Details:

We have teamed up with Real Ideas and Nudge Community Builders to provide an opportunity to utilise our pop up shop Vacancy! to test alternative ideas, experiences and projects on the High Street.

The timeframe for a project or idea can be from 1 day up to a week, but we will consider longer depending on the scope of the project.

We are particularly interested in projects that have a viable exit plan or ambition for a more permanent presence on the High Street and are not exclusively retail focused.

Through the Window Of Opportunity project we aim to:

• Work together to research and pilot alternative ways for individuals and organisations to access space on the High Street.

• This will be done by providing varying levels of funding to access our pop up space, Vacancy!, at 107 Cornwall Street to trial ideas and projects that would benefit from a High Street presence, but are not yet developed enough to take on a space under normal rental and lease requirements.

Applications must:

• Be inclusive to all communities.

• Be able to demonstrate cash-flow ability to cover project costs apart from the agreement on space usage.

• Be able to meet due diligence checks if grant funded.

• Present a proposal that has the ability and ambition to find and secure longer term presence on the High Street, but needs the initial push to test the idea.

• Not be a purely commercial venture. Consider what is the added component with your idea that is about re-imaging the High Street.

• Have relevant public liability insurance of at least £1 million, or willing to provide insurance before starting opportunity.

We will accept collaborative project proposals if they meet our selection criteria.

Projects will need to be fully costed and funded by you (apart from the cost of the space) in order to proceed, Our funding will not cover any additional costs to undertake your project. We will require a simple breakdown of anticipated costs and revenue streams as part of the application process to ensure the idea is viable.

Our funding has been provided through POP Collectives as a research project collaboration between Vacancy Atlas, Nudge Community Builders and Real Ideas.

Applications will be evaluated and selected by a panel of members from Vacancy Atlas, Nudge Community Builders and Real Ideas, and evaluated against the following criteria:

• Does the project meet the eligibility criteria?

• Are all other costs of the project covered?

• Is there more than a purely commerical venture offered as an idea?

• Are any risks associated with the project able to be suitably mitigated?

We will not be able to provide detailed feedback on unsuccessful applications.

We will let you know as soon as the panel have met to decide on the application and introduce the next steps to you.

The panels decision will be final.

We are running this project between March and May 2023

Deadlines for Applications:

We are running this call out on a rolling basis, and will review all submissions as they are submitted. If successful we will then allocate a time slot in the space (in collaboration with you).

Once all the time slots have been allocated, the call out will close.

As part of the project, we will be looking to utilise your project as a case study to help identify and advocate for alternative ways of accessing spaces in the city centre for projects and ideas such as yours. This will require you to work collaboratively with us throughout the process, sharing information (including footfall figures etc) and feed into our evaluations of the project. We will make this process of evaluation as easy as possible for you to engage with.

The collaboration and evaluation process will inform our strategic work with other stakeholders in the city into the future, with the overarching aim of securing alternative models of space usage in the city centre that challenges the accepted norms around commercial viability.

• Location - 107 Cornwall Street, Plymouth, PL1 1PA

• Size of Space - Ground Floor Shop - 45sqm, Storage - 10sqm, First Floor - 50sqm (WC upstairs).

• Capacity of Property - 60 at any one time.

• Open Hours - 9am-7pm to the public - but there is flexibility over this on agreement with us.

• Excluded Uses - Property not suitable for selling alchohol (unless license obtained) or for the preparation of food. If you think you may need either, then please talk to us about the potential solutions.

• Noise - We have residential neighbours not too far away so we ask that you are considerate of this.

• Utilities & Services - All included in the programme.

• Insurances - You will need appropriate insurance for the activities you undertake in the space, and for any equipment used or left in the space.

• Leaving - You will agree to leave the space as found, including tidying up and cleaning to an acceptable level, as well as removing all rubbish generated during the use.

• You will need to agree to make good any damage to the property. Such as any holes in walls, re-painting etc, or any other damage.

All items will be covered in our standard usage agreement form which we will send over to successful applicatnts.