WWW.REVIVEANDTHRIVE.CO.UK REVIVEANDTHRIVE #34 @REVIVE_THRIVE FOR TOWNS AND CITIES The finest eloquence is that PLACEwhich gets things done + REVIVE & THRIVE MID-YEAR REVIEW + Blachere Music & Lights Competition 2019 + Placemaking News from Across the UK + Advice from Expert Bloggers illumination inspired REVIVE & THRIVE’S What’s3 In Edition #34 Summer’s here! 4. How could you benefit from USING screen to benefit tourism screen tourism in your place? 6. How community engagement can drive customer loyalty and ultimately sales Welcome to Place Magazine #34. 7. New £15m fund for social enterprises This month I feel like we could almost fill the magazine ourselves with everything that 8. Extended Deadline! Last we’ve got going on at the moment! Chance to Enter the Music and Lights Competition 2019 Now that the dust has settled on our Annual 9. New Tailored BID Membership Conference and the feedback is in we thought 10. UK BIDs Feasibility Programme we’d share some of it with you as well as let you know about the great Regional HUGE fund for social enterprises 11. City’s transport leaders back Networking Events that we have planned for business district’s call for clean air Autumn and next year. 13. Praise for Kirkcaldy BIDs ‘bold Matthew Powell has written a great summary approach’ to town centre issues of all the various projects that we’re involved 14. Mid-year Review: Reaching in a mid-year review on page 14 but I’d New Heights also like to highlight something we are very 15. Town Centre Worker Discount excited about. Card Launched in Chippenham The UK BIDs Feasibility Programme is 16. Slough firms give the nod for a project that we’ve just launched and new business development district to ‘improve town centre’ something that we really think changes the landscape of BID development in the UK. SHAKING up the world of BIDs 17. See the history of Coventry This will give towns and cities the possibility come alive in a new tourist map to carry out feasibility studies risk-free and, 18. City Festival To Celebrate maybe, even cost free. Have a look at the full Nottingham’s Independents run-down on page 10. 19. ‘One Great Day’ in Harrogate’s Victoria Shopping Centre If you are a current or new BID be sure to have a look at the new tailored BID membership 20. Canterbury’s Medieval Pageant package (page 9) that we’ve designed 2019 - everything you need to especially for you. This is customised to give know BIDs peace of mind throughout their entire 21. Regional Networking Events term with continuous health-checks and 22. Annual Conference 2019 Review consultancy. NEW BID coming to Slough 24. Crowds flock to Skipton’s Good news for anyone entering the Blachere annual heritage Sheep Day is that, due festivities Music & Lights Competition to popular demand, we’ve extended the 25. St Peters Quarter BID organises deadline another month until August 19th fraud awareness day - please do get your entries in as soon as 29. Ideas from Across the Pond... possible though! 30. 91% of shoppers will return if As always we have some great articles from customer service is good around the UK and beyond including a great 31. Leeds Jurassic Trail one on screen tourism overleaf, news about 32. Police grant York Street a huge fund for social enterprises and historic Rangers more power buildings on page 7 as well as projects and ideas from BIDs and Councils across the CELEBRATING independents 34. Ferrious named Best Dressed country. Window in Altrincham 36. How the Essex new town of Please do keep sending in your projects, ideas, Harlow is rediscovering its blogs and photos so we can show everyone founding ideals what you’re doing for your Place. 41. Businesses vote yes to Northwich BID2 Stephen Blackwell 46. Business Improvement District Services – 5 stages Marketing, Events & 50. New Revive and Thrive Membership Manager Membership Benefits E: [email protected] Telephone: 03330 124285 GOING MEDIEVAL in Canterbury Editor in Chief Assistant Editor WWW.REVIVEANDTHRIVE.CO.UK REVIVEANDTHRIVE Stephen Blackwell Mark Barnes Tel: 03330 124285 @REVIVE_THRIVE © 2019 Revive & Thrive REVIVE & THRIVE’S 4 How could you benefit from screen tourism in your place? some of the beneficial effects that Helen Johns screen tourism can bring. So what can you do? To answer this question, let me use the example of Thame, which has Last month Helen wrote an excellent article ‘The Role of Screen Tourism in experienced an upsurge in profile and Place-Making’ and her attribution was visitor numbers because of Midsomer mistakenly absent from it. We sincerely Murders being filmed in the town and apologise for the error. Please note that surrounding villages in Oxfordshire and the work was entirely Helen’s and not Buckinghamshire. from the editorial team. First, though, you need to identify a theme around which activities can be In last month’s issue of Place Magazine, based. Some research may be required - I talked about screen tourism and for example, did any celebrated authors the positive impact it can have on spend time in your town or city? Was local economies, bringing visitors to their work translated into film or a TV other interested parties to a Midsomer destinations used as filming locations, to series? Is there local folklore (from King workshop. About 50 people attended experience at first hand what they saw Arthur to Robin Hood) and has this been and heard an expert on Midsomer on screen. brought to the screen? There will be tourism talk about the potential of this something! Just look at what happens marketplace. Midsomer Murders had Some places experiencing increases in each year in Whitby - all because the been aired in 100 countries and one visitor numbers as a result of screen author of Dracula (there are over 50 billion people globally had seen the tourism are already tourist destinations Dracula films) spent a little time there series. These people wanted to see the in their own right. An example is Port in the 1890s! Thousands flock to this quintessential England they had seen Isaac in North Cornwall - the fictional seaside town for Gothic weekends, when on TV, and Thame was part of that Portwenn in Doc Martin. This much- it becomes a temple to all things Gothic. quintessential England. It was recognised loved TV series has brought thousands that businesses engaging directly with of new visitors to the region. Other In Thame, about three years ago, it the Midsomer concept experienced places have been less successful in was recognised that the Midsomer quantifiable growth as a result, therefore attracting visitors before screen tourism phenomenon was benefiting other opportunities should be maximised, so put the spotlight on them. The rural towns in ‘Midsomer County’ such as that visitors would have as enjoyable a economy around Glencoe, mentioned Henley-on-Thames or Wallingford. Midsomer experience as possible when in the previous article, was weak before These places were featured on a Visit they came to Thame - or Causton, to the tourist influx caused by Skyfall being Midsomer website developed by the give it its Midsomer name! filmed there. local district council, but Thame wasn’t. What could Thame do to become Three specific actions were agreed – But let’s say that your place is not better recognised as a Midsomer hub • Develop a Midsomer walking trails currently a major tourist destination. and attract more visitors? The journey leaflet for Thame and area And let’s say that you could do with began by inviting local businesses and • Initiate regular Midsomer tours of Thame • Propose Midsomer plaques on buildings used as filming locations With the help of volunteers, council grant funding, and some research into filming locations (there are 22 in Thame alone) a Visit Midsomer trails leaflet was created and distributed widely – in the town hall information centre, the museum, hotels, cafes and pubs locally. It was also distributed to pubs in surrounding villages used as filming locations. There was evidence that overseas tourists drove round visiting locations and ticking them off their list. The leaflet would help them. Thame has a 132-seat theatre owned and run entirely by volunteers. It was recognised that, if actors became tour guides they would actually be taking on PLACE FOR TOWNS AND CITIES acting roles - except not on stage! One 5 theatre member, a Midsomer fan who had attended the workshop, recruited six tour guides from the membership, devised a walking tour that would take in all Thame’s filming locations, developed a script, and trained the guides to deliver it. The tours were launched in April 2017 and are held weekly on Wednesdays between April and October, lasting an hour and priced at an affordable £7.50 per person. Tours can also be arranged on a bespoke basis on other days. They have been a great success from the beginning. Email enquiries are now received from fans all over the world, seeking to book places on the regular tour or on other days. People can buy tickets using an established booking system (TicketSource) or pay on the day. The tours are promoted in the leaflet, on the Visit Midsomer and Thame Town Council websites and in the media. It was quickly discovered that the media, this has contributed to raising Thame’s benefiting the local economy. both printed and online, love anything to profile, and supportive emails arrived do with Midsomer! from Midsomer fans as far away as As in Thame, a good starting point is Australia. to hold a workshop and invite local This is year three.