Guest blog by Mark Cordell, Chief Executive, Ourburystedmunds Business Improvement District
As the Chief Executive of a Business Improvement District I am always looking for different ways to promote our town and individual businesses. Sometimes this can be done through one activity such as the four high profile events we deliver each year but sometimes there needs to be more specific and targeted initiatives to focus upon specific issues.
Bury St Edmunds is a lovely market town with a great history, a tradition of cultural activity and a great mix of national and independent businesses . Like most towns, due to rental and business rate costs most of our independent businesses tend to be located together in streets just off of the main thoroughfares and Risbygate Street is one such street.
During the recent recession the street probably suffered more than most with vacancy levels but over the past 18 months things have steadily improved with the street now almost having a 100% occupancy. Long term tenants see that the current situation is much more promising than has been the case in recent years. New arrivals in the street are disappointed that footfall levels aren’t what they had hoped for, even though the street is close to the relatively new, modern shopping centre in the town.
The street is home to over 30 independent businesses with a huge variety of products and services they offer. I started to give some thought to how we could create some interest and increase footfall into the street. To quote a well worn cliché “a picture paints a thousand words” and I started to think about creating a visual prompt about the street.
The ourburystedmunds BID has a strong marketing culture utilising our website and social media platforms to the maximum. With all the events we run we use a local video photographer to create a visual memory and I approached him with my idea about featuring the street in a video. It was essential that the finished product looked professional and represented the street and the BID in a positive manner.
At our Food & Drink Festival every August we engage a professional compere and I decided to use him on the video. I identified nine specific businesses which I felt demonstrated the diversity of the street and the video includes shots of the remaining BID businesses. The end result is a video of the street that illustrates the great variety of the businesses there, shot with a touch of humour but sending out a serious message.
The video is located within the ourburystedmunds you tube account and is linked to our website and we issued a released to the local media which has successfully generated local interest. I also sent out via twitter a number of messages to local and national individuals and organisations interested in town centres, providing a link to the video and using the hashtag #wowwhatastreet. Within my twitter message I issued a challenge by asking if Risbygate Street is the most diverse retail street in the UK? Well what do you think?
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