Business Partnerships Report – November 24, 2017

Section 1: Visitor Economy

PLEASURE BEACH HOTEL PLAN

Blackpool Pleasure Beach is planning to build a new hotel on the site of The Star pub on Ocean Boulevard.

The new hotel, which will complement the existing Big Blue Hotel, will have 120 rooms, including 10 suites and family rooms, and provide business facilities with meeting, conferencing and banqueting space for up to 200 delegates.

It will also boast a stunningly designed bar and restaurant along with a roof-top bar with food service and views over the sea.

The new hotel is planned to open in 2019 and the £12m investment will see the creation of 30 new permanent jobs and 40 seasonal vacancies.

An application has been submitted to Council to demolish The Star, which is a locally listed building.

Blackpool has lined up one of its most extensive programmes of Christmas shows and attractions for 2017. Among the highlights are:

 Cinderella pantomime at The Grand Theatre (runs from December 5 to January 7)

 Mooky Dolittle at The Circus (November 25 to January 21)

 Peter Pan, a musical adventure at the Winter Gardens (December 16 to January 7)

 The return of The Snowman, a magical film and music production in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom (two shows, December 17)

 Wizard Of Oz On Ice (selected dates December 10-27) and the Nicktoons Grotto at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (selected dates, November 4 to December 24)

 Unique activities in resort attractions, including Christmas On The Cobbles, a Coronation Street themed celebration in Madame Tussauds and a chance to get up close and personal with real-life reindeer at

 Guest appearances by Santa on a seafront illuminated tram (selected dates in December)

 A host of party nights at numerous bars, restaurants and entertainment venues

Further information on Blackpool’s Christmas programme can be found at www.visitblackpool.com/christmas

BATHING WATER RESULTS Blackpool has maintained its high standards in the 2017 bathing water results. Blackpool South retained its “excellent” rating for a third year running, meaning it is on course to retain its prestigious Blue Flag. Blackpool North, Blackpool Central, Bispham, Cleveleys, Fleetwood, St Annes and St Annes North were all rated “good”.

MUSEUM FOR BLACKPOOL A potential new location for the proposed Blackpool Museum has been identified within the new Sands Venue hotel development on the Promenade. A scaled-back scheme, costing in the region of £10m, is being worked up to replace the original £25m scheme planned for the Winter Gardens. The scheme is dependent on bids for funding being successful.

PETER’S GOLDEN GESTURE Fifty pairs of golden tickets to see Pater Kay in Blackpool next year raised an astonishing £633,225 for Children In Need.

The comedian, who is performing at the Winter Gardens’ Pavilion Theatre on July 7 next year, gave 100 tickets for an auction on Radio 2’s Breakfast Show with Chris Evans.

During the radio broadcast, Peter added a number of additional elements into the package including hotel accommodation; a fish and chip supper; a tram ride and Pleasure Beach passes.

One individual bid more than £40,000 to secure two of the tickets.

CIRCUS 250 Blackpool is among six towns and cities to be chosen to help celebrate 250 years of circus in the UK next year.

The Circus 250 programme will be launched in the New Year, giving each of the destinations an opportunity to showcase circus-themed activities in their particular area during 2018.

The other designated areas are London, Great Yarmouth, Bristol, Belfast and Newcastle-under-Lyme, the birthplace of entrepreneur and showman Philip Astley. He created the first circus on an abandoned patch of land in London’s Waterloo area in 1768 with a line-up of jugglers, acrobats, clowns, strong men and horse riders.

The Blackpool activities will be announced in the early part of next year.

LANCASHIRE TOURISM AWARDS Blackpool dominated the Lancashire Tourism Awards for 2017, winning six categories including Large Tourism Event and Large Visitor Attraction.

The prize for the best Large Tourism Event was awarded to the Festival @ LightPool, a six- day programme of spectacular live entertainment and international light-based art installations staged in Blackpool over the October half-term in 2016.

The prize for best Large Visitor Attraction was awarded to Viva Blackpool, the Central Promenade entertainment venue that has shown dramatic growth since it opened, adding a new Vegas Diner restaurant to its portfolio earlier this year.

The Winter Gardens won two of the categories – the Culture & Heritage Award and the Business Tourism Provider Award. The Ascent Trampoline Park was named as Best New Business and Newton Hall Holiday Park won the best Self-Catering Holiday category.

Fylde Coast winners included: The Villa at Wrea Green (Small Hotel); The Cartford Inn, Little Eccleston (Lancashire Pub/Inn); and Dewlay Cheesemakers, Garstang (Lancashire Producers & Makers Award).

The awards, organised by Marketing Lancashire, were presented at The Blackpool Tower Ballroom in front of an audience of around 500 guests. The University of Central Lancashire was the headline sponsor and VisitBlackpool the host sponsor. JOJO ROCKS SLIMEFEST

A galaxy of stars – including the teen phenomenon JoJo Siwa - experienced music, mayhem and slime as Blackpool once again hosted the Nickelodeon SLIMEFEST shows.

The six shows, spread over three days at the Pleasure Beach Arena, featured performances from top acts including Professor Green, Pixie Lott, The Vamps, Diversity, Matt Terry and Five After Midnight.

JoJo, famed for her appearance in Dance Moms USA and her trademark large hair bows, was making her debut performances in the UK.

SLIMEFEST, produced by Nickelodeon in partnership with VisitBlackpool, attracted more than 12,000 spectators from all over the UK to the six sell-out shows

The three-day event also attracted a whole host of celebrities including Stacey Solomon, Danielle Lloyd, Chelsee Healey, Brooke Vincent, Ayden Callaghan, John Thomson and Blackpool’s very own child superstar, Issy Simpson.

The show was broadcast on Nickelodeon on November 3, attracting record viewing figures.

Discussions are already underway to bring back SLIMEFEST in 2018.

LEAD ROLE FOR AMANDA Amanda Thompson, Managing Director of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, is to become only the third woman to chair the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) in its 100-year history. Amanda will take over the chairmanship in 2020. It will be the first time a second member of the same family has chaired the association – Amanda’s father, Geoffrey, led IAAPA in 1996.

THREE PIERS ON WATCH The World Monuments Fund has announced that all three of Blackpool’s piers are to be included on the 2018 World Monuments Watch.

The World Monuments Watch serves as a catalyst for action for hundreds of sites, leading to improved safeguarding of places of cultural heritage, more suitable tourism management, and increased community engagement.

The historic Blackpool piers are included on the 2018 Watch due to threats from the effects of climate change.

Blackpool is unique in being the only UK seaside resort with three piers and the Grade II listed North Pier is particularly significant as it is now the oldest remaining example of a pier designed by Eugenius Birch using his revolutionary screw pile system. They also incorporate important and innovative design and engineering elements that make them a unique collection of seaside structures.

Blackpool Council is working on an action plan setting out how it will work with the World Monuments Fund and other local and national partners to create a programme of events and activities that both highlight the serious challenges and bring people back to the piers to celebrate their place in Blackpool’s seaside story.

RESORT PASS OFFER The Blackpool Resort Pass is to remain on sale during the winter months with the price held at 2017 prices.

The passes, which will be valid from Easter 2018 onwards, can be purchased at this year’s price of £55 for a Resort Pass and £80 for a Resort Pass Plus anytime up to midnight on January 28, 2018, pre-empting any price increase.

The 2018 version of the pass will give visitors the opportunity to try out the brand new Icon rollercoaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, a new super-heroes attraction at Madame Tussauds and the new elephant facility at Blackpool Zoo.

2018 DESTINATION GUIDE Blackpool’s new Destination Guide for 2018 will be published at the end of November.

The guide, which features a cover photograph of the newly- illuminated Big Wheel on Central Pier, focuses heavily on the new attractions planned for 2018: The Icon rollercoaster, the superheroes attraction at Madame Tussauds and the new elephant facility at Blackpool Zoo – along with planned new hotels and shows.

STRICTLY BLACKPOOL

Blackpool benefited from several hours of prime-time television coverage as Strictly Come Dancing returned to the Tower Ballroom for another spectacular weekend of entertainment.

The two Blackpool shows invariably attract some of the biggest audiences of the series. In addition, to the coverage in the ballroom there was extensive coverage on BBC before and after the show. Among the celebrity contestants in this year’s show is actress Gemma Atkinson (right), who has been coming to Blackpool for her summer holidays since she was a child.

FESTIVAL@LIGHTPOOL The 2017 Festival@LightPool was staged over three nights during the October half-term, bringing large crowds to the Promenade and St John’s Square.

The festival featured three nights of live entertainment and the world’s first Illuminated tram parade, showcasing Blackpool’s unique fleet of illuminated heritage trams.

The parade was so successful that a similar event is already being planned for next October as part of another festival programme.

LABOUR IN BLACKPOOL The North West Labour Party Conference returned to Blackpool earlier this month for its seventh successive year.

The conference, which took place on November 4 and 5, is organised for members in the North West to discuss policy ideas, plan campaigns and also enjoy what Blackpool has to offer. The conference has grown each year with more than 1,000 visitors attending over the weekend.

On the second day, Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn addressed members. Several Shadow Cabinet members were also there.

The conference also gave Blackpool’s business tourism team an opportunity to showcase the resort and share details of the new state-of-the-art conference centre which is due for completion in Spring 2019.

ON THE CREST OF A WAVE Blackpool’s tourism economy is riding on the crest of a wave after two surveys showed significant growth in visitor numbers during the past 18 months.

The annual STEAM survey for 2016 revealed that the overall number of tourism visits to the resort grew to 18 million – an increase of around one million compared to the previous year. The survey valued Blackpool’s visitor economy at £1.5bn, supporting more than 25,000 jobs.

Now a new snapshot Omnibus survey carried out in the summer of 2017 shows a significant increase in adult visits between May and August compared to the same period in 2016. There were 3.2m adult visits over the four months, compared to 2.75m in 2016 with increases in staying and day visitors.

Between May and August, the resort has been heavily promoted through the “Blackpool Has It” All destination marketing campaign which featuring TV ads, PR and digital campaigns.

That activity was supported by a major events programme in August which included a two- day Air Show, attracting more than 100,000 visitors each day and the new three-day Livewire Festival which culminated in a spectacular concert featuring Hollywood superstar Will Smith.

During August, record levels of footfall were recorded in the town centre and promenade, and the tramway had a record-breaking month with more than 700,000 passengers.

The “Blackpool Has It All” campaign is a partnership between VisitBlackpool, Merlin Entertainments and Blackpool Pleasure Beach, with additional contributions from the Winter Gardens, Sandcastle Waterpark, Blackpool Transport Services and other private sector operators within the tourism economy.

GRAND THEATRE 2018 The Blackpool Grand Theatre has unveiled an extensive programme of shows for the first half of next year. Highlights include:

Russian State Ballet of Siberia, January 12, 13 and 14

Jason Manford, January 27 and 28

Legally Blonde The Musical, April 9-14

The Jungle Book, May 8-12

The Kite Runner, May 22-26

Peppa Pig’s Big Adventure, June 23 and 24

WINTER GARDENS 2018 The Winter Gardens has added further shows and concerts to those already announced. Highlights for 2018 now include:

James & Ola Uncensored, March 3

Sheridan Smith In Concert, April 17

Gary Barlow, April 27 and 28 (sold out)

Sarah Millican, May 2

Shrek The Musical, May 15-27

The Carole King Musical, June 19-23

Titanic The Musical, July 9-14

Madagascar The Musical, September 11-15

EMPRESS BALLROOM UPDATE has committed to ensuring that any remedial works to the ceiling of the Empress Ballroom are completed prior to the Blackpool Dance Festival next May.

The ballroom was closed in early September after one of the decorative ceiling panels collapsed. Following extensive survey work, a crash deck/working platform supported by scaffolding towers was installed across the full length of the room.

This enabled the ballroom to reopen on November 4, but with limited sight lines as a consequence of the scaffolding towers. Due to the weight of the scaffolding, structural engineers have advised that any events such as concerts that require additional ground support should not be staged as weight limits on the ballroom floor are restricted.

However, some events – including the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies – have gone ahead. Individual risk assessments are being carried out for each event.

A specialist plaster company has been called in to complete a survey of the remaining panels within the ceiling. Initial investigations suggest that hessian wadding embedded in the plaster has progressively weakened since the ballroom opened more than 100 years ago.

Blackpool Council has now decided to bring forward a planned major survey of all historic plaster ceilings in entertainment venues within its ownership.

The original plan was to incorporate some repair and restoration works to the Empress Ballroom as part of the construction programme for the new Conference Centre.

This will now be accelerated alongside the programme of survey for the Pavilion Theatre, Opera House, Tower Ballroom and Tower Circus.

ALFIE’S COMING HOME International singing star Alfie Boe is to perform a one-off concert in his hometown of Fleetwood. Alfie, who appeared with Michael Ball in the Tower Ballroom during the Blackpool episode of Strictly last weekend, will stage his Homecoming concert at Fleetwood Town FC’s Highbury Stadium on Saturday, June 2. Tickets for the 9,000-capacity show go on sale on November 24. Alfie, who is patron of Trinity Hospice, will donate £2 from every ticket sold to the charity.

Section 2: Town Centre Economy

TOWN CENTRE IMPROVEMENT WORKS Extensive works are underway in Blackpool town centre in preparation for a series of major regeneration projects.

The first stage of the project involves moving utility pipes underneath sections of Talbot Road in preparation for laying the new tram tracks and will take place between now and March 2018. Work will also take place on Dickson Road to resurface the road and repave the footway.

There will be some road closures along Talbot Road and Dickson Road but these will be carried out in phases to minimise disruption. The scheduled closures over the next three months include:

November 6 to December 22: Talbot Road closed at the junction of Abingdon Street

November 13 to December 22: Talbot Square and its junction with the Promenade closed

November 13 to December 22: Talbot Road closed at the junction of Dickson Road

November 13 to February 16: Dickson Road closed from Talbot Road to Lansdowne Place

January 8 to February 16: Talbot Road closed at the junction of Corporation Street

The works are in preparation for new capital projects worth millions of pounds including:

 A new £25m conference centre alongside the Winter Gardens  The second phase of the Houndshill bringing an IMAX cinema into the town centre  Extension of the tramway from North Pier to Blackpool North Rail Station

A number of measures have been introduced to help traffic flow including opening St John’s Square to traffic and making Church Street two way.

Blackpool Council will be sending out regular updates on the project but encourage residents and businesses to keep up-to-date at www.blackpool.gov.uk/BetterBlackpool or follow their Facebook and Twitter pages: @BpoolCouncil

Note: A presentation on the programme of improvement works will be made at the November 24 meeting. A further presentation will be made to retailers in the Town Centre BID area at 8am on November 29 at Viva.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS SWITCH-ON The Blackpool town centre Christmas lights switch-on will take place from 3pm on Saturday 2 December at the junction of Bank Hey Street and Victoria Street.

Radio Wave will present a roadshow in partnership with the Town Centre BID, Blackpool Council and the Houndshill Shopping Centre. There will be live entertainment leading up to the switch-on at around 4.30pm which will be performed by actress Jennifer Ellison, who is playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan at the Opera House this Christmas.

CHRISTMAS CAR PARKING OFFER Last-minute shoppers are being given an extra Christmas bonus.

Blackpool Council has announced that it is to offer free parking on its town centre car parks on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 December.

The free offer is on top of the discounted parking offer which was announced by the Council and the Town Centre BID earlier this month.

The revised Christmas parking offer now comprises:

A £1 parking offer on West Street, East Topping Street, Central and Talbot multi-storey car parks at the following times and dates: . 3pm onwards on Saturday December 2 to coincide with the BID’s Christmas lights switch on event at the junction of Victoria Street and Bank Hey Street . 5pm onwards on Blackpool town centre late shopping nights – December 7, 14 and 21 . All day on Sundays – December 3, 10 and 17

Plus: Free parking at the same car parks on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 December.

HOUNDSHILL NEW PHASE AGREED Work is expected to commence on the next phase of the Houndshill Shopping Centre in the New Year.

Planners have approved proposals for the three-storey development which will incorporate a Wilko store and restaurant on the ground floor, and a nine-screen cinema complex with IMAX on the upper floors.

The cinema operator has been revealed as The Light. The closest IMAX cinemas to Blackpool are in Manchester and Liverpool.

It is anticipated that the new phase will create 30 full-time and 60 part-time jobs.

TOWN CENTRE VACANCY RATES A total of 125 vacant units were recorded in the town centre this month – matching the total in the last survey carried out in April.

The periphery town centre area continued its vacancy rate improvement (27.4%), courtesy of a net reduction of two vacant units over the period. In contrast, the Principal Retail Core and Core Retail Area both showed increased vacancy rates of 13.4% and 16.3% respectively.

The newly-vacant units include: Church St Convenience Store, Homeless Action (Church Street); Carson's Carvery (Corporation Street); EE (Bank Hey Street); Gino's Tornados, Hellfire (Promenade); Via Veneto (Birley Street); Fairytale Bridal (Talbot Road); Coffee & Ice Cream Hub (Cedar Square); Sweet Treats, Lazy Toad and Cool Trader (Topping Street).

Since August a number of businesses have occupied previously vacant units. These include: Gigglebox (Houndshill); HSL Convenience Store, Wonderland (Clifton Street); Little Black Pug, The Carvery, Heron Foods, Talbot Toys & Gifts (Talbot Road); Crazy Horse (Queen Street); Lacasa (Dickson Road); Pastels (Cedar Square); Thrones Beauty Lounge (King Street); Mollie's Café (Milbourne Street) and Topping Street Local Shop (Topping Street).

November 2017: Vacant Units Total Total Vacancy Area Vacant Units 1 Rate Units Principal Retail Core (Local Plan boundary based around Houndshill, Victoria Street, Bank Hey Street, Church Street, 164 22 13.4% Corporation Street and Adelaide Street West) Core Retail Area (as above but also including Topping Street, Queen Street, Clifton Street, Birley Street, Market 465 76 16.3% Street, Talbot Road, Abingdon Street and Cedar Square) Town Centre Boundary (as above but also including the Promenade, Springfield Road, Dickson Road, King Street, 644 125 19.4% Cookson Street, Caunce Street and the new Talbot Gateway area) Periphery Town Centre Area (the Town Centre Boundary area excluding the units contained within the Core Retail 179 49 27.4% Area) 1 Excluding the properties to the south of the Palatine Buildings; development sites (old Yates’s site, Tower Street site, 35 Cookson Street site); internal units within Blackpool North Station & Sainsbury's; community sites (e.g. churches, libraries, schools etc.) and civic sites (e.g. Town Hall).

Section 3: Enterprise & Economic Development

MASTERPLAN FOR AIRPORT ENTERPRISE ZONE A draft masterplan for the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone has been produced by Blackpool and Fylde Councils.

The document, which sets out a strategic vision for the development of the site, is now out for public consultation until Thursday 21 December. The plan sets out a series of six “character areas” that will define the Enterprise Zone. These include:

 Innovation Gateway - advanced manufacturing and business at the primary entrance to the EZ

 Industrial Heart - encouraging the growth of industry and storage

 Third Space – secondary gateway to the site offering active leisure, sport and amenities for businesses and the local community

 Business Hub – development and optimisation of the existing business operation on Amy Johnson way

 Airport Zone – re-establishment of Blackpool Airport as an active airport offering business, freight and commuter travel to a global client base

 Knowledge Quarter – offering links to education (Blackpool & The Fylde College) and business (the energy and airport sectors)

The plan also envisages the development of various highway interventions including a new spine road linking Queensway to Squires Gate Lane.

The masterplan is available for viewing on the websites of both local authorities. This is the Blackpool link: www.blackpool.gov.uk/airportez Feedback can be given online, by email, letter and in person at a drop-in event which will be held at the new Lancashire Energy HQ on the airport site in early December. Further details will be published on the website.

CUADRILLA PAYOUTS Shale gas company, Cuadrilla, has pledged pay-outs of just over £2,000 for residents living near the drilling site on the outskirts of Blackpool.

The company has stated that 29 households within a 1km radius of the site would receive the payment as part of a £100,000 community benefit fund.

A further 259 properties who live between 1km and 1.5km away are eligible for a £150 payment.

DIGITAL INNOVATION FUND HeadStart, the organisation that has been set up to increase the resilience of young people aged 10-16 in Blackpool, has launched a Digital Innovation Fund.

The £100,000 fund is intended to inspire applicants to develop digital solutions to enhance the engagement of young people, parents and carers.

Applications can come from all sectors, but should have a track record of delivering digital innovation. There will be a maximum of £25,000 for each one-off grant.

Further details can be obtained from [email protected]

Note that the deadline for applications is November 30. Shortlisted applicants will present their proposals to a panel in the New Year.

Section 4: General News

RAIL REVOLUTION UNDERWAY

The final phase of Blackpool’s rail revolution is underway, paving the way for the biggest investment in the resort’s rail network for more than a century

Earlier this month, both Blackpool North and South stations were closed to enable the electrification of the rail line to Preston to be completed. It is the biggest investment in the Blackpool rail network for more than a century.

The project will see 19 weeks of work, with buses replacing trains to and from Preston. The blockade will be in place at both stations until January 28 next year. From January 29, Blackpool South will re-open, but North Station will be closed until March 25. The first electric trains are due to arrive in the resort in May 2018.

Since works started on November 11, the project team have already removed the tracks at Blackpool North, decommissioned five signal boxes and demolished old platforms to make way for straighter platforms with an improved layout.

CLUB FOR SALE Blackpool Football Club has been put up for sale by the Oyston family following a High Court judgment that resulted in them being ordered to pay a fellow shareholder more than £30m.

The sale includes both the club and Blackpool FC Properties Ltd, the company that owns the Bloomfield Road site.

Owen and Karl Oyston have had a 31-year relationship with the club. Earlier this month, they lost a High Court battle with fellow Blackpool FC shareholder Valeri Belokon, who alleged they had shown unfair prejudice against shareholders.

BRIDGE REPAIRS Essential work at Squires Gate Bridge is underway as part of Blackpool’s bridges improvement programme.

Work will involve replacing the carriageway, supporting steel and concrete beams and, weather permitting, is expected to be completed by the end of March.

While the work is undertaken the bridge will be closed to vehicles between Sandbridge Place and Hillcrest Road.

A number of diversions and traffic light signal changes have been introduced to help traffic flow. Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times:

During this time, Harrowside Bridge will also remain closed to traffic to allow necessary repair and upgrade works to take place.

The works to both bridges is expected to cost in the region of £2.9m and is part of a programme to repair 10 Blackpool bridges during the next four years at a total cost of more than £11m.

To find out more, visit www.blackpool.gov.uk/Bridges

MUMS IN CONVERSATION BBC Radio 5 Live is to stage the UK’s biggest conversation about mums and mental health at a special event in The Blackpool Tower Circus.

The #mumtakeover event on Tuesday 28 November will be hosted by celebrity Stacey Solomon and 5 Live presenter Anna Foster.

Supported by NetMums, Better Start Blackpool and Maternal Mental Health Alliance, the programme will discuss the challenges faced by mothers of all ages, ranging from post-natal depression and anxiety to work/life balance and loneliness.

Ex-Saturdays singer and television presenter Rochelle Humes and popular blogger and author Giovanna Fletcher will also be heading to Blackpool to take part and chat to mums in the audience.

In addition to the panel discussion, there will be a problem-solving booth in which women can talk to each other and provide mum-to-mum support.

Tickets for the show were allocated in a random draw, with 75% going to Lancashire postcodes and 25% to the rest of the UK.

The event will be live streamed via BBC Facebook and Netmums accounts, and 5 Live will broadcast parts of the proceedings on air throughout the afternoon.

NEW GRUNDY CURATOR The has named Paulette Terry Brien as the gallery’s new curator. Paulette, who started her role earlier this month, has more than 25 years of experience working within contemporary visual art and is well known for raising the profile of the North West region on a national and international level. As co-founder and co-director of The International 3, a contemporary art gallery based in Salford, Paulette delivered a year-round programme of exhibitions and events and has been instrumental in developing projects such as Manchester’s annual contemporary art fair, The Manchester Contemporary. Paulette comes to the Grundy with a strong track record of identifying and nurturing emerging talent, commissioning and curating high-quality contemporary art exhibitions for both gallery and non-gallery settings.

PIPE DAMAGE A two-mile "superpipe" being installed to improve Blackpool's bathing waters was badly damaged by Storm Brian.

United Utilities confirmed that a 250-metre section of the pipe had been "bent at a 90- degree angle" after gale-force winds hit the UK coast a few weeks ago.

The 20,000-tonne pipe is part of the firm's £200m plan to improve water quality on the coast. The water company said a new section has been ordered from a factory in Norway.

RECOGNITION FOR BTS Blackpool Transport has won a series of awards and nominations in recognition of excellent performance.

The company received the “Vision of the Year” award at the Global Light Rail Awards in London, a scheme that celebrates the most outstanding contributors to the industry.

The judges recognised Blackpool’s intention to link Blackpool North Train Station with the tram tracks that currently run along the promenade with a 600-metre extension.

A few weeks later, Blackpool Transport was shortlisted for Medium Size Bus Operator of the Year at the national Route One awards.

The company has also been shortlisted for forthcoming awards at the National Transport Awards, the UK Bus Awards and the North of Transport Awards.

The company’s managing director, Jane Cole, received individual recognition when she won Businesswoman of the Year at the Enterprise Vision Awards at the Winter Gardens.

Section 5: Requests for Private Sector Support

WHITE RIBBON CAMPAIGN Blackpool’s community safety partnership is encouraging businesses to support White Ribbon Day, a worldwide event which is held annually to coincide with International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The day will be held on Saturday 25 November, followed by 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

Individuals/businesses can get involved by:

 Pledging support at https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/

 Wearing a white ribbon (ribbons will be available at the BBLG meeting on November 24)

 Sharing the information with colleagues, friends and networks

CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL The Winter Gardens Trust annual Christmas Tree Festival is running from Thursday 23 to Sunday 26 November in the Derham Lounge and Grand Vestibule. It is open from 11am to 4pm each day, with the exception of the Friday when opening will be extended to 7pm.

Between 5pm and 7pm that day, businesses are invited to contribute to Radio Wave’s “Locals Helping Locals At Christmas” campaign. Presenter Hayley Kay will be at the Grand Vestibule (Coronation Street entrance) to collect non-perishable goods which will then be distributed to the less fortunate over Christmas.

Anyone bringing items during that time will be allowed free entry into the festival.

Philip Welsh Head of Visitor Economy