Contents
CEO Update from Melissa
Melissa has been enjoying a well-deserved holiday this week, but will be back at work from Monday.
Footfall Update
Please see the footfall stats below for last week (w/c 26 April). We had 121,700 visitors last week which is only just slightly down from the previous week – no thanks to the temperamental weather! The busiest day was Saturday 1 May with 23,347 visitors and the peak hour of the week was at 12.00 with a footfall of 2,663!
Operations Update from Alison
This week, after months of negotiations I have been able to finalise the return of our popular and much loved markets to the town centre! The monthly Artisan Market will hopefully restart on Sunday 30th May (subject to sign-off from the Council), with a brand new operator and I have negotiated 2 FREE stalls for BID Members who have appropriate Artisan produce! Please email me to register your interest as these will be issued out on a first come, first served basis.
I have also provisionally agreed a return date of the annual Vegan Market for Sunday 8th August and rather than just a once a year occurrence, have agreed with the operator for them to attend Newbury on a quarterly basis. We shall be running a Vegan Trail in-conjunction with this market – see Kirsty’s update below for more details!
I have also held meetings with the South England’s Business Crime Reduction Group, the Cherwell Business Crime Reduction partnership, and the Chairman of Reading’s Pubwatch scheme looking at best practice to take our Newbury BusinessWatch Crime Reduction scheme forward. I went and held a Business 1:1 in person Sam and Kevin at The Lion Pub on West Street ahead of them reopening on 17th May and it was a pleasure to meet another of our Licensees in a much loved traditional public house, albeit it at a safe distance!
Next week we have arranged a Hospitality Webinar on Tuesday 11th May at 9.00am via Zoom. This is being run in-conjunction with WBC’s Public Protection Team ahead of Step 3 on 17th May. Details have been emailed to all of the Hospitality sector but if you would like to attend and have not received information, please email me.
ACTION REQUIRED: The All Party Parliamentary Group on Pubs need your views!
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Pubs (Pubs APPG) are asking for your views on the impact the pandemic had on you, your business and your community. The Pubs APPG are a group of MPs from across parliament, and their goal is to promote and campaign for the interests of pubs, landlords and the surrounding communities, both in Westminster and beyond. They want to listen to you and make recommendations to the Government about what you and your businesses will need in the coming months. To do this, they are carrying out an inquiry (with the support of CAMRA), and would like you to take part and make your voice heard. You can get involved on their website by taking a short survey or sending them a written submission.
Marketing Update from Kirsty
This week, alongside my regular social media updates and the content below, I have been busy working on the longer-term marketing strategy for Newbury BID. I also had a couple of important meetings with different organisations regarding some bigger promotional projects for Newbury. I can’t reveal too much detail just yet, but it’s exciting stuff- so watch this space! Charity bookings and street trading enquiries have also been coming in thick and fast, so it’s great to see that people are keen to return to Newbury as soon as possible!
NEW Press Release: Newbury Stands with Local NHS Heroes
This week I produced a press release to announce the launch of our NHS discount campaign and the winners of our Crafty Craft 2021 charitable competition– both in aid of supporting our local NHS heroes. We’re delighted to reveal that over 40 of Newbury’s town centre businesses are showing their support to our NHS heroes by offering special promotions and discounts exclusive to NHS employees. The article was published in the Newbury Weekly News newspaper this week and can also be found online on our website. To view the full list of town centre businesses offering NHS discount in Newbury, click here.
Re-Visit Newbury Campaign
As the next phase of lockdown easing commences on 17th May, we’re busy making final preparations to help promote the remaining hospitality businesses as they reopen. To align with this, I’ve been working on a number of tasks to optimise the campaign:
- Producing a new press release to send to the media next week
- Updating our Re-Visit Newbury webpage, to share reopening dates, opening hours, and content for reopening hospitality venues to drive footfall and custom
- Producing a blog post of things to do in Newbury Town Centre this Spring/Summer
- Updating and optimising ongoing Facebook and Instagram ads
ACTION REQUIRED: Do you want your business to be included on a town centre vegan map?
I have been working on a project with Newbury Town Council to create a variety of maps and trails for Newbury town centre. In this week’s meeting, I put forward my current suggestions for a vegan trail route. The aim of this is to encourage those that come to our hugely successful vegan markets to visit the nearby stores and restaurants that accommodate vegans. Furthermore, this will also help to spread awareness that Newbury is a vegan-friendly town centre, to encourage visitors considering Newbury that the town caters to all. I also held a meeting with a local artist to develop the initial Newbury town centre map, as I’m taking the lead on the creative side of the project. If your business has a strong vegan-offering and would like to be included on the map, please email me with the details.
NEW blog post: Newbury BID announce new and improved website
Following on from last week’s press release announcing our new website, this has now been added to our website, which you can read to fin out more information by clicking here.
ACTION REQUIRED: REOPENING INFORMATION
Rangers Update from Shaun
This week I have been liaising with various business members whilst patrolling the town and working closely with TVP. I have held instore meetings along with Alison with Tesco’s, Boots, and M&S to look at ways of improving our data collection for offenders in the town centre. I have also been collecting radios from those who do not wish to remain members of our BusinessWatch radio scheme and Kirsty has been raising invoices for those who wish to return to the scheme. Please note that the next ShopSafe meeting will take place on Monday 17th May at 11.00am via Zoom.
Next week I will be on annual leave therefore please note that there will be no Cardboard Collection.
Business Community Updates & Shout Outs
Updates from Parkway Shopping
More great news from Parkway Shopping, as they have just announced their Big Screen Summer of Sport! Watch this space for more details…
The Base: Upcoming Exhibition
On loan from the National History Museum in London, buy tickets for The Base’s upcoming Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition by clicking here. This one is not to be missed!
Newbury Town Council Update
Newbury Town Council held its Annual Council Meeting on Tuesday 4th May 2021 via Zoom and they can now confirm that a new Mayor and Deputy Mayor for the municipal year 2021/22 have been elected. Details are as follows:
Mayor of Newbury- Councillor Billy Drummond
Mayoress of Newbury – Mrs Sharon Drummond
Deputy Mayor of Newbury – Councillor Gary Norman
West Berkshire Council Update
Coronavirus Weeknotes
Mental Health Support
Can you help West Berkshire Council collect Covid-19 History?
Thames Valley Police Update
Electric Scooter Crackdown
ACTION REQUIRED: PUBS
- How many people are you currently turning away from your pub due to being at full capacity?
- Are you planning to broadcast the Euros football matches?
- Are you intending to extend your licence on Sunday 16th May to allow you to open from midnight on 17th May when indoor service can resume?
ACTION REQUIRED: SHOPS
Government Update
Here are links to the latest updates from the Government:
- Transport Secretary meets with G7 leaders to plan for the safe return to international travel – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- New cutting-edge testing centre to fast-track COVID-19 variant vaccines – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- COVID-19 in schools: study shows drop in infections – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- New scheme to give people in problem debt breathing space launched – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Government makes progress on tackling fraud and economic crime – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Economic crime plan 2019 to 2022 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered in UK – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Limit on mourners at funerals to be removed – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Government to launch 40,000 person daily contact testing study – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- International Workers’ Day 2021: the key steps government has taken to support workers – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Care homes residents allowed more out-of-home visits – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Call for views on new residential developer tax – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Events, Resources & Industry News
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- West Berkshire Council – COVID-19 information for businesses – https://info.westberks.gov.uk/coronavirus-business
- Public Protection Partnership – advice and support on COVID guidelines and regulations – https://publicprotectionpartnership.org.uk/covid-19/
- Business Growth Hub – free COVID advice and support for businesses in Berkshire – https://www.berkshirebusinesshub.co.uk/
- Government – summary of COVID support available for businesses – https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support
