It’s Neck and Neck in Derby Cathedral Quarter’s Bid For Great British High Street Award

Derby Cathedral Quarter has a narrow lead in the online vote to be named as one of the country’s best high streets.

The Cathedral Quarter is one of three locations in the city location category vying for the award against Broadmead in Bristol and the Castle Arcade district of Norwich. The area will be visited by an expert judge – making up 50% of the score.  The other 50% will be decided by an online free of charge public vote at www.greatbritishhighstreet.co.uk.

Since voting opened on October 18, the Cathedral Quarter has been consistently in the lead and businesses are stepping up their efforts to rally support in the next three weeks before voting closes on November 18. People can vote with multiple email addresses once a day for their choice. If successful, the Cathedral Quarter will win a cash prize of up to £10,000, dedicated support and mentoring from Google’s digital taskforce for shops, bars and restaurants and a trip to Twitter UK’s London office to further boost social media skills.

The application for the Great British High Street Awards, run by the Department for Communities and Local Government, was submitted by the Cathedral Quarter Business Improvement District (BID). Martin Langsdale is chair of the Cathedral Quarter board and management group, which drives forward activities under the area’s BID status. He said: “It’s fantastic news that we are narrowly in the lead but there is still three weeks to go and we must not rest on our laurels. “I would appeal to all the businesses and everyone in the city to help us clinch this award as it would really put the Cathedral Quarter and Derby on the map – encouraging more visitors and inward investment. “Our application for the competition focused on the successes achieved by the BID over the past eight years, creating what is now a recognisable brand for the area and working together under a collective vision to support and enable all businesses to benefit from the Cathedral Quarter as an attractive and vibrant environment with a sense of community and a lifestyle which is individual, diverse and inspiring. “The Cathedral Quarter won the National BID of the Year recently in awards organised by the Association of Town and City Management and we hope to be equally as successful in this competition.”

James Hurdis, co-director of Canopy in Sadler Gate said: “There is a real buzz down Sadler Gate at the moment.  Not only are we practically at full capacity of businesses but everyone is getting very excited about the Great British High Street awards. “All of our staff are obviously voting and I know our neighbours are doing the same.  We are also encouraging our customers to get online and show their passion for this unique part of the city centre. “We are all voting once a day to keep the momentum going but it’s important that we don’t get complacent as Norwich and Bristol will be doing their best to reduce that lead in the coming weeks.”

Mother and daughter team Lynda and Lisa Ali from Falcon Food & Drinks run the popular Prosecco Parlour in the Strand Arcade. They said: “Voting online is the first thing we do every morning at the start of the working day and we have been encouraging all our family, friends and customers to do the same. “It would be brilliant if the Cathedral Quarter won this recognition as it would show just what a fantastic area this is and would be a huge boost to all of the businesses who operate here.”

Katie Gibson, proprietor of the Derby Pyclet Company in the Market Hall continued: “We have produced special stickers which go on all our packs of pyclets and oatcakes to remind customers to vote and hopefully this is making a positive difference to the online voting. “We are also doing a Halloween event at the parlour over the weekend including play and trick or treat activities for the children whilst we will be dressing up as ‘dead’ footballers to highlight our sponsorship of Derby Braves ladies American Football team. “I hope that this will be a real draw for visitors over the Halloween weekend and, of course, yet another chance to really drive home the message that we need people to vote for the Cathedral Quarter in these awards – every day until November 18.”

And Emmanuelle Montague-Sayers from Sally Montague Hair Group concluded: “After seeing the enormous benefits to Belper of winning a previous Great British High Street award, we were incredibly excited to see the Cathedral Quarter shortlisted this year. “Winning would give the Cathedral Quarter great national exposure - helping to drive footfall into the wealth of independent businesses in the area. “It’s crucial that everyone knows how easy it is to vote and we’re spreading the word via social media, client newsletters and signage outside our salon in Sadler Gate.”

The Great British High Street Competition 2016 celebrates the great work that is being done to revive, adapt and diversify the nation’s high streets. It is one of a number of initiatives to help champion high streets as the cornerstones of the community. It is sponsored by British Land, the Post Office, Holland and Barratt, Boots UK, Google UK, Marks & Spencer, Wilko, Revo and Ellandi.

To go online to cast your vote, visit the Great British High Street website www.greatbritishhighstreet.co.uk  and follow @TheGBHighSt on Twitter. For more information about the Cathedral Quarter, please visit www.derbycathedralquarter.co.uk, like the Facebook page CathedralQuarterDerby and follow on Twitter @DerbyCQ.

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