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CATHEDRAL QUARTER 2
Shopkeepers
in the Cathedral Quarter are hoping to attract more
custom by offering to pay for parking in their area.
About 50 stores in have signed up to the scheme where
anyone spending at least £25 will have their parking
ticket reimbursed. The scheme works by machines on Full
Street, Queen Street, Cathedral Road, St Mary's Gate, The
Strand, Gower Street or Babington Lane, giving out a
special ticket. Shoppers leave half the ticket on display
in the car and take the other half with them. If they
then spend over £25 or £50, depending on the shop,
their parking charge is returned. Participating
businesses, who will pay for the offer themselves, will
display posters in their windows. (Source: BBC News, Apr/08)
Derby City
Centre Management organised entertainment, using street
entertainers and a jazz band, in an attempt to bring more
customers to Derby's Cathedral Quarter and Lanes areas.
It was billed as a programme to create a real buzz of
activity and stilt-walkers, unicyclists, plate spinners
and balloon modellers were among the attractions.
However, traders said the move, funded by the City Centre
Partnership, which includes Derby City Council and
Marketing Derby, was a waste of time and money.
They said it was too little, too late and claimed the
event had been organised as a token effort to save face.
Mike Ellis, owner of Sadler Gate clothes shop Mondo,
said, "They are just trying to show they are doing
something but it's a waste of time. A lot of things they
are doing might attract six-year-olds down here but we
need more teenage and early-20s customers, so it doesn't
help us. They should ask us directly what we think would
help, but they don't do that."
Karen Bruce, owner of Salamander shoe shop, Sadler Gate,
said the money used for the entertainment could have been
better spent and said it was "a case of shutting the
door after the horse has bolted". Anthony Hughes,
owner of House Of Cards, in Green Lane, said the idea
might have worked with better communication. He said,
"I haven't seen any of the entertainers and I didn't
know this was taking place. Why couldn't they have had
some of the entertainers under cover near the Debenhams
building? That might have drawn people up Green
Lane."
Derby City Council leader Chris Williamson said the
entertainment was part of plans to enliven the Cathedral
Quarter and Lanes area. He said, "We are doing our
best to make sure that people come into these areas. But
it's up to the businesses to play their part in making
what they offer attractive to the people who pass their
doors." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Mar/08)
Companies
will be able to influence what improvements are made in
the Cathedral Quarter after voting in favour of the area
becoming a Business Improvement District. Following a
month of voting, the majority of businesses in the area
have agreed that the Cathedral Quarter should have BID
status. The campaign for the Cathedral Quarter to become
a BID was launched in March. Several months of
consultation followed to formulate a business plan, which
was formally unveiled in October.
It highlighted five key objectives, to increase awareness
of the Cathedral Quarter, improve access, extend the
length of stay by visitors, make visitors feel safe and
secure and to increase the amount of external investment.
The plan recommends ideas including seasonal marketing
campaigns and a visitor loyalty scheme, subsidised or
free parking, extension of bus routes and a cleaning
"hit squad". Street wardens to meet and greet
visitors will be introduced to help them feel welcome and
safe.
Business Improvement Districts are part of a Government
strategy to encourage local authorities and business
communities to work together. Under the scheme,
rate-paying businesses have a say on improvements in the
area and pay an extra levy to put them in place. To go
ahead, the plan needed the backing of 50% of the
businesses, which need to hold more than 50% of the
rateable value of those which voted.
The new BID proposals will now go ahead as 84.7% of
participating businesses voted in favour. They also
represented 74% of the rateable value. From March, each
business in the Cathedral Quarter will pay a 1.5% levy on
their rates, meaning the BID should generate more than
£1m for the Cathedral Quarter in its five-year lifetime.
All the improvements paid for through the BID will be in
addition to those already provided by the council.
(Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Nov/07)
All 380
businesses in the city's Cathedral Quarter Business
Improvement District are submitting their details for use
on a new-look website. Bars and shops, as well as
attractions such as Derby Cathedral and the Assembly
Rooms, will have their own profiles on the Cathedral
Quarter website. Features on the website - www.derbycathedralquarter.co.uk - will include a search facility
for all the businesses in the BID area, which is bounded
by the inner ring road, the River Derwent, Albert Street,
Victoria Street and Friar Gate. The businesses will also
be able to post a link to their own website if they have
one.
The public will be able to get information about the
latest events in the area from the website, where the
nearest car parks are and a detailed map showing the
location of the Cathedral Quarter. Visitors to the site
will even be able to develop their own profile of
favourite destinations in the area so that they can
regularly check updates. Martin Langsdale, chairman of
the BID management steering group, said the revamped
website was an important step forward for the Cathedral
Quarter Company, a not-for-profit limited company set up
to boost the performance and profitability for businesses
in the area.
He said, "We recognised early on that harnessing the
power of the internet would be an important step towards
raising the profile of individual businesses and the
Cathedral Quarter as a whole, enabling visitors to see
the diversity and unique nature of what we have to offer
in the area at the touch of a button. This is an ideal
opportunity for every business and organisation to create
and manage their own profile, promote opening hours and
special offers and even post pictures of their products
or services." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Mar/08)
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