Not even a week into the campaign and we're really gathering support and awareness. From the initial spark last Wednesday at the Telegraph awards, this whole Portas Pilots idea has sky rocketed.
I often blog about the power of social media on the WarwickTweetup blog, and this really has proved it beyond all reasonable doubt. Being a 'now, not later' type of person I thought nothing of starting this blog the second David from Hatton & Harding tweeted me from Mary Portas' shadow:
"Honestly, we had a great talk with her, she can't believe the support we had and that's exactly what they're looking for in Portas Pilots!"
So it began. And now 4000 views on, after endorsement from Mary herself who tweeted this blog to her 132,000-odd followers as a 'good initiative,' we really are building our town team. The Mayor and local paper were involved hours into the blog's launch, tweeting us their backing. The Council were involved only a few hours into Thursday and since then our Local MP has made me aware of his 100% support offering anything he can to get this off the ground. Even Warwick Castle are expressing their interest to meet.
A town so well connected already or simply the power of social media? A bit of both I think.
Having been out on the street visiting shop keepers, it's apparent that Warwick is united in its love for the town and is in full agreement on many of the issues that need changing. With this strong backing and team spirit I hope to get a really strong bid together. Coupling the ideas to fit the Portas 28 recommendations will prove tricky but we have achieved so much so quickly that I'm sure we can do it. If anything this last week has proven that Warwick is strong, and like the castle that used to guard it, is a strong united front that just needs to embrace some change.
Fragmented in its streets but so connected in its community. We all know how great Warwick is - we just need to show our visitors and passers-by. Making Warwick more of a journey rather than a patchwork of streets is our biggest challenge - that and the parking issues. People go the shopping centres because they are simple to park, safe and clean for families - and all in one simple to navigate place. We can't move the streets, we can't put a roof over Warwick and we certainly can't park everyone underneath it and install a huge lift to bring them to street level. So, we need to make people aware that the shops are all over Warwick, and shout about our fantastic array of restaurants, pubs and bars. We have to boast about our collection of indie shops and businesses, and make parking inviting not confusing and expensive. All this needs to be part of Warwick, the new modern Warwick.
As you can probably tell I love Warwick. I spend a lot of time driving around it and speaking to local shops and restaurants, and I believe it deserves better, and it needs better. Here's to Warwick's Portas Pilots bid. News from our council meeting soon...
Thanks for reading and as always please retweet, share, +1 and keep those comments coming. Who knows, maybe we could have Warwick website to go with our new Warwick town business?
Cheers for now,
Todd @Warwicktweetup & @Underwoodwines
Warwick are putting forward a proposal to become a 'Portas Pilot' Town.
Let's try and redefine visitor's expectations of Warwick as a town. So many people have been stopped and asked 'where are the shops'- if we are able to explain to visitors that Warwick is a mediveal town, without one main High Street with the usual High Street Shops, and that Warwick is a town with many streets which have to be explored to find all these great shops, then visitors won't leave Warwick dissappointed that they haven't been able to find a McDonalds or an HMV. Warwick's great strength is the dedicated shops and businesses, most of which are independants, that have recognised the potential and chosen to set up in Warwick. By redfining visitor expectations of the town, Warwick will become known for what it has, and not for what it hasn't. I suggest rebranding Warwick as something like 'Warwick - not your average High Street'.
ReplyDeleteTo this effect signage within the town needs improving dramatically. I suggested two years ago to the town centre manager that the finger post on the opposite side of Castle Lane (currently at the bottom of Church Street) be moved to the top of Castle Lane so that it could be seen by visitors who have left the Castle - they currently stand at the top of Castle Lane, not knowing where to go next and not being able to read the finger post. Often they can't see where to go and turn around and go back to the Castle. By having the fingerpost relocated and added to - for instance it needs to 'fingers' pointing in both direction to a new reference to 'Swan Street Shops' and 'Smith Street' shops, this automatically says to visitors there are at least two streets of shops immediately identified. The moving of the entrance of the TIC to Castle Lane will help with this also.
I also suggest that to highlight the shops in Smith Street that some form of tasteful but contemporary banner is erected on East Gate.
Signage above the existing street name sign of Swan Street would also help. 'This way to the Swan Street shops' will help direct people up into the town. Again the rebranding of visitors' expectations will help - so when they peer down Swan Street, they see the curved mediveal street full of independent shops and are not disappointed but thrilled to see a town's street lacking in High Street names.
Getting visitors out from the Castle into the town is crucial also. All credit to the previous town centre manager and Tim Harrison Jones at the Castle for putting a sign by the 'Town Exit' saying 'explore Warwick Town' - this is a brilliant step forward, but more could be done. It should be made clear to visitors on arriving that they can have their hand stamped to enable them to leave the Castle and return. Also, there are two gates from the Castle walls that visitors to the Castle have to walk passed to return to their cars. The first is the open Town gate which leads to Castle Lane. There is also another currently closed gate which faces Back Lane - if this could be open with a sign directing people to the town of Warwick this would be another opportunity for people to visit Warwick once having left the Castle rather than being forced to return to their cars.
Overspill car parking for the Castle could also be redirected to the Bread and Meat Close/racecourse car parks, requiring people to walk through the town to get to the Castle for events rather than using St.Nick's fields on the Myton Road that directs people away from the town. This could help in evening restaurant trade.
Warwick is like a ghost town on a Sunday. From talking with traders for both my photographic study of the whole of Warwick town centre 3 years ago and for LoveWarwick, it is clear that traders need and want a day off. I therefore propose that every 4th (for example) Sunday of the month, traders open. Through skillful and well targetted advertising, through the local and regional lifestyle press, gradually the message will spread and people will think of coming to Warwick on a Sunday. I propose this would be called 'Independents Sunday' and traders could open and then it wouldn't just be the odd shop or cafe that opens on a Sunday.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to cafes, there is such a wealth of cafes - we could encourage the cafes to open in an evening and have jazz evenings, so that the cafes instead of being scoffed at, are seen as bringing something new to Warwick's economy.
I also propose the information boards be replaced and it made clear on these boards where the shops are. The boards currently dont reference 'shops' - even if it was as simple as saying 'shops' in big letters over the central core and Smith Street, this would help. QR code for businesses on their also is necessary.
Sainsbury's car park. Car parking is an issue. It needs simplying, with better signs to the existing car parks, and free parking after 5pm in all car parks and on all streets (although the residents would not like this I am sure). I propose that Sainsbury's is contacted and asked if they will designate a small section of their car park to 4 hours or make it 4 hours free instead of 2 hours. I constantly use sainsbury's to park but often 2 hours is not long enough. And people in the town for longer will spend more money.
Better access needs to be made clear from the existing car parks to the town centre.
My vision for Warwick when setting up www.lovewarwick.co.uk was to bring all the wedding related businesses together under one banner and promote Warwick as a wedding town. maybe with 60 brilliant wedding related businesses, Warwick could become the UK's first wedding town. Liz Drake, www.lovewarwick.co.uk and www.lizdrakephotography.co.uk