similarly,

Tipperary Tourism Company in

conjunction with Tipperary County Council

has commenced the development of a

Strategic ‘Tourism Marketing, Experience

and Destination’ Development Plan for

County Tipperary.

In March 2015, the Joint Committee on

Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in their

submission “Policy Options to Support

Business Growth and Job Creation and

Retention in Town and Village Centres” 40

made two recommendations to

government under the heading “Online

Sales and Creating a Digital High Street.”

The recommendations in relation to on-

line sales and marketing requirements of

the nine towns in Tipperary are currently

being progressed and rolled out by the

Tipperary LEO.

The Marketing Mix Model.

There are opportunities for improvement in

marketing in every town. Using the

Marketing Mix Model as the basis for a

generic Marketing Plan one can focus on

important opportunity areas:

Diagram 5: Marketing Mix Model

Product

•Design – what do we need?

•Quality considerations

•Branding

•Features & Benefits

•Sponsorship?

Price

•List price

•Discounts

•Bundling

•Voucher System

•Cost leaders or Quality driven?

Promotion

•Advertising

•Sales Promotion

•PR

•Social Media

•Online presence

Place

•The town appearance

•Where in town?

•How will we decorate our premises?

•What do we want visitors to see/ think/ feel?

People

•Who is doing what?

•How will we coordinate ourselves?

•Ownership and Responsibility

•Rotation of responsibilities

22

Online presence

The areas identified in the market model

mix above for this initiative in relation to

promotion are particularly relevant to all

towns.

By dividing promotion into online and

offline promotion some of the key

questions in regard to online promotion

present themselves:

Maintaining an Online Marketing

Strategy.

Development of Social Media Marketing

and Online Marketing of towns is a key

recommendation of this report. In order to

ensure the successful implementation and

efficacy of these key marketing strategies,

it is important that a subcommittee is

established who will have responsibility for

the implementation process and assuring

the continued commitment to fulfilling the

actions outlined in the strategy, particularly

in relation to updating the website.

Online Promotion

Town website

Does one exist?

Is the best domain name being used?

Is the content current and updated

regularly?

Is there an identified person for

maintaining and updating the website?

Is the website design modern and

attractive?

Is high quality photography being used?

Is the website optimised?

Are the appropriate key words being

used?

Are the marketing messages consistent

with our target market requirements?

Is video being used?

Are we connected with our Social Media

platforms?

Is the site easy to navigate?

Does the website represent the town well?

Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other

social media platforms provide the

opportunity to promote and market to a

wide range of potential customers.

Facebook Tactics

Facebook is the most popular social

network, with more than 750 million users.

The following list of Facebook tactics

could be progressed by any of the nine

towns:

If not already in place, create an

officially branded town Facebook page

(not account) that represents the town

and allows users to follow or become

fans of the town.

Customise the page to reflect the

town’s style and values.

Frequently update the town page with

content that is relevant and engaging.

Focus on content:

1. Create share worthy content that

encourages further discussion among

the target market to advance the

brands position by making the brand

more memorable or personable.

2. Content needs to be light, funny and

informative.

3. Offer a special deal or value.

4. Give away free products to encourage

likes so that the town’s brand will

spread rapidly through Facebook friend

networks.

5. Run contests or offer discounts to

Facebook members to convince

people to follow a Facebook profile.

Contests should be tailored to the

product being offered.

6. Give useful tips, or ask open questions

which will interest the audience.

7. Not every content item must be

original; sharing links to interesting

items can also be valuable.

Facebook is about personal

connections, so letting some

personality through in updates and

23

giving a human voice to a brand are

some of the most powerful advantages

of this social networking platform.

Facebook is an excellent tool for

business to consumer marketing.

Use Facebook to offer special deals

when visitors check in.

Create local market events, or host a

charity drive to bring visitors to the

Places page.

Use Facebook advertisements to

generate traffic to the town website.

Twitter tactics

Twitter is a free social networking service

that allows broadcasting of short posts

called tweets. Tweets are limited to 140

characters, and because tweets can be

delivered to followers in real time, and

they are permanent, searchable and

public interactions. The following tactics

can be applied in any marketing plan:

Customise the town profile page

consistent with the town brand.

Use Twitter to start a discussion or to

participate in an ongoing conversation.

Use targeted follow strategy – search

for and follow target markets and

always follow back.

Putting out updates when people are

online to see them is essential to make

an impact; research shows that

midday and midweek tend to produce

the best results.

Promptly respond to questions and

comments.

Ask for opinions and product reviews

to seek feedback and engage the

followers.

Tweet things that are of interest to

your target market. Be sure to use the

appropriate hash tags(#).

Twitter profile must answer the

question, “Why follow and listen to the

messages being offered?”

Offer special deals on Twitter including

coupons, promotional discounts and

special products.

YouTube Tactics

YouTube is the second most popular

social media platform, with more than 450

million unique monthly visitors. As more

people chose to consume information

visually, YouTube’s vast (and growing)

reach and compelling content makes it the

perfect platform for engaging consumers

to drive word of mouth recommendations:

Create authentic videos with real

people in actual locations to make the

videos more persuasive in order to

engage viewers. Offbeat and unusual

videos tend to get more attention.

Include links to video on all other

social media properties (Facebook,

Twitter etc.).

Actively comment on videos that relate

to your sector in order to make

connections. The more influential you

appear in the community, the more

credibility you will have.

Get to the point quickly -make your

video two minutes or less. Research

shows that less than 45% stay beyond

the 1 minute mark, while only 24%

stay past the 2 minute mark.

Cross marketing: Include links to your

website or other social media

properties in your videos, and promote

the video on your town website and

social media properties.

Conclusion

All towns need to consider the information

above and apply it. There are specific

marketing actions and plans relevant to

different towns which are covered in the

individual town sections but what is

consistent across the towns is necessity to

assign responsibility for the continuous

online promotion and updating.

24

Chapter 6

Finance and Funding

Introduction

The recent Retail Excellence Ireland

document – A Strategy for Rural

Retailing41 references the funding

challenges being experienced by town

centre retailers: “Many high street and city

centre retailers complain that it is

impossible to compete “toe to toe” with the

many out of town shopping locations

which are better resourced and organised.

It is therefore necessary to explore a new

funding methodology to allow town and

cities to control their own destiny and thus

promote their own unique point of

customer engagement.”

Local Government Retail Initiatives

To date, Tipperary County Council has

worked with traders in supporting a

number of initiatives to improve and

revitalize their town centres including:

Developing and implementing town

and village enhancement initiatives.

The revitalisation of vacant and

derelict properties/shop units.

Active funding and personnel support

for Tidy Town and festival groups.

The establishment of retail forums

which are responsible for developing,

marketing and promoting retail.

Appropriate tourism infrastructural

development and other actions and

supports which assist the independent

retailer in increasing footfall and

encouraging additional spend.

The following are some of the more recent

initiatives implemented by Tipperary

County Council:

Christmas 2015 Retail Support

Programme

The Christmas Retail Support Programme

is an additional support to the

aforementioned measures aimed at

providing assistance to towns and villages

to implement strategies designed to attract

new customers, retain existing customers

and encourage increased spend in

Tipperary’ towns and villages over the

festive period.

Commercial Incentive Scheme

The Commercial Incentive Scheme has

been designed and developed to reduce

the number of vacant retail units and to

stimulate a differing and engaging retail

mix and experience by limiting the risk

associated with the establishment of a

new retail business and providing an entry

point to entrepreneurs wishing to start-up

in the retail industry.

Painting Grant Scheme

A Painting Grant Scheme is a scheme that

provides a financial incentive to support

and encourage individuals to upgrade their

buildings thus to enhance the character

and appearance of the townscape.

Support of Festivals and Events

The Local Authority in County Tipperary

have historically grant aided festivals,

Saint Patrick’s Day parades, Tidy Towns

Committees, Christmas lights and other

cultural and heritage groups within their

25

administrative area. Such events are

normally staged in town centres and add

to the colour and vibrancy. Retailers can

perhaps better align their offerings with

such events in order to attract the

additional visitors into their premises,

increase their turnover and add to the

reputation of the town as a visitor centre.

Support of Tidy Towns initiatives

The Tidy Towns competition is organised

each year by the Department of the

Environment, Community and Local

Government. SuperValu sponsor the

competition. The competition involves

villages, towns and cities being rated on

all aspects of their local environment.

Thus it assists in improving the

environmental quality of the towns.

Government Funding Initiatives

National Initiatives

Town and Village Renewal Scheme

This scheme was announced in

September 2015 and will run over six

years with a budget of €30 million euro.

The initiative will be channelled through

the Local Authorities with oversight by the

Local Community Development

Committees. Projects eligible under this

scheme will extend to the enhancement of

villages, small towns and the surrounding

countryside.

Projects such as greenways, cycle-ways,

upgrading parks and civic areas, public

utilities such as street lighting and

renovation of relevant derelict buildings

are just some of the possible projects

which could qualify for this funding.42

Rural Economic Development Zone

(REDZ) funding

The 2014 CEDRA43 report identified “Rural

Economic Development Zones or REDZ

as functional rather than administrative

geographic areas that reflect the spatial

patterns of local economic activities and

development processes, i.e. they are the

sub-county zones within which most

people live and work.” Funding support

was provided to a number of such zones

in Tipperary to assist in revitalizing rural

towns and rural catchments.

The Department of the Environment,

Community and Local Government

envisage that pending the success of the

pilot initiative that a call for proposals for a

more extensive REDZ initiative under the

LEADER elements of the Rural

Development Programme 2014 – 2020

(RDP) will take place during 2016 and all

of the nine towns the subject of this report

should be in a position to bid for funds to

realize some of the actions in this plan.

Rural Development Programme

2014 – 2020

The County Tipperary Local Development

Strategy44 recognises the issues facing

rural villages and towns and has aligned

its strategy funding to assist in addressing

some of these issues and needs. It is

anticipated that the call for applications for

funding under this programme will be

made mid 2016 and again all nine towns

will be eligible to access appropriate funds

to meet some of the actions identified in

these retail action plans. The total public

funding allocated to deliver the ‘Rural

Development Programme 2014-2020’ in

Tipperary is €10 million euro.

Irelands Ancient East

In 2015, The Minister for Tourism,

Transport and Sport, announced €1.2

million euro in funding for capital projects

in Ireland’s Ancient East along with an

additional €600k for the first stage of

branded signage for all counties within the

region. The €1.2million euro capital

funding is the first phase of investment

26

through Fáilte Ireland’s ‘New ideas in

Ancient Spaces’ Capital Grants Scheme

and is for an initial 12 projects within the

Ireland’s Ancient East initiative45. This

scheme is to encourage the development

of compelling visitor experiences

throughout the Ireland’s Ancient East

region. This is intended to be the first

phase of funding to ensure that the

Ireland’s Ancient East brand delivers on its

promise to visitors. There are

opportunities for the nine towns, where it

is appropriate and practical, to access

funds under this particular stream.

National Festivals and Participative

Events Programme 2016

Fáilte Ireland provides considerable

support to festivals, investing nearly €3.5

million euro in 214 festivals and events in

2015. The eligibility criteria for this

programme are such that a sub-county or

county wide initiative would need to be

considered in order to have a reasonable

opportunity to successfully attract funding

through this competitive grant process.46

The Arts Council

There are various funding opportunities

available through The Arts Council for

Local Authorities, Organisations,

Individuals, Festivals and Events.47

The Heritage Council

Fethard Walled Town Medieval Festival

was funded in 2008. The Thomas

MacDonagh Heritage Centre and the ‘Old

School’ The Commons, both in Tipperary,

received a grant offer in 2015.48 There

may be additional opportunities for the

relevant towns to access funds under this

structure.

Innovation vouchers

The Innovation Voucher initiative allows

small and medium-sized limited

companies to apply for a €5,000 euro

voucher. The voucher can be used to

purchase academic support from one of

the thirty eight registered knowledge

providers, listed on the website

www.innovationvouchers.ie. The aim of

the Innovation Voucher Scheme is to

improve a company's innovation capability

and to build links between Ireland’s public

sector knowledge providers and the small

business community. With a number of

exceptions49, small and medium-sized

limited companies, in all sectors of the

Irish economy are eligible to apply for an

innovation voucher.

Online trading vouchers

The Department of Communications,

Energy & Natural Resources (DCENR)

launched an Online Trading Voucher

Programme in 2015 and have teamed up

with the Local Enterprise Offices to deliver

this to Irish business. Vouchers are

available to a maximum value of €2,500

euro or 50% of eligible expenditure

(Inclusive of VAT)”50

Clann Credo

Clann Credo is a social lending

organisation and is part of the Community

and Voluntary Sector of Ireland. Clann

Credo provides loans to community

organisations, charities and social

enterprises. They assist organisations in

achieving their social, economic and

financial potential on terms and conditions

that may not be available to them

commercially.51

Community Tourism Diaspora

Initiative

The Community Tourism Diaspora

Initiative is administered at county level

where local authorities seek applications

for support from local community events.

The objectives of the initiative are to

provide support in the form of small-scale

funding incentives to community-based

27

tourism events that have the capacity to

carry through on the legacy of The

Gathering. This is a €3 million euro fund

over three years.

Microfinance Ireland

Microfinance Ireland (MFI), as a not-for-

profit lender, has been established to

deliver the Government’s Microenterprise

Loan Fund. All business sectors are

eligible to apply for unsecured loans

ranging from €2,000 to €25,000 with a

term of three to five years.

Applying Companies may be Sole

Traders, Partnerships or Limited

Companies with fewer than 10 employees

and an annual turnover of less than €2m.

Loans may be used to fund the start-up of

a business, including for the purchase of

stock, equipment, machinery and business

vehicles. They also fund loans to

established enterprises.52

Key Funding Recommendations for

Towns in Tipperary

Ensure appropriate Tipperary County

Council representation on the Town

Centre Forum with knowledge of

funding streams currently available.

Ensure administrators of LEADER

funding either sit on the forum or be in

regular contact with them.

Maintain linkage with the PPN who will

be in a position to advise of other

potential funding options.

Nominate someone on the Forum

(Treasurer) to maintain a constant

overview to identify potential funding

and financing sources. Some funding

opportunities are time sensitive with

limited windows of opportunity for

applications.

Develop well-crafted business cases

and applications when seeking to

access funding.

Look for feedback on applications from

funding or financing bodies, whether

applications are successful or

unsuccessful. Seek to be continuously

improving application abilities.

Ensure the Forum is always seeking to

maximise the benefits generated from

funding received.

Be an easy group to invest in.

Ensure there are effective financial

and funding management procedures

in place, and that the funding required

corresponds to the Town Forums

needs as outlined in the town forums

action plan.

28

Chapter 7

Town Overviews

Introduction

Tipperary covers a geographical area of

4,282 sq. km with a population of 158,754

(census 2011). The region is part of the

central plain of Ireland and is traversed by

key arterial routes such as M7, M8, N24

as well as train lines from Dublin to Cork

and Limerick and Waterford to Limerick.

Sectoral Employment Breakdown

Diagram 6, below, provides a percentage

breakdown of the total employment across

the various sectors in County Tipperary.

What is evident is that the Wholesale and

Retail sector accounts for the largest

proportion of the total employment at

14.96%.

This sector accounts for on average 17%

of the total employment in each of the nine

towns encompassed in the Town Centre

Initiative (TCI) with the sector accounting

for 20% of the total employment in the

towns of Tipperary and Thurles.

Diagram 6: Population Aged 15 Years and Over in the Labour Force (Number) by Broad Industrial Group in County Tipperary in 2011

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Agriculture, forestry and fishing Construction

Manufacturing industries Transport, storage and communications

Public administration and defence Mining, quarrying and turf production

Electricity, gas and water supply Wholesale and retail trade

Hotels and restaurants Banking and financial services

Real estate, renting and business activities Education

Health and social work Other community, social and personal service activities

Industry not stated

29

Settlement Hierarchy

A settlement hierarchy of towns and

villages was developed in the South

Tipperary County Development Plan, 2009

(as varied), having regard to national and

regional level guidance. Information

pertaining to the settlement population, the

availability/capacity of services and

infrastructure, geographical location and

facilities in the key urban centres,

including health, education, legal and

transport facilities was used for the

development of the settlement hierarchy in

the county.

The Map below illustrates the settlements

defined as Regional, Sub-Regional and

District Towns. The strategic objectives for

the planning and development of each of

these settlement tiers are outlined below.

County Planning Settlement Hierarchy

Regional Town

As the largest town in Tipperary, Clonmel

is designated as a ‘Regional’ level town

with economic and social indicators

operating in line with, or above designated

‘Hub’ town status. Clonmel is targeted for

expansion with an important role in

realising balanced regional development

and providing regional level retailing as

outlined in the Retail Planning Guidelines

for Local Authorities (DECLG 2012).

Clonmel has significant potential to attract

large employers and regional services,

amenities and infrastructure to Tipperary.

The Council will support the role of

Clonmel as a location for large-scale and

high-tech industry, third-level education

and as a strong and attractive residential

centre with a growing population.

Sub-Regional Towns

Nenagh and Thurles provide

complementary roles to Clonmel as

regional towns in the hinterland of the

Limerick-Shannon Gateway. Both are

strategically located in the centre and

north of the county and are supported by

national rail and road transport

infrastructure. Both towns offer a range of

service functions to attract and drive future

growth in the county.

District Towns

These towns have been identified as

District Towns due to their respective

strategic locations and roles in Tipperary.

Tipperary Town and Carrick-on-Suir are

acknowledged as having strategic roles in

the south west and south east. The towns

of Roscrea, Templemore, Cashel and

Cahir form a strengthening spine from

north to south.

Collectively the District Towns underpin

and strengthen rural Tipperary. The

District Centres will continue to perform an

important role in the county by providing

employment opportunities, high quality

retail choice, regional transport services

and community services for their

hinterlands in line with their capacities for

growth and expansion.

30

Retailing in Tipperary

Tipperary County Council recognises the

role of retail quality and choice in

settlements in meeting local shopping

needs and in contributing to the viability of

town centres and the wider economy.

County Retail Hierarchy

It is the policy of the council to promote

and facilitate a competitive and healthy

environment for retailing, providing for

consumer choice and maintaining the

vitality and vibrancy of town centres,

having regard to the County Retail

Hierarchy and having regard to the

Guidelines for Planning Authorities on

Retail Planning, (DECLG 2012) and any

amendment thereof.53

Retail Premises Value Definition

The current retail strategy documents

relevant to Tipperary, the North Tipperary

County Retail Strategy 2011 and the

South Tipperary County Retail Strategy

2012 both categorise retail premises as:

1. High Retail Value: Retail, Pubs,

Restaurants, Shops.

2. Medium Retail Value: Service, Health

and Beauty, Educational.

3. Low Retail Value: Residential/Office,

Auctioneer, Turf Accountant.

Much of the analysis that follows focuses

on High Value Retail uses.

Retail Mix

The recent Retail Excellence Ireland

document – A Strategy for Rural

Retailing54 references the importance

attached to an appropriate retail mix. It is

important that the town centre is

welcoming to many use types, whether a

national retail operator or a local

specialist.

The town centre’s retail mix must also

accommodate retail types which trade

evening hours thus retaining town centre

life and vibrancy beyond standard office

hours and potentially motivating town

workers to remain in the town to socialise.

What is most important in the design of a

retail mix is that a balance is struck

between national retail brands and local

specialists. While the national retail brands

will attract footfall, overpopulation can mar

local distinctiveness and the sense of

place. And while the independent

specialists provide a unique consumer

experience, an underrepresentation of

national brands will weaken footfall levels

and customer engagement.”

This report provides an overview of the

retail mix in each of the nine towns and

potential opportunities. Importantly, the

retail mix assessment is undertaken in the

context of the town’s position in the retail

hierarchy. However, while the author

suggests potential opportunities, it is

important to note that this is the author’s

opinion; the commercial viability of a

particular business opportunity is a matter

for an individual/interested party to

discern.

The component of each plan consists of:

1. An analysis of the town and its retail

sector including a review of the

vacancy and retail mix.

2. Identification and analysis of each

town’s strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities and threats – a SWOT

analysis.

3. Development of a mission (or purpose)

statement for each of the towns.

4. The recommended model for the Town

Centre Forum structure Town Specific

Marketing Recommendations (as

applies).

31

5. Presentation of a draft three-year

Action Plan with specific goals and

objectives for each town to assist the

initial work of the newly established

town Centre Forums and to enable the

development of basic strategies that to

fulfil their mission or purpose.

A comprehensive strategic plan for each

of the nine towns incorporating National,

Regional and Local policies and strategies

with the research gleaned from the

consultation process with retailers, other

stakeholders and consumers/customers is

prepared. The plans provides a set of

actions under a number of Themes

32

Thurles

Introduction

Thurles with a population of 6,928

(Census, 2011) has an important retail

role with a good range of convenience and

comparison offer. The town services a

large rural catchment which according to

The North Tipperary County Development

Plan 2012 is predicted to increase to

9,372 by 202255

Retail Hierarchy

In relation to the Retail Hierarchy as

defined in The South Tipperary County

Development Plan, 2009 (as varied)

Thurles has an important sub-regional role

with a good range of convenience and

comparison offer. The town services a

large rural catchment and is not expected

to compete directly with the other sub-

regional town of Nenagh or with Clonmel.

Thurles town has strong established

central areas and their strengthening and

environmental improvement is a priority to

Tipperary County Council. Retail Strategy

and states that the Principle Retail Area is

Liberty Square, West Gate and Friar

Street shown below in Diagram 7.

Diagram 7: Principle Retail Area, Thurles. Source: North Tipperary Retail County Retail Strategy 2011

Retail Overview

A review of the retail provision was carried

out in September 2015. The area

surveyed included all retail units in the

Town Centre Zone, (Area marked in red in

Diagram 8 below). It is important to note

that a review such as this is fluid and may

not represent the actual situation on the

date of reading the report.

Diagram 8 Thurles Town Centre Zoning Map Source: Thurles and Environs Development Plan Map 2009 – 2015

33

The retail uses are presented below. In

the review retail outlets are identified by

their perceived primary function, therefore

if a pub has a food service element or

offering that appears to be the dominant

business, it will be described as a pub

restaurant.

Retail Uses Thurles TOWN CENTRE ZONE

Clothing and Footwear Print shop 2

Ladies fashion (independent) 10 Angel Shop 1

Ladies fashion (multiple) 0 Outdoor shop 0

Men’s fashion (multiple) 0 Photo shop 1

Men’s fashion (independent) 3 Household

Children’s fashion (multiple) 0 Furniture 0

Children’s fashion (independent) 2 Electrical lights 1

Baby Fashion 0 Tiles 1

Footwear 5 Wallpaper and paint 1

Accessories 0 Blinds/ Curtains 2

Bridal 0 Antique 0

Sports shop 2 Kitchen/ Bathroom 1

Food/ Drink Services

Supermarket (multiple) 1 Financial institution 4

Supermarket (independent) 2 Estate agent 3

Convenience store 0 Post office 1

Butcher 1 Solicitor 4

Bakery 0 Accountant 1

Fish monger 1 Barber 7

Grocer 0 Video 0

Fruit and Veg 0 Locksmith 0

Health food 2 Casino 0

Wine shop 0 Pet shop/supplies 1

Specialist (e.g. African/Polish) 0 Bookmakers 4

Off license 1 Dry cleaner/ laundry 2

Pub 15 Mobile phone shop/repairs 1

Other Retail Optician 2

Pharmacy 7 Shoe repairs 1

Jewellers 2 Computer repairs 3

Haberdashery/ fabric/ wool 2 Insurance broker 5

Newsagent 2 Hair and beauty 16

Hardware 1 Tanning 1

School/ office/ play 1 Tattoo 2

Bookshop 1 Alterations 2

Gift shop 3 Health/ Leisure centre 1

Music shop 1 Florist 1

Baby/ Kids equipment/ kids bags/ oddities 2 Dentist 1 Department store 1 Night Club 1

Tourist shop 0 Food

Toy shop 1 Restaurant 12 Vapour 1 Café/ deli 8

Charity shop 1 Fast food 7

34

Thurles Shopping Centre is anchored by

Dunnes Stores and is an edge of centre

development. The centre has relatively

low vacancy, with only three units vacant

when surveyed. It has a good mix of local

retailers, national and international brands

including; Vera Moda, Name It, Jack &

Jones, Boots, Eurogiant, Pulse

Accessories, Easons, Carrig Donn,

Holland & Barrett, Vodafone, Meteor and

Xtravision.

Tesco occupies a town centre location

which requires some attention. Elvery

Sports and Heatons are also in the Town

Centre. Out of town brands include Lidl

and Aldi.

There is a significant differential between

the numbers of brands in Thurles

Shopping Centre compared with the Town

Centre.

There are retail warehousing units located

at the Racecourse and Thurles Retail Park

Stradavoher.

Retail Mix

There is good choice in Ladies Fashion

outlets with ten independent shops. There

is also a strong concentration of hair and

beauty services with sixteen providers.

This creates an attractive offer for

elements of the female market. Menswear

and children’s wear is more limited with

three and two independent outlets

respectively.

There is a reasonable food offer with

twenty seven restaurants/pub restaurants,

café/deli and fast food outlets but there

are possibly more opportunities for some

high end food establishments, particularly

given the stronger tourism role that

Thurles is seeking to develop.

Some of the gaps identified56 in retail

provision in Thurles Town Centre include;

no department store, no specialist ethnic

food store, no Artisan shop, no dedicated

bakery, no outdoor activities/equipment

store (Elvery Sports offers only a partial

solution here) . There is one butcher, one

fish monger, no grocer or fruit and

vegetable shop. Town centre convenience

provision is limited. There is also no

dedicated Accessories shop or Bridal shop

albeit some of the ladies fashion outlets

may offer solutions in these areas.

Vacancy Rate

A survey of vacancy in the Town Centre

zoned area suggests that of property

occupied as or available for high, medium

and low retail uses, 20% of this property is

vacant (43 vacant units out of 220) in

comparison to the national average

commercial vacancy rate of 12.6%.

(GeoView, Q4 2015 edition).

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

A newly developed Town Park with

great potential to link with the town

centre

A unique history and heritage

particularly in terms of sport

Enhancement Plans for Liberty Square

The Source Arts Centre set in the

heart of Thurles town and on the

banks of the River Suir, the arts centre

has a year round programme of

cultural events including theatre, live

music, comedy, dance, art-house

cinema, children’s theatre, youth arts

and ballet.

Hayes Hotel – where the GAA was

founded in1884.

Thurles Sarsfield International Hurling

Festival.

Good concentration of Ladies fashion

shops and associated services

35

Good concentration of good quality

shops – well-presented shop fronts,

well fitted out internally, good window

displays

LIT and St Patricks College in town.

Tipperary County Council’s economic

objective of developing a strong Digital

Media/Gaming corridor hub in the

Southern Region between Thurles and

Clonmel in order to build on the

County’s existing strengths and to

assist in diversifying the employment

base. The vision is to develop a high-

tech industry cluster with varied

trajectories into research, gaming,

creative industries, multimedia and

animation. This has the potential to

have a significant positive economic

impact on Thurles.

Good atmosphere in the town centre.

Good connection with Thurles

Shopping Centre

Good quality schools

Regular Train Service and proximity to

M8 Dublin to Cork motorway.

Weaknesses

Challenges in retail unit configuration.

Some retail units in the historical town

centre are not ideally configured for

retailing.

Traffic congestion in the Town Centre

Lack of brands in the Town Centre

Poor Sunday and Evening Trade

Vacancy and dereliction in prominent

locations

Absence of an effective tourism

strategy.

Limited accommodation for tourism

Inconsistencies in the standard of

presentation of buildings

Poor use of online and digital

marketing

Opportunities

Tourism is untapped at present. There

is a particular opportunity to leverage

off the unique history and heritage of

Thurles in sport.

Tourism Packages – walking, heritage,

cycling, adventure sports and all

sports.

The newly developed Town Park and

the Enhanced Liberty Square area will

provide a platform for Thurles.

Develop stronger links and synergies

with LIT and St Patricks College

There are opportunities to develop a

stronger Sunday Trade in the town.

There are opportunities to consider

enhanced evening trade

Purple Flag accreditation. A

comprehensive set of standards,

management processes and good

practice examples designed to help

transform town centres at night.

Opportunity to explore the possibility of

relocating the farmers market,

currently operating outside of the town

centre, to the centre of the town.

Coordinate and support existing

festivals and events to further benefit

the town centre.

Digital Marketing and Online Sales

opportunities. Focusing on the digital

marketing of the town centre,

individual businesses and business

groups. Identifying training

opportunities to capitalise on collective

and individual online sales

opportunities.

Creating and maintaining links with the

Diaspora.

Threats

Spend leakage due to online sales

Town depopulation and the resultant

reduction in town centre vitality and

vibrancy. The population of Thurles

36

remained largely static from 2006 –

2011.

Challenges for towns to fully utilise

natural and built assets due to the

economics of access to same and

achieving a balance between

conserving heritage and using heritage

Lack of recovery in consumer

spending in regional towns compared

to large urban centres like Dublin

Lack of accessible and appropriate

finance for business development

Stakeholder Engagement and

Preferred Structures

There were three stakeholder meetings

held. Stakeholders represented included;

Tipperary County Council and the

Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of

Commerce and Tipperary County Council

were the only organisations represented at

these meetings. In this context, the town

centre initiative in Thurles will be initially

driven by the Chamber of Commerce with

the input of other local and community

groups but it will be necessary to actively

look to encouraging and including the

retail trade from the town centre if it is to

be effective.

It is recommended to expand the

membership of Thurles Town Centre

Forum to include other stakeholders.

Achieving this may be best facilitated by

the current group driving the action plan

devised and generating interest and

enthusiasm in other stakeholder groups

through successes and momentum

achieved.

Sub committees would then be developed

which are chaired by a member of the

steering committee who assumes

responsibility for the delivery of the

specified action and provides continuous

updates to the steering committee.

Interested individuals from the stakeholder

groups are co-opted to relevant

subcommittees.

Recommendations for Thurles

Town Centre Forum:

Call a public meeting of all traders and

other stakeholders in the Town Centre.

This should be well advertised through

local papers, radio stations, online and

through as many other channels as

possible

Propose a vision of what is possible

for Thurles Town Centre

Invite all stakeholders to participate in

one of three sub committees identified

in the following graphic. Identify the

work each committee will be tasked

with doing

Take names and contact details of

those immediately interested in

participating

Arrange follow up open meetings of

each subcommittee for the following

week

Each subcommittee should then elect

a chairperson and vice chairperson,

both of whom would then sit on the

Town Centre Forum steering

committee

The steering committee should elect

officers and agree a written

constitution and other governance

mechanisms as identified in Chapter 4

37

Diagram 9: Suggested Thurles Town Centre Forum Governance Structure

Town Specific Marketing

The requirements of the Thurles Marketing

Plan are set out in Chapter 5 and in the

Action Plan. There is a particular

opportunity to capitalise on the unique

history and resources of the town in terms

of sport.

The GAA was founded in Thurles in 1884

in Hayes Hotel which still operates in the

town. Semple Stadium, one of the finest

stadia in the country, is in Thurles as well

as a GAA museum.

There is an Elite Sports Programme run

from the Limerick Institute of Technology

complex in the town. There is a horse

racing track, a greyhound racing track, a

golf club, sports facilities in the new town

park, a leisure centre and a number of

other sporting resources available in the

area.

There has been a “Festival of Sport” held

annually over recent years with a focus on

growing tourism and the retail trade. A

key aspect of the marketing plan for

Thurles is to develop a “Town of Sport”

branding proposition. Appealing value

propositions could be created for a

number of target markets including Great

Escapers and the Culturally Curious.

Three year Action Plan

A proposed Strategic Vision Statement

and supporting Actions are presented

overleaf. The 3 Year Action Plan for

Thurles Town Centre Forum is proposed

under the following themes:

1. Governance Structure

2. Leveraging Resources and Local

Engagement

3. Town Branding and Marketing

4. Preparation for Liberty Square

Enhancement.

38

3 Year Action Plan – Thurles

Strategic Vision Statement for Thurles

“To improve the vibrancy and vitality of Thurles by

leveraging off the unique history and resources of the

town. To prepare for a new era of prosperity and

achievement for the entire town starting in 2016”.

All Actions outlined below need to support this Strategic

Vision Statement

*An annual action plan should be reviewed each year and

updated in terms of its achievements or otherwise.

Theme 1 Governance Lead Group

Partner

(s)

Estimated

Cost

Funding

source

1. Based on the Actions outlined in this

template, host an open meeting to

invite stakeholders to participate in

one of three sub committees

Elect steering committee members,

identify and agree the priorities as

outlined in this plan for the town.

Tipp Co Co Chamber

of

Commerce

Other key Stakeholders

2. Formulation and adoption of a

constitutional and governance

framework. (See Chapter 4).

3. Develop an annual action plan

which will be progressed by

stakeholders who have signed up to

assist in delivery of same.

Each subcommittee will need to

formulate and agree their own

action plan for inclusion in the

overall Forum action plan.

The steering committee should have

ultimate oversight over the final

plan.

Theme 2. Leveraging Resources and

Local Engagement

Subcommittee 2 TCF

2(a). Leveraging Resources

1. Develop an Action Plan to leverage the

Sporting & Cultural Heritage of Thurles

2. Through the support of the Tourism

Company, work with tourism providers

39

in the area to develop appropriate

tourism marketing bundles which are

tied in with the strong retail offering.

3. Support and compliment existing

footfall in a manner that increase footfall

into the town, including looking at

opening times; tying retail product offers

in with existing festivals etc.

2b). Local Engagement Subcommittee 2 TCF

1. Develop a town centre Presentation and

Planting Plan - Engage with local

business owners to champion the

benefits of well presented premises,

window boxes, window presentation etc.

and provide training supports for same

2. Develop a citizen engagement plan

which informs the public what is being

progressed in the town and which

highlights the offers available in the

town or events taking place.

3. Develop Greater Synergy with the

Source and Local Arts Groups to

develop the bundling of offers on the

night of Theatre/Arts Events.

4. Continue to deliver appropriate supports

to the retail trade through the operation

of initiatives such as the Commercial

Incentive Scheme and the LEO

Training supports

Theme 3 Town Branding & Marketing Lead Group Partner

(s)

Estimated

Cost

Funding

source

3a). "Town of Sport" Branding

1. Develop a marketing and branding plan

for the Town. This will involve

describing what the Town of Sport will

look like - what will the attractions be?

Identifying the target market &

developing a value proposition for

same; seeking support from key

stakeholders (TCC; LIT; GAA,)

Sub

committee 1

LIT/

LEADER/

Tipp Co Co

LEADER.

Tipp Co.

Co.

GAA

Failte

Ireland

2. Explore the option of engaging a final

year or masters marketing students in

LIT or St Patricks to develop a

40

Marketing & Branding Plan for the town

based on research above.

3b).Town Marketing

1. Review all current marketing initiatives

in the town (across all groups). Clarify

what needs to happen to incorporate

Tourism, Branding, Business and

Others under one marketing umbrella.

Sub

committee 1

LIT/

LEADER/

Tipp Co Co

LEADER.

Tipp Co.

Co.

GAA

Failte

Ireland

2. Develop and manage a Digital

Marketing Plan for Thurles which

includes the development of the town

website and its future management.

3. Develop a Social Media Strategy

ensuring that all social media platforms

and town website are linked

4. Develop a Calendar of Events to

encourage additional footfall and

actively work with the trade to ensure

value is leveraged from these events.

5. Seek to encourage appropriate Sunday

trade, particularly where it ties in with

festival activity.

6. Develop a plan to introduce a Thurles

Gift Voucher system to facilitate local

people in supporting local businesses

Theme 4 Preparing for Liberty

Square Enhancement

Lead Group Partner

(s)

Estimated

Cost

Funding

source

1. Develop a prioritised enhancement plan

for the town for the next 5 – 10 years

Subcommittee 3 TCF Tipp Co

Co

2. Generate ideas/uses which will link the

Town Park with Liberty Square and

increase dwell time

3. Research the Purple Flag award -

evening trade. Work with the Source

Theatre to identify if there are any

opportunities in this area

4. Develop a strategy for Sunday trade

Theme 5 Training and Up-skilling Lead Group Partner

(s)

Estimated

Cost

Funding

source

1. Training for retailers in areas such as

online sales, the use of social media,

merchandising and customer services.

TCF Local

Enterprise

Office

41

Roscrea

Introduction

Roscrea with a population of 5,403

(Census 2011) is a historical market town

in County Tipperary located in a valley

between the Devil’s Bit Mountain to the

South West and the Slievebloom mountain

to the North East.

Retail Hierarchy

In relation to the Retail Hierarchy Roscrea

has an important sub-county role, with

good choice in convenience and

comparison retail offer. Existing vacancy

has been identified in dedicated retail

ware house parks and some shopping

centres. There are established central

areas with varying levels of retail vacancy

and the strengthening of and

environmental improvement of these will

be a priority to Tipperary County Council.

The Principle Retail Area is “Main Street

and Castle Street, including the Roscrea

Shopping Centre shown below in Diagram

10. It should be noted that since the 2011

strategy document, there has been

significant retail development in the town

centre of Roscrea with Tesco relocating

from Roscrea Shopping Centre to a larger

stand-alone premises at The Plaza, and

Aldi opening on Gantly Road.

Diagram: 10. Principle Retail Area, Roscrea Source: The Roscrea Local Area Plan 2012 – 201857

Retail Overview

A review of the retail was carried out in

September 2015. The retail in the area

zoned Town Centre were surveyed shown

below in red in Diagram 11. It is important

to note that a review such as this is fluid

and therefore may not represent the actual

situation on the date of reading the report.

42

Diagram 11: Roscrea Town Centre Zoning Map 2012 – 2018

Please note - Retail outlets are identified

by their perceived primary function e.g. if a

shop appears to primarily sell ladies

clothing although there may be some

gents products it is identified as a Ladies

Clothing shop. If a Pub has a food service

element and offering that appears to be

the dominant business, it will be described

as a restaurant.

Retail Uses Roscrea TOWN CENTRE ZONE

Motor Factors 1

Clothing and Footwear Toy shop 1

Ladies fashion (independent) 4 Home Décor 1

Ladies fashion (multiple) 0 Outdoor shop 0

Men’s fashion (multiple) 0 Art supplies/ picture framing 1

Men’s fashion (independent) 2 Household

Children’s fashion (multiple) 0 Furniture 2

Children’s fashion (independent) 0 Electrical lights 0

Baby Fashion 0 Electrical 2

Footwear 2 Antique 0

Bridal 0 Services

Sports shop 3 Financial institution 3

Food/ Drink Estate agent 2

Supermarket (multiple) 5 Post office 1

Supermarket (independent) 0 Solicitor 4

Convenience store 0 Accountant 1

Butcher 1 Barber 2

Bakery 1 Video 1

Fish monger 0 Locksmith 1

Grocer 0 Casino 1

Fruit and Veg 1 Credit Union 1

Health food 1 Bookmakers 2

Wine shop 0 Dry cleaner/ laundry 3

Specialist (e.g. African/Polish) 1 Mobile phone shop/repairs 2

43

Off license 2 Optician 1

Pub 9 Vet clinic 1

Other Retail Shoe repairs 0

Pharmacy 5 Computer repairs 1

Jewellers 3 Motor Works 1

Haberdashery/ fabric/ wool 2 Hair and beauty 10

Newsagent 2 Dentist 1

Hardware 3 Physio 1

€ shop/ discount shop 4 Acupuncture 0

Department Store (Shaws, Tesco and Dunnes)

3 Tattoo 1

Bookshop 0 Alterations 0

Gift shop 3 Health/ Leisure centre 0

Music shop 0 Florist 2

2nd hand clothes 0 Doctor 2

Photography 1 Printing 0

Bike shop 0 Domestic fuel 1

Tourist shop 0 Food

Pet Shop 1 Restaurant 8

Charity shop 3 Café/ deli 3

Interior Design 1 Fast food 3

Retail mix There is a high concentration of large

National and International retailers in the

town centre with Tesco, Dunnes Stores,

SuperValu, Aldi, Lidl and EuroGiant all

operating in or around the town centre.

Tesco and Dunnes Stores have a

comprehensive comparison offer, as do

Shaws, which creates intense competition

for comparison retailers in the town centre.

There is evidence of a number of vacant

retail units which were formally clothing

shops.

The presence of such a high concentration

of large retailers is certainly a challenge

but it also presents an opportunity. These

retailers drive significant footfall to the

town centre area.

Clothing and Footwear provision in the

town is limited other than Tesco, Dunnes

Stores and Shaws. There is an opportunity

for high end retailers in this business to

create a differentiated offer which could

draw on the footfall created by the large

multiples while not trying to compete with

them on the lower end or on price.

Gaps in the retail provision of the town

centre include; lack of a dedicated

bookshop, no dedicated music shop, no

sport equipment shop (bicycles etc.), no

local or artisan food shop and the quantity

of food service outlets is limited. These

would add to the retail mix subject to the

commercial viability of same.

Vacancy Rate

A survey of vacancy in the Town Centre

zoned area suggests that of property

occupied as or available for high, medium

and low retail uses, 19% of this property is

vacant (31 vacant units out of 164) in

comparison to the national average

commercial vacancy rate of 12.6%.

(GeoView, Q4 2015 edition)

44

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Built Heritage – Roscrea Castle,

Damer House, Round Tower, Black

Mills and the various religious sites.

These have the ability to attract more

tourist traffic to the town

Good footfall drivers in the Town

Centre. The presence of large national

brands in the town centre drives

footfall to the town centre creating

opportunities for other retailers.

Public realm assets including the town

park and the playground. Encourages

people to come to the town centre and

improves dwell times.

A Tourist office has been recently

established, staffed by knowledgeable

staff

An Enhancement Plan for Roscrea

has been developed.

Several town centre car parks

Accessibility off the M7

Roscrea heritage audio guide currently

available as a mobile application

Weaknesses

Vacancy and dereliction in prominent

locations

Truncated opening hours and

lunchtime closing

Absence of atmosphere in the Town

Centre e.g. street

entertainers/musicians

Lack of distinctiveness in the Town

Centre

No obvious strategy to drive tourism

business

Damer House Hotel closed

A number of poor quality shop fronts

Inconsistencies in the standard of

presentation of buildings

Poor use of online and digital

marketing

Opportunities

Tourism opportunities around Roscrea

Castle, Damer House, Round Tower,

Black Mills and the various religious

sites

Tourism Packages – walking, heritage,

cycling, and adventure sports.

The Roscrea Local Area Plan 2012 –

2018 has a stated policy of supporting

the establishment of a farmers market

for the town.

Maintaining momentum with the

Enhancement Plan – there is a

comprehensive action plan.

Developing strategies for Roscrea to

capitalise on the new atmosphere and

resources that the enhancement plan

will deliver

Develop links and strategies with local

employers like FRS Network/ Turas

Nua, Stakelums Bakery and the large

retailers – Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, SuperValu,

Dunnes Stores and Shaws

Digital Marketing and Online Sales

opportunities. Collective and digital

marketing of town centres, digital

marketing of individual businesses and

business groups, collective online

sales opportunities and individual

online sales opportunities

Creating and maintaining links with the

Diaspora

Threats

Challenges to progress with the

enhancement plan

Spend leakage due to online sales

Town depopulation and the resultant

reduction in town centre vitality and

vibrancy. Also the potential reduction

in customers.

Challenges for towns to fully utilise

natural and built assets due to the

economics of access to same and

achieving a balance between

conserving heritage and using heritage

45

Lack of recovery in consumer

spending in regional towns compared

to large urban centres like Dublin

Lack of accessible and appropriate

finance for business development

Stakeholder Engagement and

Preferred Structures

There was one stakeholder meetings

Stakeholders represented included;

Tipperary County Council, Chamber of

Commerce, OPW, Roscrea Stands Up

group and Iarnrod Eireann.

A new group other than those focused on

the enhancement plan would be best

placed to drive this initiative with fresh

enthusiasm. It would be important that this

group would comprise a number of town

centre retailers and ideally the Town

Centre Forum should be led by these

retailers Sub committees would then be

developed which are chaired by a member

of the steering committee who assumes

responsibility for the delivery of the

specified action and provide continuous

updates to the steering committee.

Interested individuals from the stakeholder

groups are co-opted to these

subcommittees. See Diagram 12 over for

suggested Roscrea Town Forum

Governance Structure

Recommendations for Roscrea

Town Centre Forum

Call a public meeting of all traders and

other stakeholders in the Town Centre.

This should be well advertised through

local papers, radio stations, online and

through as many other channels as

possible

Propose a vision of what is possible

for Roscrea Town Centre

Invite all stakeholders to participate in

one of three sub committees identified

in the following graphic. Identify the

work each committee will be tasked

with doing.

Take names and contact details of

those immediately interested in

participating

Arrange follow up open meetings of

each subcommittee.

Each subcommittee should then select

a convenors and a nominee, both of

whom would then sit on the Town

Centre Forum steering committee

The steering committee should elect

officers and agree a written

constitution and other governance

mechanisms as identified in Chapter 4

Roscrea Town Centre Forum need to

establish an appropriate structure and

system of governance based on the

recommendations, resources and

checklists identified in Chapter 4.

46

Diagram 12 Suggested Roscrea Town Team Governance Structure

Town Specific Marketing

The requirements of a Marketing Plan are

set out in Chapter 5 and in the Action

Plan.

The key resources in Roscrea are the

Castle, Damer House, Black Mill, Round

Tower and the various religious sites.

There are also opportunities to market the

dense concentration of large national and

multinational retailers in the town centre.

These businesses drive significant footfall

and as such create opportunities for

businesses around them

There are a number of activities and

customer packages which could be

designed around Roscrea’s heritage and

other resources. There are opportunities

for walking, cycling, sports, adventure and

heritage offers which could create

appealing value propositions for a number

of target markets including Great

Escapers and the Culturally Curious.

Three year Action Plan

A proposed Strategic Vision Statement

and supporting Actions are presented

overleaf. The 3 Year Action Plan for

Carrick-on-Suir Town Centre Forum is

proposed under the following themes:

1. Governance Structure

2. Town Appearance & Local

Engagement

3. Town Marketing

4. Festivals and Events

5. Training.

47

3 Year Action Plan – Roscrea

Strategic Vision Statement for Roscrea

As one of the oldest settlements in Ireland, Roscrea will

re-establish its historical significance as an important

market and shopping town that capitalises on its rich

heritage asset base. Working together, the community

of Roscrea will utilise its extensive skillbase to ensure

that the town becomes a strong and welcoming tourist

destination and one which boasts a safe and vibrant

town centre in which to live, visit, socialise and conduct

business

All Actions outlined below need to support this Strategic Vision Statement

*An annual action plan should be reviewed each year and updated in terms of

its achievements or otherwise.

Theme 1 Governance

Lead Group Partner (s) Estimated

Cost

Funding

source

1. Based on the Actions outlined in this template,

to host an open meeting to invite

stakeholders to participate in one of three sub

committees

Arrange open invite subcommittee meetings

Elect steering committee members, identify

and agree the priorities as outlined in this plan

for the town.

Tipp Co Co Chamber

of

Commerc

e/

Other key

Stakehold

ers

2. Formulation and adoption of a constitutional

and governance framework. (see Chapter 4)

3. Develop an annual action plan which will be

progressed by stakeholders who have signed

up to assist in delivery of same. Each

subcommittee will need to formulate and agree

their own action plan for inclusion in the overall

Forum action plan. The steering committee

should have ultimate oversight over the final

plan

48

Theme 2

Town Appearance & Local Engagement

Lead Group Partner (s) Estimated

Cost

Funding

source

2.1) Vacant and Derelict Buildings Sub

committee 1

TCF Tipp Co

Co/

LEADER

1. Establish database of derelict or vacant

property owners

2. Engage with owners to improve property

appearance; significant remedial works,

painting, temporary uses, façade solutions

3. Prioritise significant eyesores in primary

locations

2.2. Engage with large businesses in Roscrea

1. Develop a plan to attract commercial

sponsorship from the large businesses in the

town

Sub

committee 1

TCF Tipp Co

Co/

LEADER

2. Engage with businesses to develop a plan to

attract more investment and jobs to Roscrea

2.3. Town Painting Scheme

1. Develop a phased Building Façade & Painting

Improvement Scheme and implement in a

targeted and time lined manner. Develop a

grant based scheme to encourage take up.

Sub

committee 1

TCF

Tipp Co

Co/

LEADE

R

2. Collaboration between Retailers and the

County Council to identify key locations to be

targeted over a 5 year period.

3. Agree communication strategy to contact and

encourage all relevant town centre building

owners within the key location to participate

2.4. Local Engagement

1. Engage with schools to:

a) Support town appearance initiative e.g.

Community environmental projects

b) To create opportunities for students to get

involved in generating ideas for the town

e.g. Town branding competition

Sub

committee 1

TCF

Tipp Co

Co/

LEADER

2. Engage with local business owners to

champion the benefits of well presented

premises, window boxes, window presentation

etc.

3. Develop a Town Centre Presentation and

Planting Plan

4. Develop a citizen engagement plan which

informs the public on what is being

49

progressed in the town and which

highlights the offers available in the town

or events taking place.

Theme 3 Town Marketing Lead Group Partner

(s)

Estimated

Cost

Funding

source

Improve the marketing of Roscrea Sub

committee 2

TCF €25,000 LEADER

/ Tipp Co

Co

1. Review all current marketing initiatives in the

town (across all groups) to adopt the most

effective and inclusive marketing strategy.

2. Develop and manage a Digital Marketing Plan

for Roscrea which includes:

a) The completion of the town website and its

future management.

b) A Social Media Strategy ensuring that all

social media platforms and town website

are linked

3. Develop a plan to introduce a Roscrea Gift

Voucher system to facilitate local people in

supporting local businesses

Theme 4 Festivals & Events Lead Group Partner

(s)

Estimated

Cost

Funding

source

1. Compile a list of festivals and events currently

active in Roscrea.

Sub

committee 3

TCF €15,000

pa

LEADER

/ Tipp

CoCo

Failte Ire

Sponsor

2. Develop a Calendar of Events to drive footfall

3. Develop a plan to develop chosen festivals

and events

4. Develop Greater Synergy with Local Arts

Groups to to develop the bundling of offers

on the night of Theatre/Arts Events.

Improve the appearance of empty shop units

by encouraging and promoting art installations

in shop fronts.

Theme 5 Training Lead Group Partner

(s)

Estimated

Cost

Funding

source

Training and Up skilling:

Training for retailers in areas such as online sales,

the use of social media, merchandising and

customer services.

TCF LEO

Other key

Stakeholder

LEO

50

Templemore

Introduction

The North Tipperary County Development

Plan 2012 estimates that the population of

Templemore will reach 2,631 by 2022.58

The Principle Retail Area is Main Street

and The Square shown below in Diagram

13. There has been little new retail

provision since the County

Retail Strategy 2003. However, Lidl now

occupies a town centre site, which is well

located to benefit the town centre due

to their proximity and connectivity

and would ensure that expenditure

leakage from the town centre is

reduced.”59

Diagram 13: Principle Retail Area, Templemore. Source: North Tipperary Retail County Retail Strategy 2011

Retail Hierarchy

Templemore has an important sub-

county role, with good choice in

convenience and comparison retail

offer. Existing vacancy has been

identified in dedicated retail ware

house parks and some shopping

centres. There are established central

areas with varying levels of retail

vacancy and the strengthening of and

environmental improvement of these

will be a priority to Tipperary County

Council.

Retail Overview

A review of retail mix in the town was

conducted in September 2015. The area

covered was all retail units in the Town

Centre zone (See Diagram 14), however

note that a review such as this is fluid and

therefore may not represent the current

situation.

51

Diagram 14: Templemore Town Centre Zoning Map

Source: Templemore Town and Environs Development Plan 2012 – 201860

Retail outlets are identified by their

perceived primary function e.g. if a shop

appears to primarily sell ladies clothing

although there may be some gents

products it is identified as a Ladies

Clothing shop. If a Pub has a food service

element and offering that appears to be

the dominant business, it will be described

as a restaurant

Retail Uses Templemore TOWN CENTRE ZONE

Clothing and Footwear Forecourt with convenience store 1

Ladies fashion (independent) 4 Bookshop 0

Ladies fashion (multiple) 0 Gift shop 1

Men’s fashion (multiple) 0 Music shop 0

Men’s fashion (independent) 1 2nd hand clothes 1

Children’s fashion (multiple) 0 Bike shop 0

Children’s fashion (independent) 1

Footwear 1 Household

Accessories 0 Centenary Coop including home & garden, electrical, plumbing, farm supplies,

1

Bridal 0 Services

Multi product store - Sports, Ladies, Gents, Footwear

1 Financial institution 2

Food/ Drink Estate agent 2

Supermarket (multiple) LIDL 1 Post office 1

Convenience store/ supermarket 4 Solicitor 4

Butcher 3 Accountant 3

Bakery 1 Barber 1

Fish monger 0 Video 0

Grocer 0 Locksmith 0

Fruit and Veg 1 Health therapy clinic 1

Health food 0 Stoves 1

Wine shop 0 Bookmakers 2

52

Specialist (e.g. African/Polish) 0 Dry cleaner/ laundry 2

Off license 1 Mobile phone shop/repairs 1

Pub 10 Optician 0

Other Retail Electronics/ TV/ repairs 1

Pharmacy 2 Shoe repairs 1

Jewellers 2 Computer repairs 0

Haberdashery/ fabric/ wool 1 Hair and beauty 6

Arts & Crafts school supplies 1 Physio 2

Hardware 1 Alterations 0

€ shop/ discount shop 0 Health/ Leisure centre 0

Tourist shop 0 Florist 0

Vet centre 1 Food

Tyre centre 1 Restaurant 2

Motor Factors 1 Café/ deli 2

Car sales 1 Fast food 4

Retail Mix

In addition to Lidl, Templemore has four

convenience stores/ supermarkets in the

town centre. Comparison shopping

provision is very limited, with no national

or international brands. As well as

increased choice across all comparison

goods, the retail mix of the town would

benefit from the following which are not

available; a bookshop, an optician and a

sports equipment shop (Bicycles etc.) if

commercially viable.

There are no shopping centres, retail

warehousing units, out of town or edge of

town developments in Templemore.

Vacancy Rate

Of the units available for high, medium or

low value retail uses in the town centre

zoning, 80% are occupied therefore the

vacancy rate is 20%.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

The Town Park – a key resource

which includes an Eco Lake with

fountain, parkland, walking trails, kids

play area, fairy trail and other

proximate resources like the GAA

pitch, the Pitch and Putt course and

the Athletic Track

The second widest street in Ireland

and an extensive car parking area with

potential to host casual trading,

farmers markets/ country markets and

other events

Templemore Arms Hotel.

A compact core along Main Street and

The Square with significant passing

traffic

Active Tidy Towns group working in

partnership with the local authority to

present the town well

A beautiful town hall standing in the

middle of the square

Ample parking in the town centre

The Garda college which attracts

students and generates business

opportunities in the town

Templemore College of Further

Education attracting students to the

town

Two car main dealers in the town –

footfall driver

Some traditional shop fronts of

character

53

Weaknesses

Poor retail mix

Truncated opening times and

lunchtime closing

Vacancy in prominent locations

The Town Park is poorly advertised

from Main Street/ The Square

A number of poor quality shop fronts

Inconsistencies in the standard of

presentation of buildings

Poor use of online and digital

marketing

Lack of employment opportunities

Opportunities

Increase local footfall to the town by

leveraging off key resources, in

particular the Town Park and the

Town Hall.

The wide Main thoroughfare, ample

parking areas and traffic volumes

through the town offer an opportunity

to entice motorists to stop in the town

Tourism Packages – walking,

heritage, cycling, and adventure

sports. There is a strong and active

Historical Society in the town who

have successfully hosted historical

and heritage groups in the past in the

local hotel.

The Templemore and Environs

Development Plan 2012 – 2018 has a

stated policy of supporting a farmers

market for the town. There is no

farmers market operating regularly in

the town. This is an immediate

opportunity to drive increased footfall

to the town centre. Casual trading

currently takes place in the large town

centre car park. This could be an ideal

location for a farmers market subject

to health and safety considerations,

traffic management and local

stakeholder agreement.

Develop links and strategies with local

employers like Tipperary Glass, Eltex

Manufacturing Ltd, Tailor Made Glass

and Systems and Centenary Co-op

Investigate how more business could

be facilitated with the Garda College

through a shop local promotions

campaign, etc.

Identified needs for Digital Marketing

and Online Sales opportunities.

Collective and digital marketing of

town centres, digital marketing of

individual businesses and business

groups, collective online sales

opportunities and individual online

sales opportunities

Creating and maintaining links with

the Diaspora

Examine opportunities from local

tourism opportunities such as the

historical society; Whyte Gypsy

brewery etc and see if these can add

value to the attractiveness of the town

centre

Threats

Spend leakage due to online sales

Town depopulation and the resultant

reduction in town centre vitality and

vibrancy. Also the potential reduction

in customers. This is a particular threat

in Templemore with a 13.9% fall in

population in the period 2006 - 2011

Challenges for the town to fully utilise

natural and built assets due to the

economics of access to same and

achieving a balance between

conserving heritage and using heritage

Lack of recovery in consumer

spending in regional towns compared

to large urban centres like Dublin

Lack of accessible and appropriate

finance for business development

Stakeholder Engagement and

Preferred Structures

There were three stakeholder meetings.

Stakeholders represented included;

54

Tipperary County Council, Trade

Association members, Tidy Towns,

Templemore Historical Society and

Community Representatives.

The structure recommended was a three

subcommittee structure facilitated and

managed by a steering committee. The

steering committee will comprise members

of the stakeholder groups mentioned

above.

The three subcommittees are;

Tidy Towns Committee involved in

town appearance, local engagement

and the town park

Historical Society Committee

involved in festivals, events and the

town park

Traders Association involved in town

marketing, the town hall and business

engagement

There will be an overlap of activities

across the sub committees with ongoing

support being provided to each other.

Diagram 15: Suggested Templemore Town Team Structure

55

Recommendations for Templemore

Town Centre Forum

Hold an open meeting of the Forum

and discuss the Forums vision for

Templemore. Invite stakeholders to

participate in the Forum through one of

the three subcommittees formed. This

will raise the profile of the Forum,

publicise its work, enhance the

representative nature of the Forum

and garner increased support

and numbers of Forum subcommittee

members

Form the three subcommittees and

elect a Chairperson and Vice

Chairperson on each. They in

turn sit on the Forum Steering

Committee

Elect officers on the Steering

Committee i.e. Chairperson, Secretary

and Treasurer.

Ensure all structure and governance

considerations are addressed using

the recommendations, resources and

checklists identified in Chapter 4.

Town Specific Marketing

The requirements of Templemore’s

Marketing Plan are set out in Chapter 5

and in the Action Plan included.

The two key resources in Templemore are

the Town Park and the Town Hall. A

commercial feasibility study forms part of

the 3 year Action Plan for the town to

understand what might be possible for the

currently vacant Town Hall. There may be

an opportunity to develop a key marketing

feature for the town in this building should

it be deemed viable.

The Town Park is the other key resource

which needs to be fundamental to how

Templemore markets itself. There are a

number of activities and customer

attractions which could be designed

around the Town Park resource. There are

opportunities for festivals walking, cycling,

sports, and heritage offers which could

create appealing value propositions for a

broader catchment of the local population.

Three year Action Plan

A proposed Strategic Vision Statement

and supporting Actions are presented

overleaf. The 3 Year Action Plan for

Carrick-on-Suir Town Centre Forum is

proposed under the following themes:

1. Governance Structure and Leveraging

Resources

2. Town Appearance & Local

Engagement

3. Town Marketing and the Town Hall

4. Festivals, Events and The Park

5. Training.

56

3 Year Action Plan – Templemore

Strategic Vision Statement for Templemore

To create a vibrant, commercially successful town centre

which provides substantially for the needs of the local

catchment population. This will be achieved through

increased local footfall by leveraging all of the town’s

resources including its people, heritage, history and

organisations

All Actions outlined below need to support this Strategic Vision Statement

*An annual action plan should be reviewed each year and updated in terms of its

achievements or otherwise.

Theme 1

Governance and Leveraging

Resources

Lead Group Partner(

s)

Estimated

Cost

Funding

Source

1.1 Governance

1. Based on the Actions outlined in this

template, to host an open meeting to

invite stakeholders to participate in one

of three sub committees

Arrange open invite subcommittee

meetings

Elect steering committee members,

identify and agree the priorities as

outlined in this plan for the town.

2. Formulation and adoption of a

constitutional and governance

framework. (See Chapter 4)

3. Develop an annual action plan which

will be progressed by stakeholders who

have signed up to assist in delivery of

same.

Each subcommittee will need to

formulate and agree their own action

plan for inclusion in the overall Forum

action plan.

The steering committee should have

ultimate oversight over the final plan

1.2) Leveraging Resources

1. Continue to deliver appropriate

57

supports to the retail trade through the

operation of initiatives such as the

Commercial Incentive Scheme and the

LEO Training supports

Theme 2

Town Appearance & Local

Engagement

Lead Group Partner(s) Estimated

Cost

Funding

source

2.1 Town Painting Scheme

1. Develop a phased Building Façade &

Painting Improvement Scheme and

implement in a targeted and time lined

manner. Develop a grant based

scheme to encourage take up

a) Collaboration between Retailers

and the County Council to identify

key locations to be targeted over a

5 year period.

b) Agree a communication process to

contact and encourage all relevant

town centre building owners within

the key location to participate

Sub

committee

1

TCF TBC Tipp Co Co/

LEADER

2. Agree a communication process to

contact and encourage all relevant

town centre building owners within the

key location to participate

3. Draw up a list of derelict sites, identify

steps to be taken to address same and

progress to a satisfactory conclusion

2.2.Local Engagement Sub

committee 1

TCF

1. Develop a citizen engagement plan

which informs the public what is being

progressed in the town and which

highlights the offers available in the

town or events taking place

2. Support and compliment existing

footfall in a manner that increase footfall

into the town, including looking at

opening times; tying retail product offers

in with existing festivals etc.

3. Engage with schools to:

a) Support town appearance initiative

e.g. community environment

projects.

b) Create opportunities for students to

58

get involved in generating ideas for

the town

4. Develop a Town Centre Presentation

and Planting Plan

5. Engage with local business owners to

champion the benefits of well presented

premises, window boxes, window

presentation etc.

2.3). National recognition Tidy

Towns

1. Three 3 year plan to continue

progress in the Tidy Towns

competition

2. Plan to attract "Nationwide" or

similar programme to

Templemore

Theme 3

Town Marketing & The Town Hall

Lead

Group

Partner

(s)

Estimated

Cost Funding

source

3.1) Improve the marketing of

Templemore

Sub

committee

2

TCF €25,000 LEADER/

Tipp Co

Co

1. Review all current marketing

initiatives in the town (across all

groups) to adopt the most effective

and inclusive marketing strategy.

2. Develop and manage a Digital

Marketing Plan for Templemore

which includes:

a) The completion of the town

website and its future

management.

b) A Social Media Strategy

ensuring that all social media

platforms and town website are

linked and its future

management. Particularly target

the local community catchment

area.

3. Seek to encourage appropriate

Sunday trade, particularly where it

ties in with festival activity.

4. Develop a plan to introduce a

Templemore Gift Voucher system to

facilitate local people in supporting

59

local businesses particularly The

Garda College; and local schools

3.2). Town Hall Traders

Association

Tipp Co

Co OPW

1. Feasibility study to understand the

commercial viability of the Town Forum

taking a lease on the Town Hall

2. Develop a plan for opening of re

developed Town Hall if commercial

viability is possible

Theme 4

Festivals, Events & The Park

Lead

Group

Partner

(s)

Estimated

Cost

Funding

source

4.1 Festivals and Events

1. Compile a list of festivals and events

currently active in Templemore.

Sub

committee 3

TCF €15,000

pa

LEADER/ Tipp

Co Co/ Failte

Ireland/

Sponsorship

2. Develop a Calendar of Events to inform

local communities of activities in the

area – particularly those that are family

focused

3. Develop a plan to develop chosen

festivals and events

4. nvestigate the possibility of hosting a

Farmers or Country Market weekly/

monthly on the Main Street.

4.2). The Park

1. Develop a plan to Market the Town

Park to local families and visitors. Liaise

with subcommittee 2 to include this

Action in Area 2. Liaise with Tidy Towns

re their schools engagement project

2. Explore possible leisure activities on

the lake

3. Develop a plan for new on street

signage highlighting the Town Park in

conjunction with Tipp Co Co

4.3). Historical & Heritage Events

1. Develop a plan to have Historical &

Heritage Events in the town including;

visits from historical societies, heritage

walks and events

60

Theme 5 Training Lead

Group

Partner

(s)

Estimated

Cost

Funding

source

Training and Up skilling: training for retailers

in areas such as online sales, the use of

social media, merchandising and customer

services.

Town

Centre

Forum

Local

Enterpris

e Office/

Traders

Assoc NA LEO

61

Chapter 8

Common Town Centre

Initiatives

A number of initiatives have been

identified which could be delivered in

terms of a county wide perspective such

as:

Training

Digital Marketing is a key requirement

for the effective marketing of towns and

the individual businesses within the towns.

There was a survey done (see Appendix

13 for summary results) as part of this

project to understand the appetite for

training in Digital Marketing and

associated disciplines. While Tipperary

Local Enterprise Office has been providing

some training in this area in the various

towns, it is recommended that the results

of the survey are considered and that

ongoing Digital Marketing and associated

training programmes are made available

across the various towns.

Customer Service quality has a

profound impact on town performance and

individual business performance.

Customer Service in this instance includes

effective communication, product

knowledge, personal appearance, local

area knowledge, enthusiasm, pride of

place, appropriate opening times including

lunchtime, ensuring customer parking

facilities are not occupied by staff and

respect for the customer. There are

opportunities for improved customer

service in all towns.

While acknowledging the work being done

in this area by Tipperary Local Enterprise

Office, Skillnet and others, high quality

town specific customer service training

programmes which have the objectives of

improving the quality of customer service

across the various areas mentioned above

are another key requirement and

recommendation.

Visual merchandising training or

consultancy to support businesses in

maximising the visual impact of their retail

units would be important across all towns.

Improving the general standards of

merchandising, window displays, store fit

out and understanding customer

psychology to maximise customer spend

would all support an improved customer

experience in each town

Sales training for customer facing staff.

Retail Management Training

Town Website Development/

Tipperary Branding

One of the challenges that exist in most

towns is the maintenance of a high quality

online presence for the town. Online

presence is growing in importance in

terms of communicating effectively with

customers and attracting and retaining

local business. The joint committee on

Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation figures

quoted previously suggest that Irish

consumers are now spending €6 billion

online each year with less than a third of

this revenue going to Irish businesses.

There may be an opportunity to include an

online trading feature to town website

design subject to funding eligibility and

funding availability, but even if this is not

feasible, having a high quality online

presence will allow a town to disrupt some

of this spend leakage and entice people

back into the town centre. More

importantly however, there is nothing to

prevent local businesses from developing

their own online shopping facility and

maximising their business reach beyond

62

the physical boundaries of the traditional

town.

It is recommended that a county wide

initiative to develop the online presence of

towns in Tipperary is pursued. Initial

research into how this might be achieved

suggests that this type of project would

likely be eligible as an “Umbrella Project”

under LEADER in the Rural Development

Programme 2014 – 2020. It should be

noted that the guidelines on umbrella

projects are subject to change at present.

A single funding application to LEADER

for the entire project could be made by a

lead partner, with each town dealing with

the lead partner. An important

consideration for partners is how to

facilitate an ongoing maintenance plan for

the online presence of each town or

indeed each business and this would need

to be addressed as a priority prior to any

funding application being made.

Packaged Entrepreneur Supports

There has been a number of valuable

incentive schemes made available by

Tipperary County Council to Town Centre

businesses over recent times. These

include a Commercial Incentive Scheme,

Christmas Retail Support Programme,

Shop Front and Painting Scheme.

There are also a range of services

available to businesses through Tipperary

Local Enterprise Office including;

Business Information and Advisory

Services, Enterprise Support and

Development Services, Entrepreneurship

Support Services and Financial Support

Services.

Coordinating and augmenting the

incentives and services identified above

into bespoke, targeted, packaged

solutions for Town Centre Entrepreneurs

would offer significant value.

Some of key challenges Entrepreneurs

and Business people face is limited time

and limited access to specific information

on appropriate supports available to them.

Making it easy for Entrepreneurs to

identify a suite of supports and incentives

that suit their sector and their level of

business development (setting up,

growing, and expanding) would be very

valuable.

These support packages should include

opportunities for vacant Town Centre

property owners to make their properties

available for short term initiatives including

pop up shops and window presentations

to improve the vibrancy and appearance

of the Town Centre.

63

Monitoring,

Implementation &

Conclusion

Experience from Ireland and abroad

demonstrates the value of local

partnerships in developing well-considered

and effective solutions for common issues

and this was at the core of this Town

Centre Initiative Report. The success of

measures to support town centres is

predicated on facilitating a strong town

centre partnership of key stakeholders that

takes account of the town people, town

economy, town heritage, physical features

and the role of the town within the wider

network of town centres.

One of the key challenges to addressing

the issues facing our town centres will

revolve around either a breakdown in

stakeholder partnership or unwillingness

for all stakeholders to work together. No

one stakeholder on its own will address

the issues facing our town centres.

Working together, there is an opportunity

to turn our town centres around. This will

require not just the honest efforts of the

County Council but also the honest efforts

of the retail trade itself; the local citizens

and consumers and the broader

stakeholder base of community and

business groupings.

The Action Plans laid out above for each

of the towns is only the first step in the

process – these plans should be managed

as “fluid vehicles ” with actions being

added and deleted as appropriate.

However, if there is to be progress, it is

important that the plans are regularly

reviewed by the Steering group in an

honest manner, changes made and new

directions taken as required. This

monitoring of the implementation is critical

to the success of the plan. There will be

many challenges facing the

implementation of the plan, including

difficulties around engagement; funding

constraints; challenging economic

environment; other emerging priorities etc.

It is therefore important that each TCF

reviews its plan at least once a year and

reports on progress to its Local Municipal

District/Borough District meeting.

64

Summary Results of TCI Retailing Online Survey

1. Do you currently sell online through

your business website or through

another online platform?

2. Do you use social media to promote

your business?

3. How interested are you in

developing your business online

presence?

4. If your local enterprise office were to

provide low cost, high quality social

media and online marketing training in

your town, would you attend?

37

63

Yes

No

0 10 20 30

Not at all

Some Social …

Significant Social …

Not at all

Some Social Media Activity

Significant Social Media Activity

0 20 40 60

Not Interested

Interested

Very Interested

Not Interested

Interested

Very Interested

0 50

No

Maybe

Yes

Definitely No

Maybe

Yes

Definitely

65

Bibliography

1 http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/planning/north-tipperary-county-development-plan-2010 2 Johnson, G., Whittington, R., Scholes, K., Angwin, D.,Regnér, P., (2014) Exploring Strategy Text and Cases, Pearson Education Limited, Harlow, U.K. 3 http://www.finance.gov.ie/sites/default/files/Retail%20Ireland%20-%20Strategy%20for%20Retail%202014%20to%202016.pdf 4 http://www.retailexcellence.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/A-Framework-For-Retail-in-Rural-Ireland.pdf 5 http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/ruralenvironment/ruraldevelopment/ruraldevelopmentprogramme2014-2020/RDPFinaldraft03072014.pdf 6 http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/sites/default/files/Volume%201%20Complete.pdf 7 http://www.southtipperaryinfo.ie/sites/default/files/County%20Dev%20Plan%20Vol%202%20%20Strategic%20Environmental.pdf 8 http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/planning/north-tipperary-county-development-plan-2010 9 http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/sites/default/files/South%20Tipperary%20County%20Retail%20Strategy%202010.pdf 10 http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/sites/default/files/North%20Tipperary%20County%20Retail%20Strategy%202011_4.pdf 11 http://www.southtipperaryinfo.ie/sites/default/files/Final_Retail_Development_Programme%2017%2007%2012_0.pdf 12 http://www.retailexcellence.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/A-Framework-For-Retail-in-Rural-Ireland.pdf 13

http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/rsi/retailsalesindexaugust2015/ 14

http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/rsi/retailsalesindexaugust2015/ 15

The Consumer Sentiment Index is calculated by computing the relative scores (the percent giving favourable replies minus the percent giving unfavourable

replies (the balance), plus 100) for each question used in the different indices 16 http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/rsi/retailsalesindexaugust2015/ The Consumer Sentiment Index is calculated by

computing the relative scores (the percent giving favourable replies minus the percent giving unfavourable replies (the balance), plus 100) for

each question used in the different indices 17 http://www.agresearch.teagasc.ie/rerc/CEDRA/CEDRA_Report.pdf 18

http://www.failteireland.ie/FailteIreland/media/WebsiteStructure/Documents/3_Research_Insights/3_General_SurveysReports/Tourism-facts-2014.pdf?ext=.pdf

19 http://www.dttas.ie/sites/default/files/publications/tourism/english/people-place-and-policy-growing-tourism-2025/people-place-and-

policy-growing-tourism-2025.pdf 20 http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/committees/Final----Policy-Options-to-Support-Business-Growth-and-Job-Creation-and-Retention-in-

Town-and-Village-Centres.pdf 21

Barker, M., Barker, D., Bormann, N., Neher, K., Social Media Marketing – A Strategic Approach, 2013, South-Western, Engage Learning, Port Survey of Overseas

Holidaymakers 2014 USA 22

http://www.failteireland.ie/FailteIreland/media/WebsiteStructure/Documents/3_Research_Insights/3_General_SurveysReports/Tourism-facts-2014.pdf?ext=.pdf 23 http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Planning/FileDownLoad,30026,en.pdf 24 http://www.retailexcellence.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/A-Framework-For-Retail-in-Rural-Ireland.pdf 25 https://www.limerick.ie/sites/default/files/Limerick_City_Business_%26_Retail_Incentive_Scheme.pdf 26

http://www.waterfordcouncil.ie/en/media/BUSINESS/Reports/Waterford%20City%20Retail%20Investment%20Prospectus.pdf 27 http://www.wearedublintown.ie/who-we-are/overview/ 28 http://www.carlowcoco.ie/business/Pages/carlow-town-team.aspx 29 http://www.dunlaoghaire.ie/ 30 http://www.dundalkbids.com/ 31 http://www.letterkenny.town/ 32 https://www.atcm.org/programmes/purple_flag/tools_templates 33 www.governancecode.ie 34 https://www.wheel.ie/sites/default/files/documents/Governance%20Code%20Type%20A%20only%20-

%20%2020%20March%202012%20Final.pdf 35 https://www.wheel.ie/sites/default/files/documents/Governance%20Code%20Type%20B%20only%20-

%20%2020%20March%202012%20Final.pdf 36

http://www.retailexcellence.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/A-Framework-For-Retail-in-Rural-Ireland.pdf 37

http://www.lgcsb.ie/sites/default/files/newsfiles/150615_local_authority_retail_support-web.pdf 38

http://www.retailexcellence.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/A-Framework-For-Retail-in-Rural-Ireland.pdf 39

http://www.athlone.ie/shopping 40

http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/committees/Final----Policy-Options-to-Support-Business-Growth-and-Job-

Creation-and-Retention-in-Town-and-Village-Centres.pdf 41

http://www.finance.gov.ie/sites/default/files/Retail%20Ireland%20-%20Strategy%20for%20Retail%202014%20to%202016.pdf 42

http://www.independent.ie/regionals/fingalindependent/news/30m-fund-to-boost-villages-31564337.html 43

http://www.agresearch.teagasc.ie/rerc/CEDRA/CEDRA_Report.pdf 44

http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/community-and-economic-development/local-economic-and-community-plan-county-tipperary 45

http://www.dttas.ie/sites/default/files/publications/tourism/english/people-place-and-policy-growing-tourism-2025/people-place-and-

policy-growing-tourism-2025.pdf 46

http://www.failteireland.ie/Supports/Identify-Available-Funding/National-Festivals-and-Participative-Events.aspx 47

http://www.artscouncil.ie/available-funding/ 48

http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/Grants/2015/Grant_offers_2015.pdf 49

The agricultural sector, companies with charitable status, commercial semi state companies, “Not for profit” organisations, trade associations or

company representation bodies.

66

50

https://www.localenterprise.ie/Tipperary/Documents-and-Photos/Online%20Digital%20Voucher.pdf 51

http://www.clanncredo.ie/default.aspx?m=22&mi=171&ms=68 52

http://microfinanceireland.ie/about-us/who-we-are/ 53

South Tipperary County Development Plan 2009 (as varied http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/planning/south-tipperary-county-

development-plan-2009-varied 54

http://www.retailexcellence.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/A-Framework-For-Retail-in-Rural-Ireland.pdf 55

http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/planning/north-tipperary-county-development-plan-2010 56

The commercial viability of opening any of the retail businesses mentioned here would need to be investigated and fully considered by a prospective business owner. 57

http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/planning/roscrea-local-area-plan-2012 58

http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/planning/north-tipperary-county-development-plan-2010 59

http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/sites/default/files/North%20Tipperary%20County%20Retail%20Strategy%202011_1.pdf 60

http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/sites/default/files/Pages%20from%20Templemore%20%26%20Environs%20Development%20Pla

n%20Part1.pdf