Royston First Update - June 2020

UPDATE ROYSTON F1RST UPDATE | JUNE 2020

Royston Come Together These unprecedented times means there has never been a more important time for businesses to come together to keep our town a vibrant, safe and well-promoted place.

COVID-19 may have changed our lives causing us to all work differently, but we are confident that we can withstand the many challenges the crisis will continue to bring over the coming months.

“Royston Come Together” is our newly-launched initiative that we hope will help us to revive our town centre and industrial areas, and bring life back to the town we all know and love.

PROJECTS THAT ARE BEING WORKED ON: Online COVID-19 Support Hub Social distancing measures in public spaces Hand sanitisation in town centre Promotion of local businesses

Improved communication with the launch of a new Facebook group Town map featuring ‘shops open’ Print and online promotions Look inside for full details of all projects...

WE WANT TO SUPPORT BUSINESSES... BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP! In order to promote your business (and at no expense to you), we need your input.

We need to know if you are open (or when you think you might be opening) and your current opening times. It would also be useful to know if you are running any special offers or promotions and if there are any changes to your practice that you would like to publicise.

The information you provide in this survey will be used to help promote your business in the press and online, and also identify ways in which we may be able to support you during these difficult times.

For more information, please email us at: info@roystonfirst.co.uk.

Please complete our survey here: tinyurl.com/roystoncometogether

02 Royston First | UPDATE

Protecting & Promoting Royston Royston First know that businesses are currently under a lot of pressure and want to help support your business during this time.

Some of the activities we are currently working on: MAKING PUBLIC PLACES SAFER

PRODUCING A TOWN MAP We are busy planning a town map which will feature information on opening times of shops visited by the public. This map will have as up-to-date information as we can find, and feature online – both on the Royston Town website as a downloadable PDF and on social media.

PROMOTING LOCAL BUSINESSES We aim to advertise up-to-date information on businesses open in print and online. If we know your opening times and any offers/promotions you are currently running, then you may be featured within local publications and websites.

IMPROVING COMMUNICATION We have set up a new ‘Royston Come Together’ Facebook group to help improve communications amongst Royston businesses, which is open exclusively to any premises-based businesses in Royston town and the industrial estate. Visit www.facebook.com/roystonfirst and select “Groups” from the top menu to find and request to join the group.

Social Distancing Public Health England (PHE) has advised maintaining 2 metres (6ft) distance from others, (outside of your immediate household), to reduce the risk of transmission of coronavirus.

In order to do this NHDC is acting on Government instruction and adapting our public places to allow social distancing. This includes the use of temporary barriers which have been introduced in areas likely to have high footfall once all the shops have opened.

Royston First is liaising with NHDC and discussing the impact different social distancing options will have on businesses as we understand that this may be a very difficult process for businesses in the town.

However, NHDC have to fit in with Government guidelines, and whilst we will give information and recommendations, NHDC will ultimately make the decision on the changes required in the the High Street in order to achieve social distancing.

Hand Sanitisation We have provided five hand sanitiser stations in the town centre to help shoppers feel more confident and safe in the town. Thank you to the businesses who have agreed to be responsible for the storage and upkeep of these vital units.

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Moreno’s Cafe HC Jewellers Abode Town & Country Merlin Mica Hardware

Covid-19 Support Hub As part of our ‘Royston Come Together’ campaign, we have launched a new Covid-19 Support Hub for businesses on the Roystonfirst.com website.

Here you will find all the latest information regarding the town, including initiatives facilitated by Royston First, and links to funding opportunities.

DON’T FORGET! Complete our online survey: tinyurl.com/ro

Royston First | UPDATE 03

‘Virtual’ Easter Trail Success

Market manager corner

COVID-19 wasn’t going to stop us from running a children’s activity this Easter taking the place of the traditional town trails we run four times a year.

We were only too happy to help entertain children at home by running an online Easter quiz competition, with a gigantic 1.2kg Easter egg up for grabs.

The first virtual trail was really popular and the lucky winner was Amber Rose from Royston, who was selected at random amongst the many entries we received.

Her Mum, Carrie, said: “Thank you so much for the egg.

Amber was so pleased and couldn’t believe the size of it. She has promised to share it with me, her Dad & little brother Hayden”.

Congratulations once again to Amber and thank you to all of the children who entered. Watch this space for information about the next trail!

While nationally a high percentage of markets have seen a decrease in footfall throughout this challenging period, the opposite is true for Royston’s Wednesday and Saturday markets.

Only traders selling food have been permitted to work, and all have reported significant increases in the number of customers, making reference to new faces and customers returning week after week.

Well Done Amber!

Goodbye to Geraint Sadly, our BID manager, Geraint Burnell, has left Royston First for pastures new.

Having managed Royston First since its very first term, Geraint has been responsible for projects that have been implemented within Royston including leading the development of our very own community cinema, Royston Picture Palace.

He is also responsible for the introduction of the popular childrens’ town centre trails, which regularly bring over 800 people from the community into our town.

More recently, Geraint facilitated the Royston Gateway road entrance, introduced additional patrols by uniformed police resulting in a reduction in crime figures and brightened up our town centre shop windows with fun Christmas displays.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Geraint for all that he has done for Royston and we wish him well in his future.

oystoncometogether

Traders, including the fishmonger, butcher and fruit and vegetable stalls have all offered a delivery service for vulnerable households, starting on the market as early as 5.00am with additional staff to help with demand.

From the 1st June non-essential traders have started to return, whilst maintaining social distancing to ensure that the market remains a safe and pleasant environment in which to shop.

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Town Council/NHDC News Keep up to date with the latest news

The latest scheme is the Discretionary Business Grant scheme.

There is a three week application window running until 17.00 on Friday 19th June 2020 in order to allow all businesses the chance to apply, rather than allocating money on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you haven’t benefitted from the Prescribed Schemes you may be eligible under the Discretionary Scheme.

You can view the policy on the Royston First website, along with details on how to apply.

The survey can also be found on the COVID-19 Support page at:

www.roystonfirst.com

04 Royston First | UPDATE

What is the Royston BID? Royston Business Improvement District (BID) brings together all of the businesses in Royston town centre and the industrial areas, to make Royston a better place to live, work and play.

Established in April 2009 after a successful vote by electoral authorities, the BID is renewed every 5 years by a ballot of eligible businesses. The BID is funded by these businesses via a levy based on rateable value. Since term 3 those whose rateable value is less than £15K do not pay into the BID. The BID provides businesses with the opportunity to become directly involved in the development and improvement of Royston by working in partnership with the council and other statutory authorities – thus bringing benefits to both their own enterprises as well as the wider community.

Royston continues to benefit from the BID, with numerous initiatives operating within the town, including Free-after-3pm parking, parking scratchcards for businesses on the industrial estate and promotion of businesses on the Royston town website.

Board Members Director and Advisory Council positions at Royston First are voluntary and, following a number of changes in the formal positions within Royston First during 2019-2020, the Advisory Council has decided to increase the Board to a team of five. These are: n

David Smyth - Chairman

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Catherine Boughton

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Bill Davidson

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Steve Jackson

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Nigel Reader

Planning Ahead Amongst all of the Covid-19 activities we are also trying to forward plan:

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS We have already got a working party together looking at Christmas lights in the town, in conjunction with Royston Town Council and NHDC. This is a project very close to our hearts so we will keep you updated of progress over the coming months.

WEBSITE UPDATES Another project that we continue to support is maintaining the Royston Town website. The information is obviously of interest to a lot of local people as there has been 3690 visitors to the website over the last quarter, which averages out to nearly 50 people visiting the website every single day.

We are trying to keep the information as up to date as possible regarding opening of shops so that people know what to expect when they visit the town. Please let us know of any changes to your opening times.

SIGNAGE IN THE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE We are currently scoping out a co-ordinated signage project across the industrial estates. It’s in its very early stages but a project that we are keen to progress.

ROYSTON F1RST c/o Town Hall, Melbourn Street, Royston SG8 7DA 01763 878 242 info@roystonfirst.com Royston First www.roystonfirst.com