Belper Town Centre Crowned English Champion In Great British High Street Awards
Belper Town Centre has been crowned English Champion High Street in this year’s Great British High Street Awards, in proud partnership with Visa, winning £5,000 for the local community
Belper Town was announced as English Champion High Street at a prestigious ceremony in Edinburgh, attended by the High Streets Minister Jake Berry MP and representatives from the 39 shortlisted high streets.
High Streets Minister, Rt Hon Jake Berry MP said: “Every place has its own unique strengths and challenges, but all our town centres and high streets have one thing in common – they are the beating heart of our communities.
“The Great British High Street Awards celebrate the grit and determination of local people who are dedicated to supporting their communities, growing their local economy and finding innovative solutions to modern day challenges.
“Today in Edinburgh I saw the very best of our high streets and I want to take this opportunity to congratulate all of this year’s winners and to give my personal thanks to the individuals and communities helping to build the future of the high street. I am delighted to see such strong examples of thriving high streets from every nation in our United Kingdom.”
English Champion High Street, Belper Town Centre
Lindsey Myers, member of the Love Belper group, nominated the town’s high street for the Great British High Street Awards following successful digital innovations and community initiatives, such as Refill Belper.
A recently launched ‘Love Belper’ website and the accompanying social media platforms, showcase the town to attract significant attention beyond the local population, with a planned whole-town loyalty app in development, aiming to continue to drive footfall from the surrounding area. A previous winner, Belper took the top prize back in 2014 and has built on this success by distributing locally a map of independent retailers in Belper Town, highlighting what’s on offer and is proudly displayed in all Love Belper retailers. The group helped initiate access audits to help disabled customers, as well as ensuring stores are dog friendly.
Jeni Mundy, Managing Director, UK & Ireland, Visa commended the community of Belper, saying: "Belper Town is a fantastic example of a community that has made huge strides in transforming its high street to significantly improve the experience for locals and visitors alike. In particular, its entry highlighted the joint efforts of local organisations and businesses of the Love Belper partnership to showcase everything the high street has to offer. Its creation of a new website, plans for a new loyalty app and dedicated social media team to engage the community all show great innovation"
“Visa’s research reveals four in five (82%) shoppers in the East Midlands say that a thriving high street makes a town or village a more appealing destination, underlining why we all need to get behind our local businesses.”
Speaking at the Awards ceremony, Lindsey Myers of Love Belper, commented: “We are honoured to be named the England’s Champion High Street and hugely grateful to both the Great British High Street Awards and Visa for putting our beloved high street on the map! It is undoubtedly the commitment, hard work, dedication and drive of the whole community of Belper and the surrounding area that has helped us to win this!”
Eight high streets, two from each Home Nation, also won Great British High Street Awards in the Champion High Street and Rising Star categories, winning £5,000 for community initiatives. The overall winners in each category win an extra £10,000 for their community. High Street Heroes – those individuals who have gone above and beyond for their local high street – were also recognised, winning a £2,500 grant
The full list of winners is as follows:
High Street of the Year:
- High Street, Treorchy
Rising Star of the Year:
- The Square, Kelso
Champion High Streets:
- England: Belper Town Centre, Belper
- Scotland: Main Street, Prestwick
- Wales: High Street, Treorchy
- Northern Ireland: High Street, Newtownards
Rising Star High Streets:
- England: Yarm High Street, Stockton-on-Tees
- Scotland: The Square, Kelso
- Wales: Palace Street, Caernarfon
- Northern Ireland: Newry City Centre, Newry
The winning high streets across all the categories were commended for demonstrating their commitment to their local community, great customer experience, an environmental mind-set, an innovative approach to retail and providing community leadership.
The Great British High Street Awards 2019, run by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government in proud partnership with Visa, recognises and celebrates local achievements on the UK’s high streets and supports the communities in which we live and work.
For more information about the Great British High Street Awards 2019 and details on all the winners, visit: www.thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk
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