pfbb BID Cathedral Quarter Derby shortlisted for National Award

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Derby Cathedral Quarter Business Improvement District (BID)has been shortlisted as a finalist in The Association of Town and City Management National Awards 2016.

Derby-based Partnerships for Better Business Ltd, which manages Business Improvement Districts across the country, entered the Cathedral Quarter and Brackmills Industrial Estate BID in Northampton for the awards.

The Cathedral Quarter, along with Brackmills which has been shortlisted for Campaigner of the Year, are the only BIDs in the East Midlands to be shortlisted for the ATCM awards.  TheCathedral Quarter is up against Kingston-upon-Thames and Colmore BusinessDistrict in Birmingham for the title of BID of the Year.

The winners will be announced at an event at Central Hall in Westminster on Tuesday March 8 2016.

The Cathedral Quarter BID was launched eight years ago bybusinesses in the area, establishing the Cathedral Quarter as a well-respected brandand promoting the area as a thriving destination for retail, leisure andculture, and as the professional services’ central business district.

Melanie Ferguson-Allen from Partnerships for Better Business explained: explained: “The Cathedral Quarter BID has achieved a great deal in the past eight years.

“This has included a wide range of marketing promotions andpublications, improved signage, a thriving loyalty scheme, a new prospectus toattract inward investment, a wide range of events and free family entertainment,and working with a number of partner organisations to create a fantasticlifestyle experience for both the visitor and people working in the area.

“We have also brought together businesses as a single voiceto lobby on key issues affecting businesses and the visitor experienceincluding the continued monitoring of CCTV.

“We felt that the BID’s achievements should be recognised andthe ATCM awards is an important national platform to raise the profile of thearea to both visitors and inward investors alike.”

Martin Langsdale is chair of the Cathedral Quarter managementgroup, which drives forward activities under the area’s BID status.

He continued: “We are proud of everything the CathedralQuarter has achieved, enabling this wonderful part of the city centre to thrivedespite changing retail habits and the economic downturn.

The Cathedral Quarter has built on its strengths to become arenowned destination in its own right. The area is synonymous with quality anddiversity with a unique blend of independent and national businesses across arange of sectors situated within an attractive and historic area.

“The second BID term launched in March 2013 has sought tobuild on this, continuing to develop the Cathedral Quarter brand, buildingawareness not just locally but further afield, and enabling businesses tobenefit from their associations with the area.”

Mr Langsdale highlighted particular successes:

• Footfall in the Cathedral Quarter has continued to buckthe regional and national trend. Footfall on Sadler Gate, a key retail streetin the area with both independent and national businesses, increased by 2% in2015 whilst numbers on Corn Market (main access into the Cathedral Quarter anda mixture of retail and professional services) increased by 11% in 2014.
• Cathedral Quarter businesses continue to perform well interms of sales despite changes in trading patterns brought about by  increasing competition from online and retail parks and promotional days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
• Vacancy rates on the key retail streets in the CathedralQuarter remain low whilst commercial agents report that demand for premisesremains high. 2015 saw some significant retailers move into the Cathedral Quarter including the national chain White Stuff.
• The Cathedral Quarter continues to attract considerable investment with new developments on Full Street and Cathedral Road in the last year, the continued  expansion of Derby City Council’s Connect scheme and high quality residential   developments in the pipeline.
• The Cathedral Quarter Loyalty scheme continues to provepopular with over 3,000 loyalty card holders and over 100 offers provided byparticipating businesses.

Mr Langsdale concluded: “We obviously hope that we will win this award but just being short-listed has further helped to put the Cathedral Quarter on the map.”

Information about the Cathedral Quarter is available at www.derbycathedralquarter.co.uk; on Twitter @DerbyCQ and Facebook Cathedral Quarter Derby