SKIPTON BID
NEWS Issue 1 | December 2017
KEEPING YOU IN TOUCH WITH YOUR BID Welcome to the first in a regular series of monthly updates from Skipton BID. Our aim is to make the town a better place to live, work and visit − by funding projects and events, which improve the Town Centre environment, and improve the viability and vitality of the town, encouraging the hugely important tourist trade. To help us help you, and to keep you informed, it would be extremely useful if you could please provide an email address so we can send as many newsletters as possible electronically; email info@skiptonbid.com or call 01756 799033.
SKIPTON TOWN CENTRE AMASSADORS Skipton’s Town Centre Ambassadors have enjoyed a successful year following the relaunch of their role in January. Funded and equipped by the BID and Skipton Town Council there is a team of volunteer ambassadors, who can be seen around the town on market days, headed up by Supervisor Judy Probst. In their role as ‘greeters’ to the thousands of coach passengers who come to Skipton as part of pre-booked trips organised by the ‘Visit Skipton’ brand, the ambassadors consistently promote the town’s shops, businesses and services. Town ambassadors are also a mobile tourist information service and are equipped to liaise with the police as part of the BCRP, should they identify any potential theft or anti-social behaviour. They are also trained to deal with other issues such as graffiti or problems with lighting etc. Left to right -Judy Probst and Paul Jenkins (photo: Stephen Garnett Photography).
FORTHCOMING & RECENT EVENTS Skipton Christmas Markets December 3rd & 10th Always popular, the Christmas Markets bring the BID funded events to a close each year. These events are crucial for our Market and for many customer based businesses; the footfall figures were again around the 20,000 mark on each day. The Christmas Market is consistently voted in the Top Ten in the UK and attracts visitors and coach tours from all over the country. Skipton Christmas Lights November 23rd Skipton’s Christmas lights, jointly funded by Skipton BID and Skipton Town Council, were switched on 6pm on November 23rd. The BID funding ensures that the impressive, and well received, display can cover most of the Town Centre and not just the High Street. Craven Court hosted the switch-on event for the third year, with a smaller event held outside the Town Hall. Skipton Musical Theatre Presents ‘Sister Act’ October 26th – 28th Skipton Musical Theatre Company hosted its annual show over three consecutive nights at the town’s Mart Theatre. The production of ‘Sister Act’ showcased the talents of this long established local group which is now supported by Skipton BID.
Setting up for the Switch-on - left to right - Emma Marsden, Craven Court Manager; Dave Parker, Skipton Town Council; Paw Patrol's Chase; PCSO Gillian Seed; Paw Patrol's Marshall; Judy Probst, Town Centre Ambassadors Supervisor; Geraldine Thompson, Skipton BID; and Joshua Daily, Town Centre Ambassador.
All events are listed on the Welcome to Skipton website − www.welcometoskipton.com − which is funded and administered by Skipton BID. To add your own event to the website free of charge, email admin@welcometoskipton.com. Issue 2 of Skipton BID News will feature more information including photographs of the Christmas Lights Switch On and Christmas Markets.
SHOPPED!
Skipton’s Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) scored another success when a pair of known prolific shoplifters from Leeds were apprehended thanks to the radio vigilance of ‘shop watch’ BCRP members. There are still a number of dedicated digital radios available for BID businesses who want to join the scheme, which enables information about theft and anti-social behaviour to be shared immediately between BCRP members and the police.
It is important thing to ensure radios are switched on each day. To request a digital radio email info@skiptonbid.com or phone 01756 799033. Skipton BID administers and funds the BCRP – which is made up of: the BCRP member retailers and licensees, Skipton Town Council, Craven District Council, and Skipton Police. Front to back - Judy Probst and PCSO Gillian Seed (photo: Stephen Garnett Photography).
SKIPTON PUPPET FESTIVAL
England’s largest celebration of puppet theatre, Skipton Puppet Festival, recently returned to the town. Now in its 12th year, the three day festival sold out all of its 35 plus ticketed shows, and saw in excess of 10,000 people − from all corners of the UK and Europe − take part in the workshops, watch the free shows in Coach Street’s canal basin, and enjoy the grand puppet parade which featured more than 100 puppets. Said Skipton BID’s Geraldine Thompson; “It is safe to say that once again the event was a phenomenal success. Skipton BID is extremely proud to support this event which puts Skipton on the international stage, as well as harnessing and showcasing the creative talents of many local community groups.” All photos courtesy of Skipton Puppet Festival / Craig Shaw Blu Planet Photography.
We’d love to hear your stories about how Skipton BID has benefitted your business. Please email info@skiptonbid.com to share your news. The next edition of Skipton BID News will be published in January 2018.
WELCOME TO SKIPTON WEBSITE The Welcome to Skipton website – funded and administered by Skipton BID - is the face of the ‘Visit Skipton’ brand. A key aim of the site is to offer a comprehensive, up-to-date directory of all Skipton businesses and events. The site receives more than 20,000 visits per month, which translated to nearly 60,000 individual page visits in October. This confirms that those finding Skipton via the Welcome to Skipton website are using it to actively research what to do and where to stay, eat, drink and shop in Skipton. The volume of traffic through the Welcome to Skipton website means that it will always come top (or nearly top) in any Google search which contains the word ‘Skipton’. This means that those searching the web are more likely to find out about you and your business through the Welcome to Skipton website than through any internet presence.
Please visit www.welcometoskipton.com to check that your business is listed correctly. To add or make any amends to a current listing, please email admin@welcometoskipton.com. All listings require a photograph of the business premises, a description, and contact details, including a web address where possible. The site is also being updated to highlight BID businesses which are part of Skipton’s newly launched ShopAppy network. ShopAppy is a revolutionary ‘click and collect’ shopping website which encourages people to shop locally more often. For information about ShopAppy including how to join, please email info@skiptonbid.com.
It is up to each individual BID business to check they are listed on the site.
FOOTFALL COUNTERS IN SKIPTON Skipton BID supports many projects each year aimed at maintaining and increasing visitor numbers, so it is important to have an effective way of evaluating the success of any event or marketing initiative. It is equally important to be able to compare how Skipton is performing, as a town, against regional and national trends and against its own performance in recent weeks, months and years. In partnership with Skipton Town Council and Craven District Council, Skipton BID has funded sophisticated footfall counters in the town centre which provide incredibly accurate figures on the number of people in town on an hourly basis, 24/7. Provided by industry leader Springboard, the counters deliver comparisons on a week-by-week, month-by-month and year-on-year basis with other similar market towns, with the
North Yorkshire region and on a national basis. The counters can tell us instantly, for example, whether Sheep Day or Yarndale or the Tour de Yorkshire have a positive impact on the number of visitors in town (they do, by the way!). We can also see whether general footfall is higher or lower than it was, say, this time last week – or on the same day in the previous year. This information helps us build a fairly detailed picture of how Skipton is performing, whether more (or less!) needs to be done at certain times of the year – and, most importantly, whether the cash invested in any initiative has achieved the desired results. We’ll be sharing some of this data with you in future editions of the newsletter – but any BID business can have access to the data themselves on request. Please email info@skiptonbid.com or call 01756 799033 for more details.
SKIPTON BUSINESS AWARDS 2018 Following the success of the inaugural Skipton Business Awards in 2017, Skipton Chamber of Trade – with sponsorship from Skipton Building Society – launched the 2018 event programme on November 8th. Skipton BID is sponsoring the Best Bar None Award. There are 12 award categories in total and BID businesses are eligible to nominate themselves for an award. Please visit www.skiptonbusinessawards.co.uk for nomination details, which close January 15th 2018.