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A major new scheme to overhaul the existing pedestrian signage and help people navigate around Worcester city centre has been completed. 48 brand new fingerpost signs have been installed replacing the previous stock which was thought to be over 25 years old. Funded by the businesses that are part of the Worcester Business Improvement District (BID), the scheme highlights the newer attractions such as the Hive and University City Campus as well as highlighting the shopping centres and historical commercial streets such as Friar Street, New Street and Sidbury.
‘The previous brown fingerpost signage looked awful, was outdated and the new installation was a key project that the business community wanted the Worcester BID to deliver’ said Head of Worcester BID, Adrian Field. ‘We have been able to highlight like never before commercial areas including Reindeer Court, The Hopmarket, Cathedral Plaza, Sidbury and CrownGate Shopping Centre as well as the tourist attractions, new buildings such as the Hive as well as ensuring that signage from key arrival points in the city informs those not familiar with Worcester which direction to head to.’
Alison Pickerill, BID Director and Marketing Manager at Peplow Jewellers in High Street added ‘The aim of the signage project was to satisfy the desire of businesses by highlighting the key areas more prominently to visitors. We wanted to make their experience much easier wherever they want to go and to also encourage them to venture throughout the city centre into places that they may not have explored before.’
The project, which includes finials of the Worcestershire Pear, is the latest in the line of schemes that have been delivered by the Worcester BID to help businesses in the city centre. Businesses will be going to ballot in November to ascertain whether they wish the BID to continue for another 5 years. In the current term, Worcester BID have been responsible for events such as the recent Foodie Festival, Chocolate Day, Motor Festival as well as RingGo Pay for Parking by Phone and the nationally award winning open4business campaign during and after the floods in February.
Worcester Wins National Accolade for Community Response to February Flooding
The City of Worcester has been awarded a national prize for partnership work and achievement at the Association of Town and City Management (ATCM) Awards, held in Dundee on Thursday, June 26th. The city faced catastrophic flooding during February 2014, and rapidly coordinated and promoted an Open4Business campaign that combatted potential negative media stories and prevented loss of trade. The campaign made great use of social media to highlight that despite the difficulties, the community was pulling together and the city was very much still Open4Business.
Alexander Nicoll, ATCM Chairman said “It is a first to award the ATCM Chairman’s Prize to a place rather than a person but I have no hesitation in doing so this year. The City of Worcester as a whole community responded with vigour and in a very co-ordinated way to the storms and terrible flooding of last winter.
The city’s Open4Business campaign was supported by all strands of the local community and underlined what human ingenuity, planning and project co-ordination can achieve even in the face of the scale of natural disaster faced by the people of Worcester during the floods.
Many other communities responded valiantly to what they faced but I am delighted to award the 2014 ATCM Chairman’s Prize to, in effect, everyone who lives and works in Worcester to acknowledge their substantial response during the floods to keep Worcester Open4Business.”
Head of Worcester Business Improvement District (BID) who led the campaign which made full use of social media, Adrian Field added “We are delighted that Worcester has been acknowledged for its efforts in minimising the devastating impact of the floods. We had great support from businesses to spread our message and the key stakeholders played a fantastic role in aiding awareness of the fact that traders were well and truly open both during and straight after the floods”
The official presentation of the award will be taking place at Worcestershire County Cricket Club at 1.30pm on Monday, June 30th.
Well done, Worcester! City wins award for #Open4Business campaign that defied the floods (Worcester News), 27/06/2014
Prize presentation at Worcestershire County Cricket Club with Worcester BID Chairman Nicki Williams.
Worcester BID’s Adrian Field & Nadja von Dahlen collecting the ATCM Chairman’s Award from Alexander Nicolls
