Local High Street heroes celebrated in the run up to Christmas
The importance of small high street businesses to the economy of Telford is being recognised by Telford & Wrekin Council with the launch of a new social media campaign in the run-up to Christmas.
The ‘High Street Heroes’ campaign is being launched on 7 December which is Small Business Saturday and will run throughout the coming year. Over the next 12 months we will be interviewing and filming the people and businesses who are the beating heart of our high streets.
The campaign will raise the profile of our many fantastic small high street businesses and hopefully encourage more people to support them. Many businesses and high streets have been struggling because of changes in shopping habits and internet shopping.
The Council has been supporting Telford’s high streets through its Pride in Our Community High Street Fund since its launch back in April 2015 and many of our High Street Heroes will have benefitted from the Fund.
Activity has included schemes such as façade improvements to a total of 38 businesses with many more set to be done starting in spring next year.
A further 11 businesses have benefited from an empty unit grant scheme, which enables new businesses with great commercial ideas to set up on the High Street.
The campaign will grow during the coming year and will include the official opening of Retro Shack in Duke Street in Wellington at 1.30pm on Saturday 14 December.
The Retro Shack was the winning idea of the Young High Street Challenge competition for young people and was won by students from Wrekin College. Retro Shack will bring something new to Wellington High Street and will encourage more young people to think about becoming a high street entrepreneur.
Katherine Kynaston, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Assistant Director for Business, Development and Employment, said: “The High Street Heroes Campaign is just the latest initiative in the Council’s Pride in Our High Street programme, which is having a real impact on the look and feel of our high streets”.
Earlier this year, £1m of additional funding was announced to support six key high streets across the borough.
This additional funding will allow more eligible businesses to receive grant support so that they can fill empty retail units, will continue with shop front improvements and will allow us to launch an ambitious new programme of engagement with young people.
Anyone interested in opening an empty unit on the High Street in Wellington, Oakengates or Dawley should contact joy.mcgeown@telford.gov.uk or Kathy.mulholland@telford.gov.uk
