04 Royston First | UPDATE
Business Database Completion of this project provides an asset for Royston that has been missing for some years.
Royston First UPDATE - Spring
Painstakingly compiled from public sources (previous lists have been partially or fully redacted due to Data Protection Act considerations), this database lists over 350 companies currently active within Royston’s boundaries. Not only is each company listed and located, but also their full contact details, including web and new media, are openly available.
2016
Royston Town Website
It is hoped that this initiative will be followed by expansion of networking potential – ending ultimately with Royston running its very own Business Hub. The potential for boosting trade both inside and outside the town is considerable.
Listing over 350 businesses in Royston
Vist us today at
www.roystontown.uk NOW AVAILABLE... Royston First February/March Edition For some years now, Royston First has compiled and printed a guide to consumer businesses listed by product/service. The A3, 4-sided glossy publication is distributed to 15,000 local households together with the ever popular Listing magazine. The latest issue was distributed in January and for the second year running featured over a dozen businesses new to the town.
We welcome your closer involvement in the running of the BID and its various activities.
AGM Royston First
Our AGM will take place on
Thursday 28th April at 6.30pm in the Royston Picture Palace cinema in the Town Hall. Do come along if you can and join the drive to make Royston an even better place in which to live and work.
Royston F1rst c/o Town Hall Melbourn Street Royston SG8 7DA t 01763 878 242 e info@roystonfirst.com
Our aim with this new website is to bring together everything anyone ever wanted to know about Royston - be they visitor, resident or business. We’ve tried to look at the town from the perspective of the Royston user. What would they want/need to know? For the visitor we’ve included information on history, local attractions, guest houses/hotels together with essential maps for finding the town and getting around once they’ve arrived.
Residents are offered information on restaurants, local facilities, the cinema, on/off-street parking and more. For businesses looking into Royston we’ve compiled an up to date list of every publically listed commercial entity together with contact details, addresses (website and street) and any new media listing. For businesses looking for customers or trading partners, we are seeking to improve the visibility and prestige of the town. Looking at the broader picture, this website is designed to assist in achieving an overall objective ‘upping our game’ by publicising the benefits of living in and trading from Royston. In addition to the recently launched Royston Information Centre in the library, we are also
New Website Launched!
in the process of building a series of printed materials and video promos to push our message further afield. All-in-all we feel better placed to exploit the recent national media coverage of Royston as a top place to live and work in the south-east. Our next objective is to use the new marketing collateral to attract people and businesses to Royston. The new town video will start by being shown to our own cinema audiences and on the website - but it will hopefully progress to being screened in out-of-town cinemas and incorporated in to multi-media promotional packs to be distributed to the likes of prospective house buyers, coach tour operators and special interest groups.
02 Royston First | UPDATE
Royston First | UPDATE 03
Christmas in Royston 2015 Rudolph’s christmas trail
The RIC has been constructed into order to fulfil the role of a central ‘hub’ for visitors. It features a display which currently introduces the viewer to the key attractions in our town. It will soon be supplemented by the new Royston website – offering more in-depth information.
The day of the third annual Christmas trail was very windy (at one point Santa nearly flew for real!) Nevertheless, we received 400 entries from children who had completed a 12 point tour of the town centre and returned to Rudolph’s log cabin (!) to receive a free present from Santa. Including accompanying adults, we estimate over 1,000 people participated.
Royston Information Centre
Christmas Windows This was the second year we’ve used a painter to decorate empty shop windows to provide a seasonal glow. In the event, the impact was somewhat muted by the withdrawal of two locations due to landlords signing new tenants. We hope to repeat the exercise at Easter (assuming there are any empty shops remaining!)
Future developments for the RIC potentially include a ‘packagised’ visitor experience based around a re-furbished Town Trail. The new ‘offer’ and the potential it holds for increasing visitor numbers is being actively researched in a project sponsored by Royston First. We should also mention that the RIC has already delivered tangible benefit to Royston by funding the extension of library opening hours to re-include Thursday mornings.
New window signage for the library
Interactive display within the visitor centre External signage for the information centre
EASTER TRAIL COMING SOON... On March 26th (the Saturday before Easter Sunday) we will once again stage our Easter Chocolate Trail. Hidden in dozen shop windows will be chocolate rabbits that the children will have to spot in order to complete an entry form to enter a prize draw (made by the Town Mayor). Once again we will be relying on the power of free chocolate to bring in the crowds!
Street Cleaning We have embarked on an exercise to remove the most offensive stains (chewing gum, etc.) from paving stones throughout the town centre to see to what extent it improves the appearance of the High Street. To date, on both the occasions the work has been carried out, it has distinctly lightened the colour of the pavements. We will repeat the exercise on one further occasion before Easter to see whether the improvement is sustained.
Royston Showreels Royston First is about to add Town to the series of popular short films about our town being Showreel screened to audiences in the Royston Picture Palace (currently achieving 10,000+ ticket sales per year). In a departure from the current films dedicated to a single subject (Retail or Eateries), the new film will focus on the broad appeal of the town in its entirety, As mentioned elsewhere, it is envisaged that screening in our cinema is just one of a number of potential outlets including other cinemas, the Royston Information Centre and a new promotional pack for Royston.
The first films we commissioned about Royston business to be shown in our cinema were three shorts about Royston’s ‘eateries’.
Eateries Showreel
Over the intervening couple of years, these films have become increasingly in need of being updated. Having, in the meantime, launched the very successful ‘Retail’ short, we resolved it would be more cost effective to adopt a similar style for the Eateries and combine into a single, themed trailer. Filming is just about completed and editing should be concluded in time for a Spring launch.
02 Royston First | UPDATE
Royston First | UPDATE 03
Christmas in Royston 2015 Rudolph’s christmas trail
The RIC has been constructed into order to fulfil the role of a central ‘hub’ for visitors. It features a display which currently introduces the viewer to the key attractions in our town. It will soon be supplemented by the new Royston website – offering more in-depth information.
The day of the third annual Christmas trail was very windy (at one point Santa nearly flew for real!) Nevertheless, we received 400 entries from children who had completed a 12 point tour of the town centre and returned to Rudolph’s log cabin (!) to receive a free present from Santa. Including accompanying adults, we estimate over 1,000 people participated.
Royston Information Centre
Christmas Windows This was the second year we’ve used a painter to decorate empty shop windows to provide a seasonal glow. In the event, the impact was somewhat muted by the withdrawal of two locations due to landlords signing new tenants. We hope to repeat the exercise at Easter (assuming there are any empty shops remaining!)
Future developments for the RIC potentially include a ‘packagised’ visitor experience based around a re-furbished Town Trail. The new ‘offer’ and the potential it holds for increasing visitor numbers is being actively researched in a project sponsored by Royston First. We should also mention that the RIC has already delivered tangible benefit to Royston by funding the extension of library opening hours to re-include Thursday mornings.
New window signage for the library
Interactive display within the visitor centre External signage for the information centre
EASTER TRAIL COMING SOON... On March 26th (the Saturday before Easter Sunday) we will once again stage our Easter Chocolate Trail. Hidden in dozen shop windows will be chocolate rabbits that the children will have to spot in order to complete an entry form to enter a prize draw (made by the Town Mayor). Once again we will be relying on the power of free chocolate to bring in the crowds!
Street Cleaning We have embarked on an exercise to remove the most offensive stains (chewing gum, etc.) from paving stones throughout the town centre to see to what extent it improves the appearance of the High Street. To date, on both the occasions the work has been carried out, it has distinctly lightened the colour of the pavements. We will repeat the exercise on one further occasion before Easter to see whether the improvement is sustained.
Royston Showreels Royston First is about to add Town to the series of popular short films about our town being Showreel screened to audiences in the Royston Picture Palace (currently achieving 10,000+ ticket sales per year). In a departure from the current films dedicated to a single subject (Retail or Eateries), the new film will focus on the broad appeal of the town in its entirety, As mentioned elsewhere, it is envisaged that screening in our cinema is just one of a number of potential outlets including other cinemas, the Royston Information Centre and a new promotional pack for Royston.
The first films we commissioned about Royston business to be shown in our cinema were three shorts about Royston’s ‘eateries’.
Eateries Showreel
Over the intervening couple of years, these films have become increasingly in need of being updated. Having, in the meantime, launched the very successful ‘Retail’ short, we resolved it would be more cost effective to adopt a similar style for the Eateries and combine into a single, themed trailer. Filming is just about completed and editing should be concluded in time for a Spring launch.
04 Royston First | UPDATE
Business Database Completion of this project provides an asset for Royston that has been missing for some years.
Royston First UPDATE - Spring
Painstakingly compiled from public sources (previous lists have been partially or fully redacted due to Data Protection Act considerations), this database lists over 350 companies currently active within Royston’s boundaries. Not only is each company listed and located, but also their full contact details, including web and new media, are openly available.
2016
Royston Town Website
It is hoped that this initiative will be followed by expansion of networking potential – ending ultimately with Royston running its very own Business Hub. The potential for boosting trade both inside and outside the town is considerable.
Listing over 350 businesses in Royston
Vist us today at
www.roystontown.uk NOW AVAILABLE... Royston First February/March Edition For some years now, Royston First has compiled and printed a guide to consumer businesses listed by product/service. The A3, 4-sided glossy publication is distributed to 15,000 local households together with the ever popular Listing magazine. The latest issue was distributed in January and for the second year running featured over a dozen businesses new to the town.
We welcome your closer involvement in the running of the BID and its various activities.
AGM Royston First
Our AGM will take place on
Thursday 28th April at 6.30pm in the Royston Picture Palace cinema in the Town Hall. Do come along if you can and join the drive to make Royston an even better place in which to live and work.
Royston F1rst c/o Town Hall Melbourn Street Royston SG8 7DA t 01763 878 242 e info@roystonfirst.com
Our aim with this new website is to bring together everything anyone ever wanted to know about Royston - be they visitor, resident or business. We’ve tried to look at the town from the perspective of the Royston user. What would they want/need to know? For the visitor we’ve included information on history, local attractions, guest houses/hotels together with essential maps for finding the town and getting around once they’ve arrived.
Residents are offered information on restaurants, local facilities, the cinema, on/off-street parking and more. For businesses looking into Royston we’ve compiled an up to date list of every publically listed commercial entity together with contact details, addresses (website and street) and any new media listing. For businesses looking for customers or trading partners, we are seeking to improve the visibility and prestige of the town. Looking at the broader picture, this website is designed to assist in achieving an overall objective ‘upping our game’ by publicising the benefits of living in and trading from Royston. In addition to the recently launched Royston Information Centre in the library, we are also
New Website Launched!
in the process of building a series of printed materials and video promos to push our message further afield. All-in-all we feel better placed to exploit the recent national media coverage of Royston as a top place to live and work in the south-east. Our next objective is to use the new marketing collateral to attract people and businesses to Royston. The new town video will start by being shown to our own cinema audiences and on the website - but it will hopefully progress to being screened in out-of-town cinemas and incorporated in to multi-media promotional packs to be distributed to the likes of prospective house buyers, coach tour operators and special interest groups.