market rasen racecourse
TRANSCRIPT
1
Town TransformationTown TransformationTown TransformationTown Transformation
Action PlanAction PlanAction PlanAction Plan
V1 V1 V1 V1 28282828thththth March 2012March 2012March 2012March 2012
2
INDEXINDEXINDEXINDEX
Introduction 3
Our Vision 4
Key Challenges 5
BIG Ideas 7
#1 BIG Town Tidy Up 8
#2 Put the Market back in Market Rasen 10
#3 Sustainable Shopping Strategy 15
#4 Pulling in the Punters 17
Communications – Group & Community 18
Measuring our Success 19
Calendar of Events 20
3
IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction
To all our BIG friends,
It’s hard to believe that our first BIG meeting was only 6 weeks ago on the 20th
February.
We’ve made huge progress in a short space of time, thanks to the energy and
effort of all those traders and business people who’ve been involved so far.
We’ve had excellent attendance at our open meetings. We’ve got 51 people
signed up, generated a huge volume of ideas and we’ve gone a long way towards
structuring our thinking into a plan.
But there’s still a lot of work to do.
The past 5 weeks have seen us investing our time and effort in making an
application (and video) to submit to the Portas Pilot scheme. It’s been incredibly
hard work, to a very tight deadline, but it’s testament to teamwork that we’ve got
it done. With thanks again to everyone in front and behind the camera for
fantastic contributions.
Whether we secure funding from the Pilot or not, the exercise has been valuable.
It’s forced us to focus our thinking and take some decisions together about what
our priorities need to be, if we are to transform our town.
Win or lose, the truly hard work starts here. Our plans will only be realised if we
work together to make them happen, so we hope we can look forward to your
continued support. Now is the time to roll up our sleeves and get down to serious
graft as we take our shared vision and ideas and start to revitalise Market Rasen.
The more supporters we have, the more likely we are to achieve our goals. So
please spread the word about MR BIG and get other traders and business owners
and managers to join us. The MR BIG blog is updated all the time with news and
interesting info, so keep an eye on http://marketrasenguide.co.uk/wordpress/
And don’t forget it’s yours to use for job vacancies or promoting vacant premises
so anything you think worthy of inclusion just email [email protected]
With very best regards,
MR BIG
4
BIG VisionBIG VisionBIG VisionBIG Vision
Our vision will see:
• Our high street realising its potential to be a busy, vibrant destination for
local residents, regional visitors and tourists.
• Our market reinstated at the heart of our community, famous for its
authentic shopping experience via a lively mix of independent traders.
• Our traders working as one with a passion for quality and value, offering
products and services that excite and engage with the modern shopper.
• The development of a distinctive Market Rasen identity that builds on our
traditional heritage, offering customers a warm, Lincolnshire welcome
and timeless standards of customer service.
• A contemporary twist provided by exciting and relevant offers,
promotions and services.
• A town that is tidy, inviting and well-maintained; always dressed for the
occasion, with a tempting calendar of events that appeals to all.
• Our traders and our broader community working together to take actions,
confident that small changes and quick wins can make a BIG difference.
• Sustainable plans that implement new ideas, encourage start-ups, create
employment opportunities, retain talent, develop skills and attract spend.
5
Key ChallengesKey ChallengesKey ChallengesKey Challenges
Market Rasen is a classic Georgian Market Town, with a single main street, great
form, some lovely buildings and traditional market place. At the edge of the
Lincolnshire Wolds, with its own Racecourse and en route to popular coastal
destinations, we are served by our own award-winning train station and have
plenty of free parking. With so much going for it, Market Rasen should be a
honeypot for tourists and shoppers.
But our town needs some TLC. Our High Street is scruffy, our Market has
dwindled to one or two stalls, we have vacant and dangerously neglected
commercial properties.
Market Rasen has plenty of passing trade – but unfortunately it passes us in
favour of smarter local towns and cities with retail parks and a diverse and
better-developed offer to shoppers and residents. Many live here, shop there.
Our ‘BIG 4’ challenges:Our ‘BIG 4’ challenges:Our ‘BIG 4’ challenges:Our ‘BIG 4’ challenges:
BIG Town TidyupBIG Town TidyupBIG Town TidyupBIG Town Tidyup
Market Rasen needs a makeover. Tackle grot spots, give boarded over premises
a face-lift, introduce (BIG) signage in keeping with our heritage and clean up our
public places.
Put the Market back in Market RasenPut the Market back in Market RasenPut the Market back in Market RasenPut the Market back in Market Rasen
Our market should be a focus for our town’s retail offer. Re-invigoration is vital.
Drawing in Lincolnshire established and new traders, we must make our town a
contemporary shopping destination for value and quality-hungry consumers.
Sustainable Shopping StrategySustainable Shopping StrategySustainable Shopping StrategySustainable Shopping Strategy
Fill vacant shops with businesses that bring something fresh to the mix and make
Market Rasen a one-stop-shopping and ‘doing’ destination. We need landlords
and estate agents onside, plus a plan to encourage and support talented newbies.
Pulling in the puntersPulling in the puntersPulling in the puntersPulling in the punters
Shop revenues, employment and inward investment rely on coaxing customers
back to our town and driving footfall. We must market ourselves anew to
traders, potential partners, bigger corporates, tourist businesses and consumers,
promoting relevant offers and incentives that keep customers coming back.
6
7
BIG IdeasBIG IdeasBIG IdeasBIG Ideas
For all of you that have attended our meetings, you’ll know the amount of effort
that’s gone in to arriving at a plan that combines practical action with really BIG
and innovative ideas.
We’ve also done our bit to keep ‘Post-its’ in business and filled plenty of BIG
sheets of paper. . .
Before we get into the ideas themselves, let’s remember how we got here:
• Our group was formed out of a kick off meeting following the 3rd Rasen
Neighbourhood Plan meeting on the 5th January 2012
• Two of our team distributed over 140 letters by hand, to invite Market
Rasen businesses to a business only open meeting on 20th February 2012
• We’ve managed to keep interest and involvement high, with over 40
attendees at each of our 2 open meetings to date
• And we’ve had weekly informal meetings and project workgroups to keep
plenty of momentum in between times
• We’re communicating on a daily basis via our blog
• And we’re developing a close relationship with our local media to ensure
our activities are understood by our own community
Regardless of how we do in the Portas Pilot, we’ve got Mary Portas to thank for
giving us the extra push to lift our ideas out of the ordinary and begin to build a
plan that we can all be proud of.
Mary has done us a favour, because win or lose, we’ve now got firm foundations
that will hopefully inspire people to get involved and interest the media enough
to generate the kind of positive publicity that will put Market Rasen on the map.
So the scene is set. Let’s take a look at the detail. . .
Note: You’ll notice there are still some [Who/How?] questions against plenty of points, plus lists of additional questions. Finding the answers to these will be our next challenge as we begin to drive forward to action.
8
#1 BIG Town Tidy Up#1 BIG Town Tidy Up#1 BIG Town Tidy Up#1 BIG Town Tidy Up
Market Rasen is a town in need of a makeover. MR BIG has highlighted a number
of grot spots and unkempt areas in need of some serious TLC. So our objective is
to improve the look and feel of our town to tempt in local shoppers, regional
visitors and those summertime tourists on their way to and from Skeggie.
BIG ideaBIG ideaBIG ideaBIG ideassss::::
• An 8 week Town Tidy-up programme to systematically tackle all the
priority grot spots (1 day per week, with a target of at least 8 volunteers
for each day of activity)
• Invite volunteers from all areas of our community to have a hand in giving
our town a cosmetic overhaul, including traders, residents and youth
groups
• Regular cosmetic ‘maintenance’ activities after the first 8 weeks
• Re-instate a town design statement to encourage shop and property
owners to maintain their shop-fronts in a fashion that promotes visual
consistency throughout the town, in keeping with our Georgian heritage.
A statement exists from 1995. We plan to update this document, but
importantly we must communicate it to all shop owners via a launch
event and one-to-one meetings to ensure that its intention is understood
and we secure as much buy-in as possible.
• Operation Ice Cream. We would like to see all of our shop fronts
repainted in co-ordinating colours within a 3-year time frame (accepting
that this can be a costly exercise for owners and landlords). The team will
suggest a palette of colours and we will look to secure discounts and
sponsorship to assist with the cost of materials for participating retailers,
as well as negotiating an opt-in scheme to get a competitive price from a
local contractor to fulfill the work, for those who don’t want to DIY.
• Launch a ‘BIG Love’ adoption scheme to encourage some of Market
Rasen’s larger businesses to take care of key public places on an ongoing
basis. E.g. Ask Tesco and the Racecourse to plant up areas, ask some of
our big building supplies/DIY firms to adopt street furniture and traders
to adopt the pavements outside their shops. (We recognise that this
activity will be subject to permissions from WLDC and will be
supplementary to services delivered by the Council). The Co-op and
Network Rail are also on our list of organisations to approach, with
specific grot spots to tackle. [Who & how?]
9
Key ChallengesKey ChallengesKey ChallengesKey Challenges
• Building a volunteer database
• Organising and managing a programme of activities
• Getting appropriate permissions from landlords/owners/council
• Securing low cost or no-cost materials
• Access to necessary equipment
• Generating publicity and goodwill
OpportunitiesOpportunitiesOpportunitiesOpportunities
• Market Rasen has a lot of hardware & DIY shops
• Some of our grot spots have been identified as possible communication
points within the town – the potential to tackle two birds with one stone
• Opportunity to showcase good work and be seen to be making a visible
difference
• Gives us a clear reason to engage with bigger local businesses
QuestionsQuestionsQuestionsQuestions still to answerstill to answerstill to answerstill to answer
• How can we expand this idea to make it inclusive and get local schools,
community groups involved?
• Are there any competitions we can run to generate visuals for some of the
boarded areas?
• Are there any areas where specialist skills and equipment is required, if
so, how do we tackle these?
• How do we approach the property owners, landlords involved?
• Can we draft letters now? Do we organise meetings? If so, who and how?
• How do we get non-BIG shops and traders involved?
• How do we ensure that all of our activities achieve coherence in the actual
standards delivered/achieved?
• How can we muster support from the bigger businesses in town?
• How do we get money into a kitty to make some of this stuff happen?
10
Sample timetable of activity for BIG Town Tidyup Sample timetable of activity for BIG Town Tidyup Sample timetable of activity for BIG Town Tidyup Sample timetable of activity for BIG Town Tidyup –––– details tbcdetails tbcdetails tbcdetails tbc
Week Activity People Materials/
Equipment
1 Street Cleaning –
Town Approaches
Sacks, Gloves,
Transport
1 Letters to landlords
for permissions
1 Coverage in Rasen Mail
1 Launch competition for
graphics in local schools
(requires themes/number
of locations)
2 Street furniture
clean down/repair
Jacksons - benches
2 Letters to local businesses
to adopt a specific area
3 Green fingers – plant-off
Identify key areas, get
sponsorship and plant up
4 Paint off – identify obvious
public paint jobs – lets ‘av
em!
Can we organise a social
event to tie in with this.
BIG BEERS??
5 Poles/Brackets/Jubilee
flags
Sally Spring - flags
6 Vacant premises boards –
consistent black base coat
Black paint
7 Vacant premises boards -
decorate
Printed/painted
graphics, glue,
sealer
8 Street Cleaning in Town –
Areas x, y, z
Sacks, Gloves,
Transport
11
12
#2 Put the Market back in Market Rasen#2 Put the Market back in Market Rasen#2 Put the Market back in Market Rasen#2 Put the Market back in Market Rasen
The market should be at the heart of the shopper and community experience for
any thriving market town. We want to re-instate and re-invigorate our market
as a focus for commercial activity in Market Rasen and in doing so, make us a
destination for local shoppers, regional visitors and tourist trade.
We need to ensure that the activities in the market tie in and add value to other
businesses in town, whether they are shops, pubs, restaurants or professional
services companies.
Our ideal is that our town centre would work like a fabulous department store.
It would be a brilliant one-stop-shopping experience, packed full of interesting
independent retailers with great quality and value goods that appeal to people of
all ages and all interests.
We know Lincolnshire has a strong reputation for food tourism and our own
town has existing strengths and variety in this area. Lincolnshire also has a
vibrant circuit of existing farmers’, arts and crafts markets. We need to go one
step further – create a point of difference and give people a reason to come.
13
BIG ideaBIG ideaBIG ideaBIG ideassss::::
• Give our Saturday market a BIG boost. Aim to have 20 stalls+ in the
market place on Saturdays. Once Saturday is established, roll out to boost
Fridays and Tuesdays. We will do this by:
o Clearing the market place of cars on a Saturday
o Offering stalls at low cost [£10 tbc]
o Professional marketing to quality Lincolnshire traders/producers
o Reserving a % of stalls for Market Rasen businesses, with the
option of shared stalls to reduce people required to run these
o Food focus for the 1st Saturday of each month
o Additional themes for 2nd, 3rd & 4th Saturdays (arts & crafts,
country pursuits including gardening, antiques and vintage, books
- all discussed and to be developed).
o Use the covered Auction area for BIG demos or BIG music
o With traders booked, BIG promotion is require locally and
regionally to encourage footfall, options include:
� Local press & radio (PR & paid Advertising)
� Leafleting
� Poster campaigns
� Social media
� Promotion through existing groups e.g. Chamber of
Commerce, Select & Tastes of Lincolnshire, Lions, Rotary,
Churches, Schools. WLDC [any more to add?].
� Semi-permanent signage
• Relaunch our Market this Summer with the Market Rasen Festival of
World Food (A BIG artisan food market). [Date tbc]. This would involve:
o Positioning our event as the ‘Chef’s choice’
o Get local ‘celeb’ chefs to champion us Rachel Green, Dom Franks –
who else?
o Booking stalls to showcase artisan produce and the finest quality
ingredients
o BIG up provenance as this is a huge trend in UK food, so focus on
the ‘produced, grown, made in Lincolnshire’ Market Rasen has so
much on its doorstep (poss more than anywhere else)
o Plenty of sampling and demos
o Cook-off competitions (eg Mr Huda’s vs The Gate of India)
o Tie ups between stall holders and eateries so key produce is
featured on Pub/restaurant menus throughout the town for a full
day gastro experience
o Vouchers to takeaway to pull trade back into town, post-event
o Promotional recipe cards tie local producers and retailers together
with chefs at our eateries
14
o Preview event – ‘Meet the buyers’ a breakfast/lunch time mini
trade fair that introduces Lincolnshire producers to chefs,
restaurant owners, local B&Bs, deli and food outlets, on-trade
buyers etc – accepting that restaurant owners and caterers are
unlikely to attend a Saturday market
o Give traders VIP treatment so they want to come back for more
o PR, advertising and promotions campaign to maximise interest in
the event (real time social media, blogging and IG coverage) to put
Market Rasen on the map for Lincolnshire Market
• Duplicate launch event activity for Christmas MarketChristmas MarketChristmas MarketChristmas Market with similar BIG hit
• Develop a calendar of key eventscalendar of key eventscalendar of key eventscalendar of key events and promotions to tie in with other
events organized in Market Rasen. eg: Churches Festival, Wolds Walking
Festival, Market Rasen Races, Diamond Jubilee etc.
Key ChallengesKey ChallengesKey ChallengesKey Challenges
• Co-ordinating logistics and volunteers to assemble market
• Ensure that the traders’ experience is not only professionally managed
but that theey are given a warm VIP treatment, best in county, follow up
post event, lots of free PR so that they will definitely return
• The weather
• Cost of promotions (This is the make or break – getting the message out
there and ensuring a BIG turnout on the day and on a regular basis)
QuestionsQuestionsQuestionsQuestions still to answerstill to answerstill to answerstill to answer
• How can we expand this idea to make it inclusive – get local schools,
community groups involved (pull in the parents)?
• Are there any competitions we can run on the day or in the run up to the
day to build some excitement?
• How can we attract visitors into main street retail premises on the days in
question?
• What add-ons or attractions could we include to create some theatre and
make it newsworthy? Local young bands (or musicians from Jam night at
the Swan to give a taster)
• How can we muster support from the bigger businesses in town?
15
#3 Sustainable Shopping Strategy#3 Sustainable Shopping Strategy#3 Sustainable Shopping Strategy#3 Sustainable Shopping Strategy
BIG Up our High StreetBIG Up our High StreetBIG Up our High StreetBIG Up our High Street
We want to BIG up our main street, but there’s a lot of work to do. Once we’ve
begun to improve the look and feel of the physical environment in our BIG Town
Tidy-up, we need to develop the quality and variety of the shopping experience
to give our shoppers plenty of opportunities to relax and enjoy themselves after
some retail therapy.
We have to put Market Rasen on the map and attract 3 key shopper groups:
1. Our priority is to get residents residents residents residents to buy local
2. Quickly become a destination for rrrregional shoppersegional shoppersegional shoppersegional shoppers
3. Attract vvvvisiting touristsisiting touristsisiting touristsisiting tourists and become both a spot-off and place to stay.
BIG ideaBIG ideaBIG ideaBIG ideassss::::
• Town Team task force spotlight on:
o Landlords – to fulfil responsibilities in maintaining vacant
premises
o Estate Agents – to ensure properties are effectively marketed to
improve the breadth of offer and set terms to attract new
businesses into Market Rasen
• Pop-up shop programme to encourage existing traders and fledgling
businesses to try (premises) before they buy.
(Begin with single premises pilot and roll-out).
• A development and mentoring plan for traders to include:
o A monthly BIG breakfast meeting with guest speakers to help
traders improve knowledge and skills (Topic examples: Social
media for business, H&S, practical accounting etc)
o A coaching and mentoring BIG Buddy scheme where experienced
and successful traders and business owners buddy start-ups
o A clear and supported journey for successful trading (a succession
plan of sorts), that sees startups ‘earn their stripes’ as market
traders, helps them secure ‘incubation’ premises for short periods
at reduced rents and helps them move into bigger premises when
they are ready, freeing that space for another new retail journey
o A MR BIG retail apprenticeship scheme – to encourage young
people interested in retail to gain experience and qualification,
whilst supplying much needed, appropriately skilled workers to
help our existing businesses expand
16
Key ChallengesKey ChallengesKey ChallengesKey Challenges
• Limited power to force landlords & estate agents to co-operate (must be a
charm offensive)
• Get landlords on-side with pop-up concept (sound business case is key)
• Need CG Partnership on side for apprenticeship
• Real joined up thinking across different areas of retail and long-term
commitment
• Need to establish a channel to engage with talented young entrepreneurs
and fledgling businesses
QuestionsQuestionsQuestionsQuestions
• Need to compile a list of landlords and premises in question
• Can we use a proven pop-up model that’s been used elsewhere (Pop up
people report)
• Can we borrow a coaching/mentoring framework from elsewhere to get
us going?
• Should we consider embracing an off the shelf loyalty/incentive App
scheme (Tik Tap / Beep Treat etc)
17
#4 #4 #4 #4 Pulling in the PuntersPulling in the PuntersPulling in the PuntersPulling in the Punters
Once we’ve got our town looking more loved and a plan in place to BIG up our
shoppers’ experiences, we need to tempt them into town. Our priority has to be
local people on our doorstep who will visit town day to day and week in, week
out. But we also need to cast our net further a field, so that Market Rasen
becomes a ‘day out’ destination for regional visitors and ultimately an attraction
in its own right for tourists. (Although in the short term coaxing in customers as
passing trade would be great).
BIG ideas:BIG ideas:BIG ideas:BIG ideas:
• BIG bag promotion.BIG bag promotion.BIG bag promotion.BIG bag promotion. We print 1000 branded BIG bags and offer them for
sale for a nominal price (to cover production costs) in shops along the
Main Street. Once purchased, customers presenting these bags in
participating retailers are entitled to a discount (10% tbc), for the
duration of the promotion. We are suggesting that this promotion is
piloted for 1 month to correspond with the Jubilee
• BIG Signage scheBIG Signage scheBIG Signage scheBIG Signage scheme.me.me.me. Our town is already organising ‘Free Parking’ signs
to be appended to our existing town signs, but we want more. We want
appropriate brown signs for our Town [who, how and what cost].
Additionally, we would like to see traditional style wall signs in keeping
with our Georgian heritage, making use of some of the dead space in our
town centre, to publicise some of our key attractions (free parking,
eateries and food businesses). [Who, how and what cost]
• BIG VisitorBIG VisitorBIG VisitorBIG Visitorssss’’’’ Centre.Centre.Centre.Centre. One of our longer-term aspirations is to have a
Market Rasen Visitors’ Centre. Learning from the success of 28 Plough
Hill (The Arts and Heritage Centre in Caistor), we would like to see a place
where visitors and residents can go to learn about our town and its
attractions, as well as a display space for local project, initiatives, arts and
crafts. Early discussions have included the Court House and the
Goldmine – both vacant at present. Although we recognise this is
potentially an investment-heavy idea, requiring much more development
and planning
• Tap into the tourist mTap into the tourist mTap into the tourist mTap into the tourist markets.arkets.arkets.arkets. Thousands of visitors come to Lincolnshire
each year and to the Wolds, the coast and the Racecourse in particular.
We need to put Market Rasen on the map for them by posting publicity
materials in Tourist Information locations and on ‘pick-up’ in surrounding
hotels and B&Bs. We also need to market to all our local accommodation
providers, and nearby attractions to get them to signpost their visitors to
Market Rasen to eat, shop, drink etc (not to Louth or elsewhere)
• In addition to the above, we want to muster a bedrock of publicity
through the following:
o Regular press coverage in the Rasen Mail and other Lincolnshire
local titles
o Social media and word of mouth
o Posters, promotions and incentives
18
Communicating as a Group and to the Wider Communicating as a Group and to the Wider Communicating as a Group and to the Wider Communicating as a Group and to the Wider CommunityCommunityCommunityCommunity
We recognise that our communications activities must perform on two levels.
1) to engage the business owners and traders who will be hands-on in
transformation projects.
2) To make information regarding projects, decision making and funding
publicly available, to promote broader awareness amongst our community and
muster additional volunteer and shopper support.
Given that our Town Team – MR BIG was only established in January, we have
already made huge in roads in establishing effective communication and
information sharing channels.
Business Owners & TradersBusiness Owners & TradersBusiness Owners & TradersBusiness Owners & Traders
Using blog as a communications hub for all Town Team activity. We are actively
promoting use of Facebook and Twitter amongst traders to ‘share’ key points of
information and drive traffic to the blog.
Regular monthly meeting, turn out in excess of 40 traders per meeting is
allowing for plenty of direct communications, which in turn delivers excellent
word of mouth.
All traders who are signed up to MR BIG have submitted their email contact
details which are held within a cloud based Capsule CRM system, allowing for
fast, effective email updates, integrated with calendar and tasks and other tools.
Community & General PublicCommunity & General PublicCommunity & General PublicCommunity & General Public
Already developed a strong working relationship with the Rasen Mail and have
secured a weekly column to allow us to publish project related information and
publicise positive outcomes out to our broader local audience.
We have an established information website for locals and visitors using the
town, this can be developed to publicise key consumer-facing messages.
We can build a similar database of individuals and well established voluntary
groups (Christmas Tree etc) for joined up strategy and co-ordination.
We also report in to the Rasen Neighbourhood Planning Group, which has its
own blog to keep residents updated. We have links to this blog and the close
relationship between the two working groups means that BIG information can be
published to residents via this channel.
19
Measuring our SuccessMeasuring our SuccessMeasuring our SuccessMeasuring our Success
We have identified a nationally recognized benchmarking toolkit from AMT
(Action for Market Towns). The system will enable us to gather and analyse the
economic performance of our Town Centre based on 12 key performance
indicators (KPIs) including:
• Retail offering
• Footfall
• Business Confidence
• Town Centre User Surveys
• Shoppers Origin
We are in the process of appraising this service. If suitable, AMT would deliver
us annual performance data to a standard format and in doing so, allow us to
formally track our progress.
We anticipate that annual data gathering will be driven by MR BIG and
administered via a combination of volunteers and 6th Form Students from our
local school.
Regular Healthcheck ReportingRegular Healthcheck ReportingRegular Healthcheck ReportingRegular Healthcheck Reporting
However, we will also be implementing additional measures that will give us
regular healthcheck reporting on our Town Centre, they are:
• Capturing an index of trader revenues from all traders signed up to MR
BIG. Using a 100% +or- benchmark
• Qualitative customer satisfaction surveys conducted on-street at
[suggested] quarterly intervals
• Before and after photographs for key areas of cosmetic rejuvenation
• Reduction in vacant properties, tracked and published
• Trader attendance at markets and special events
• Trader feedback forms to follow up attendance
• Google alerts to track our media presence
20
Calendar of EventsCalendar of EventsCalendar of EventsCalendar of Events