PORTAS REVIEW PILOTS APPLICATION FORM Please ensure you fill in ALL sections of this form. Guidance on completing this form can be found at www.communities.gov.uk/publications/regeneration/portaspilotsprospectus SECTION ONE Organisational details The Department will only consider applications from either local partnerships or a consortium with a single lead bidder. This is to ensure clear lines of accountability and communication. 1.1 Organisation name Stockport Town Centre Business & Retail Forum (in whose name C/o Stockport Council the application is being made – if a partnership/cons ortium/BID, state the lead) 1.2 Contact Graeme Vout Town & District Centres Manager name and main role 1.3 Address Stockport Council Stopford House Piccadilly Stockport SK1 3XE 1.4 Telephone (a) 0161 480 4949 (b) 0161 474 4562 number /07800 618096 (a) organisation (b) contact 1.5 Email [email protected] address of contact 1.6 Website http://www.stockport.gov.uk/services/business/regendevelopment/ address (if any) regeneration/towncentremanagement/ SECTION TWO Town Team/Partnership 2.1 Who will lead the pilot? Stockport Town Centre Business & Retail Forum C/o Stockport Council 2.2 Who will be the Accountable Body (Please attach a confirmation letter)? Stockport Council 2.3 Please indicate the other partners involved in your application. Please add further rows if required Organisation name Organisation address and contact Main activities and details role Greater Manchester Christian Mancier, Support to companies Chamber of Stockport President of all shapes and sizes Commerce (Stockport, C/o Churchgate House through a range of Tameside & Trafford) 56 Oxford Street sector-based Manchester membership services M60 7HJ and networking www.gmchamber.co.uk opportunities. 0161 236 3210 Stockport Plaza Super Ted, Doan, General Manager The borough’s main Cinema & Variety Mersey Square Town Centre, Stockport performing arts venue Theatre SK1 1SP www.stockportplaza.co.uk 0161 480 3818 Screen Stockport John Barratt, Screen Stockport Screen Stockport is an Merchant House, Market Place independent short Stockport, SK1 1EU film and television [email protected] festival team that aims 0161 612 8878 / 07733 320842 to bring together Twitter: @screenstockport filmmakers of all ages, www.screenstockport.co.uk regardless of background and experience. Manchester Jane McKeating, Director of Studies, Manchester School of Metropolitan Faculty of Art & Design, Art is one of the University Manchester Metropolitan University, largest providers of art All Saints Building, All Saints, and design courses in Manchester, M15 6BH the UK. www.mmu.ac.uk 0161 247 1705 Vintage Village Sarah Norris The Vintage Village at and Room at the Top Stockport Covered Market Hall Stockport Market Hall Vintage Goods Market Place is currently held on Stockport second Sunday of SK1 1EU every month. www.vintagevillagestockportmarket.co.uk Room at the Top Vintage Goods is an authentic vintage market located in the Victorian Produce Hall overlooking Stockport Market Place. National Market Stockport Branch NMTF, c/o John O’Mara, Local Market traders Traders Federation Stockport Branch President, Market Place, representatives Stockport. The provision of 01226 749021 support and advice on www.nmtf.co.uk markets and market trading. Merseyway Shopping Brendan Webb Shopping Centre Manager Overall management Centre 52-54 Great Underbank Stockport SK1 of the shopping centre 1PD 0161 480 2839 www.merseyway.com Stockport College Debbie Fennell Commercial Director Provide a wide range Stockport College, Town Centre Campus, of academic and Wellington Road South, Stockport SK1 vocational courses 3UQ. from pre GCSE to Tel. 0161 958 3100 Fax. 0161 480 6636 degree level. [email protected] www.stockport.ac.uk Greater Manchester Leon Jacobs, Chief Inspector Key agency on the Police Stockport Neighbourhoods and Criminal Justice crime & disorder Division Stockport Division reduction partnership. Greater Manchester Police Tel no 0161 856 9756 www.gmp.police.uk Stockport Council Eamonn Boylan, Chief Executive The provider of a wide Town Hall, Edward Street Stockport SK1 range of local services 3XE and support to the www.stockport.gov.uk borough of Stockport 0161 474 3000 2.4 Please explain how you will ensure information about the use of the grant, decisions made, and outcome of the projects, is made publicly available (maximum 300 words). The new Stockport Town Team will be responsible for informing all partners and public about the use of the grant, decisions made and ensuring the outcomes in this application are delivered. The Town Team will be a transparent and accountable group. It will have its own web site and social media accounts as the principal tools for communications. It will also make use of public events, print and broadcast media locally, regionally, nationally and internationally to communicate with partners and the public. The Town Team will make full use of the town centre itself to publicise its progress on key projects. Venues like The Markets, Merseyway Shopping Centre, Stockport Plaza, the Railway Station and key retail areas will all give over space for information and events, telling the public about the use of the grant and the wider programme. The Town Team will also use our iconic locations and our ambassadors including international athletes and entertainers to launch and celebrate projects and events. We will share best practice through the ATCM and proposed CLG evaluation, with Greater Manchester partners and other Town Teams. Local newspapers and radio stations are fully supportive of efforts to attract more business to the town centre, and have already started their own campaigns. Stockport and the town centre has also featured extensively in national tabloid, broadsheet and broadcast coverage in recent months, and we intend to build on those established contacts to maximise future positive coverage. 2.5 Please explain how you will monitor and evaluate the impact of the grant (maximum 300 words). Our aim will be to find out what people feel about spending time (and money) in Stockport town centre, and to evaluate the outcomes for local businesses. We want to create a buzz, and this will involve perceptions as well as qualitative and quantitative approaches. Monitoring will be based on a range of indicators and discrete measures designed specifically for the pilot projects. These include evaluating: The diversity of uses Retailer representation (number, type, independents & multiples) The level of interest from new retailers and retailers wishing to change their representation Number of lettings Vacancy levels Changes from retail to non retail Commercial yields Footfall Customer and residents’ views, feedback and behaviour through online consultation, social media and mystery shopping Perception of safety and occurrence of crime State of the town centre environmental quality (including buildings and spaces) Car park usage Participants involved in specific grant aided projects (number, level of involvement, experience. This will include evaluating audience figures and profiles at both the the Plaza Super Cinema & Theatre and Seven Miles High arts centre) Event evaluation (including attendance figures, visitor profiles, reasons for attending, perceptions of and actual experience of the centre) New business start ups Number of improved facilities & premises Media coverage A range of new and traditional methods and techniques will be employed to capture, collate and evaluate the results from these measures including face to face interviews, questionnaires, observation and statistical analysis software. The impact of the grant will be closely monitored through a range of measures. This will enable the Town Team to assess and review progress on an ongoing basis over the lifetime of the grant aided projects and initiatives and help us respond quickly to impromptu opportunities and changing circumstances where they arise or where they might add unexpected value. SECTION THREE Criterion One: Mix Please tick all boxes relevant to your application TOWN/AREA NAME: Local Authority (name): Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council Location Type Market Town New Town Rural Town Coastal Town Village Large Town Suburban Parade Other Where the following information is easily accessible: Income (detail can be found on ONS website: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/search/index.html?newquery=employed+earnings) High employed earnings Low employed earnings SECTION FOUR Criterion Two: Strong Leadership 4.1 Please detail your vision for your high street, and describe how you have begun to secure local support and how you will build on this to make it a reality (maximum 300 words). Through a wide range of meetings, discussions with businesses and residents, and communications via email, Twitter and the local media, we have built strong support, clear consensus and a real sense of excitement that the area with most potential to become again the heart of the town is the historic Markets & Underbanks area (this diversity of support is strongly expressed in our video). This area is home to our most distinctive buildings, our most beautiful spaces, and our key cultural attractions. Much money has been spent on the physical renewal of this area, yet its potential remains unrealised. Our vision is for the contemporary reinvention of these unique places and spaces, built around dynamic, community led organisations and entrepreneurs, creating environments and experiences which attract people by