BEST HIGH STREETS IN WALES REVEALED
7 TOWNS JOIN SHORTLIST FOR AWARD:
SEVEN Welsh streets have been shortlisted in this year’s Great British High Street Awards. The awards are split into two categories.
The Champion High Street category awards the best high street in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. High streets are judged on four pillars of success – community, customer experience, environment and digital transformation. Each regional winner will be awarded a £5,000 contribution towards a street party.
The Rising Stars category celebrates places that are striving to revive, adapt and diversify. It aims to find the UK’s most ambitious high streets and makes a refreshing change from the usual doom and gloom about the state of our high streets.
Twelve candidates, picked from 151 entries, are competing to be judged the rising star of 2018. The winner will receive a £5,000 grant to go towards a local community or technology project.
Four Welsh streets are vying for the title of the UK’s best high street in the Champion Award – Holywell, Carmarthen, Welshpool and Crickhowell. Three others have been shortlisted in the Rising Star category – Cardigan, Narberth and Cowbridge.
The thriving market town of Narberth is the perfect example of a high street epitomising the judges’ requirements. Its main street, with plenty of long-established traders, has a focus on crafts, antiques and artisan products. It is a foodie’s dream, with a traditional fruit and veg shop, artisan ice cream, wellregarded restaurants and cafes, like the deli and tapas bar Ultracomida .
To cap all this off, a group of local entrepreneurs have bought an abandoned school and plan to create more independent shops. It is this spirit of local entrepreneurship that makes Narberth stand out.
Businessman Michael Hughes, whose Tom Hughes shop is in a central position in the High Street, put Narberth’s name forward on behalf of the town’s Chamber of Trade.
He particularly wanted to highlight the efforts of local people to buy and develop Narberth’s old primary school building for the benefit of the community and independent traders. He said: “Narberth is very important to the Pembrokeshire economy, as the money spent in our independent businesses stays in the community instead of being funnelled outside the area.”
Other high streets are working to future-proof themselves, too.
In Ceredigion, Cardigan’s 12th-century castle has been restored at a cost of £12m. Now the town centre is being digitally transformed, with an app highlighting heritage sites and a digital discount card in shops and eateries.
Like, Narberth, Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan is packed with independent delis, restaurants, pubs and shops. It has also looked to an app to help change its fortunes: NearMeNow lets shoppers connect with their local independent businesses, encouraging them to spend on their own high street.
“What connects the contenders on the Rising Stars shortlist is the work being done by local retailers and residents to ensure that their high streets remain at the centre of their communities,” said Sundeep Kaur, head of UK and Ireland merchant services at Visa, which is sponsoring the awards. “It is important to recognise and celebrate these efforts.”
In Holywell, it’s all about embracing technology. To modernise the high street and enable retailers to accept different payment methods, free payment card readers have been offered to all businesses in the town.
It’s the same in Carmarthen. The town is planning on taking its high street digital, by training ‘digital champions’ to help local businesses learn the skills needed to succeed in the digital economy.
Carmarthen council has allowed fledgling businesses to try out their ideas through pop-up shops in empty stores.
In Crickhowell, the Totally Locally campaign brings the community together. Over 100 shops and businesses run initiatives to boost local spending and connect with the community. The town is proud of the fiercely independent nature of the shops on its high street and recently residents, visitors and retailers came together to buy and renovate a local pub to maintain this ethos.
Judges were also impressed with Welshpool’s sense of pride for its high street. Through a litter challenge scheme, each local shop is encouraged to look after its section of pavement and many businesses organise litter picks around the high street.
How is it judged?The 38 shortlisted high streets will now battle it out in a public vote, which accounts for 30 per cent of the final scoring, and will then have the chance to impress an expert judging panel as they seek to be crowned Britain’s best.
Great British High Street judges will be conducting visits to each high street throughout September and October. Their marks account for 70% of the overall vote. An overall winner will be named The UK’s Best High Street, winning £10,000 to fund a local community project.
■ Help your favourite high street win through social media support. Simply post on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, using #MYHIGHSTREET and your high street’s unique, assigned hashtag, which can be found at www.thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk