Saving the British High Street is like jumping the Grand Canyon. We know some retailers like John Lewis and Next are successful but many remain rooted to the spot, hoping someone will offer them a helping hand.

Two men stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon, desperate to get to the other side. The first man jumps right across no problem. But his friend is scared and afraid of falling.

The first guy has an idea. He says “I have my torch with me - I’ll shine it across the gap and you can walk along the beam and join me!” But his friend just shakes his head and says “What do you think I am? Crazy? You’ll turn it off when I’m half way across!”

Saving the British High Street is like jumping the Grand Canyon. We know some retailers like John Lewis and Next are successful but many remain rooted to the spot, hoping someone will offer them a helping hand. One man who believes he’s up to the challenge is Bill Grimsey, the former boss of Iceland and DIY chain Wickes.

Grimsey has concluded a three month investigation into Britain’s high streets. He’s made 31 recommendations in his ‘Grimsey Review’, setting out an ‘alternative future’ for the high street to the report published by the retail expert Mary Portas, the self-styled Queen of Shops, in December 2011.

But is it that different?

One recommendation is for ‘town centre commissions’ made up of key stakeholders from retailers to developers. He wants to see the initiative trialed in five towns by the end of this year. Apart from its less snappy name, don’t these commissions bear strong resemblance to Portas’ ‘town teams’ and the ‘Portas Pilots’?

And while Grimsey talks about turning high streets into communities, so did Portas. They both agree high streets must be places that people want to use - to shop, to eat, to meet, and even to live as some streets become flats and homes.

Perhaps his most eye-catching proposal though is the recommendation that large retailers and pub owners pay a one-off tax to help raise £550million, creating a local economic development fund to support smaller retailers and start-ups. 

Using the tax system to help start-ups is a great idea, but why increase taxes? Why not reduce them?   Business rates exemptions for start-ups would help new retailers without punishing existing retailers simply for being ‘big’.

With 31 recommendations -  four more than Mary Portas - there’s much to applaud in the comprehensive Grimsey Review. He recommends business rates changes. He wants free parking in town centres. He believes that there is a future for the high street.

But a key question remains unanswered – how will the high street’s transformation be supported by tangible government commitment?  Grimsey and Portas can shine a light and show the way, but without financial support, some of the plans appear to lack substance.

Implementing the recommendations will require partnering and investment on a huge scale and the government must act to ensure effectiveness. Sadly, the government’s reluctance to address the problems with business rates suggests that we may be waiting on the wrong side of the Canyon for some time to come.

Darina Kerr is a partner at law firm Dundas & Wilson