The CR podcast episode 12: Can creativity save the British high street?

For this podcast, Fortnum & Mason’s Customer Experience Director Zia Zareem-Slade and Yard Creative co-founder Steve James-Royle join Eliza Williams to look at the problem’s facing Britain’s high streets and whether design and creativity can help

It feels like we’re hearing one bad news story after another at the moment when it comes to the British high street. Department stores seem to be particularly suffering, with iconic British brands from John Lewis to Debenhams to House of Fraser all reporting major difficulties.

But not every brand is struggling: Fortnum & Mason has reported double digit profits for six years running, and others as varied as Selfridges and Primark remain buoyant. So are there lessons we can learn from these success stories? And what place does design and creativity have in terms of contributing to brands’ survival?

To discuss these burning questions, CR’s Eliza Williams is joined by Fortnum’s Zia Zareem-Slade and Yard Creative’s Steve James-Royle in the podcast studio.