Working With Charities & Landlords In Dorset

Dorset’s retail landscape blends charming tourist-friendly high streets with more modern retail properties offering a unique shopping experience. Towns like Bournemouth, Poole, Dorchester and Bridport used to feature bustling shopping centres, but the region is inevitably changing as residents’ shopping habits change.

Traditional high streets that were once filled with reliable chain stores are typically now lined with independent shops and periodic markets aimed at both locals and tourists. This new diverse retail environment supports a thriving community spirit and encourages a more local economy, but is more challenging to sustain in the long term.

As a result, more retail spaces in Dorset are left periodically empty than in previous years.

At ASTOP, we work with Dorset commercial property owners and landlords to mitigate business rate costs associated with empty shops. We make a difference by introducing them to local charities and good causes that could productively use retail space that otherwise would be left empty. It has proved to be an ethical win-win scenario thanks to approval by the Local Government in Dorset and surrounding counties.