ATCM News

MARK ROSS TO MANAGE ATCM BID PROGRAMME

8 May 2013: Mark Ross, a Business Improvement District manager and business consultant with many years of experience in a wide variety of towns, has been named as the Association of Town & City Management's BID programme manager.

Ross has run BID programmes in Swindon, Oldham and Mansfield. More recently, he served as one of the special advisors, on ATCM’s Town Team Support programme covering the East of England.

From mid-2011 through last autumn, he was an Area Business Manager in the London Borough of Newham, working to join the two centres of Westfield and Old Stratford together as part of the Olympic legacy.

Says ATCM Chief Executive Martin Blackwell, "Mark is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable people in the UK's BID world, and joins us at a time when more and more town and city centres are looking at creating their own.

"In addition to advising and supporting existing BIDs in ATCM membership and advising on BID legislation throughout the UK Mark will support the new wave of BIDs expected to come forward from the Town Teams established following the Portas Review.

More than half of all the town centre BIDs in the UK are ATCM members. This appointment will enable us to really step up the support and service we give to existing BIDs.

Ross's work has included focusing on delivering a new crime reduction partnership, enhanced cleaning, increased marketing and creation of a town centre caretaker in Oldham.

In Swindon, he worked to increase Christmas activities and crowds for the lights switch on events, rolled out the Street Ambassador programme and developed an Armistice Day event which grew significantly over two years.

While in Mansfield, Ross helped to create town centre activities such as enhanced Christmas Lights and developed initial plans with colleagues for the creation of the town centre website and Facebook page.

In Stratford, he identified and helped secure £350,000 of additional funding for the area and worked to maximise the opportunities the 2012 Olympics games created. In a hands-on role, he also helped in the dissemination of complex traffic demand forecasts, security plans and freight implementation plans.

He also worked closely with working with councils in Greater London running up to the games, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd (LOCOG), OPLC (the Olympic Park Legacy Company now London Legacy Development Company), the Metropolitan Police and Westfield’s management on defining stakeholders’ key issues, especially banks and relevant cash availability.

A company director with fourteen years’ experience of running a property and business consultancy firm, Ross is a member of the ATCM.

Says Ross," I am an advocate of the positive impact a BID can have on the economic success for a town centre, but I am also aware of the hard work and focus required to ensure a BID fulfils its potential and reflects the trust the voting members have placed upon the BID Company to ensure the voters’ ambitions will be realised.

“I look forward to the challenge and excitement of working with all of the existing BIDs as well as with businesses in the areas looking to take advantage of the opportunities a BID provides.”

Ross, who begins work on 1 June, will be based in the ATCM's Manchester office.

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Editors’ note: For more information, contact Richard Dennery at media@atcm.org or 07885 945404

ATCM BACKGROUND

The not-for-profit ATCM includes over 600 town centre, city centre and Business Improvement District locations, many of which already work in successful partnerships that demonstrate the commitment of retailers and other business owners, local authorities and local communities.

Known for over 20 years as the Association of Town Centre Management, it is now referred to as the Association of Town & City Management.

In early 2012, it launched a 10-point manifesto for town centres and high streets which can be downloaded at http://www.atcm.org/mfiles/files/971-ATCMManifestoA42.pdf and last summer launched an encyclopaedia of ways to help the High Street, at http://www.100ways.org.uk

Since the autumn of 2012, ATCM has been working with over 300 Town Team applicants providing support for Town Centres and High streets across the country. As part of that effort, it launched a website, www.townteams.org, and published a new guide for Town Teams. The ATCM, supported by a range of partner organisations, was selected in March 2013, by the DCLG to take forward work on the Portas Pilots as well as Town Teams for a further two years and its Chief Executive, Martin Blackwell, was named to the Future High Streets Forum.

In March 2013, the ATCM produced a Gloucestershire LEP report and toolkit aimed at bringing fresh life into the UK’s town centres and high streets. The report, "Successful town centres - developing effective strategies," can be found at www.atcm.org/tools.

The ATCM has been at the forefront of BID development since the early 2000s, delivering the national BID pilot and writing the Good Practice Guide that accompanies the legislation adopted in 2004. The ATCM set up the National BIDs Advisory Service and now works with developing and established BIDs across the UK and further afield.

It also works with trade bodies, businesses and government, and provide the secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Town Centres and a BID Policy Think Tank, hosted at Westminster twice yearly, bringing MPs and Ministers in direct contact with BID businesses and BID managers.

Purple Flag began developing in 2003, when research undertaken by the Civic Trust showed that a unified view of the night time economy and how to improve it was lacking, despite widespread national concern. The Purple Flag system of standards, partnership-development, entering, judging and accreditation was launched in 2009.

Forty-two towns and cities in the UK and Ireland have been awarded Purple Flags since then and ATCM’s goal is to have 50 accredited centres by the end of 2013.

For further details of the ATCM, look online at www.atcm.org, on
Facebook at http://on.fb.me/Q1vONJ, and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/atcmuk

Town Team information can be found at http://www.townteams.org

Purple Flag information can be found at http://www.purpleflag.org.uk

BID information can be found at http://www.ukbids.org/

RSBPG and ATCM launch first joint workshopto understand the customer agenda in creating successful town and city centres

1 May 2013: An historic coming together of leading town and city centre management professionals and Business Improvement Districts with major landlords, agents and investors revealed that greater understanding, better communication, more trust and transparency are crucial to achieving successful and thriving town centres.

The need for stronger leadership and greater understanding of best practice also emerged from the discussion between members of the Association of Town & City Centre Management (ATCM) and RealService Best Practice Group (RSBPG).

ATCM is Europe's largest not-for-profit membership organisation dedicated to helping town and city centres realise their roles as prosperous locations for business and investment and as focal points for vibrant, inclusive communities.

Members are primarily public-private partnerships from across the UK as well as both public and private sector stakeholders.

RSBPG is the only industry group dedicated to improving customer service to occupiers and demonstrating the link between top quality property management and property performance. It is made up of many of the UK’s most dynamic and far-sighted property owners, fund managers and property management companies who have a shared passion for the role that customer service will play in shaping the future of the property industry.

Exploring ways of achieving the common goal of creating successful town and city centres was central to the workshop discussion hosted by DTZ at its central London head office in late April and co-chaired by ATCM CEO Martin Blackwell and RSBPG chairman Paul Harding, DTZ.

Keynote speaker Martyn Chase, director of Stanhope plc, set the challenge at the start of the discussion, saying: “Customers are more mobile and much less predictable than they used to be, which means that tomorrow’s shopping places will need to be more about winning hearts and minds than location. Town centres will need to engage more with their communities and work harder to keep their customer base by making them attractive, happening and exciting places where people feel it’s cool to be seen.”

The workshop involved ACTM and RSBPG representatives from across the UK, including DTZ, GVA, PRUPIM, CBRE, British Property Federation, RealService, Trafford Town Centre Partnerships, Wandsworth Borough Council and Norwich Business Improvement District.

Following are some of the key themes to have emerged from the discussion:

Communication: Getting all stakeholders involved in the success of a town centre to communicate effectively is vital, but knowing the right person to contact in a particular organisation and when, is a difficulty for all involved.

Landlords: Town and city centre landlords are invariably a diverse group ranging from pension funds to off-shore account holders to REITs and private individuals. It can therefore be hard to determine who ‘cares’ for a given asset. There needs to be an appointed person in each town and city to lead the process of understanding who its landlords are and their key points of contact.

Management and leadership: Finding managers and leaders capable of driving measures forward and generating energy around the common purpose is of paramount importance.

Trust: More trust, transparency and understanding is needed by all parties – retailers, landlords, managing agents and town and city management professionals to enable everyone involved to work together towards achieving the common goal.

Measurement: What gets measured gets improved. The customer service revolution among landlords and managing agents has been greatly enabled by the RealService Best Practice Index (BPI), which measures progress in 25 areas of performance. The potential exists for ATCM to mirror this initiative (now in its 10th year), by capturing what best practice looks like in a town and city centre management environment, and defining how to measure and benchmark performance.

Retention: Vacancy rates need not be the key measure when determining the success of a town. Measuring the number of lease renewals is arguably a better measure of the underlying health of a place. In today’s difficult economic climate, the fact that a retailer has signed a new lease to remain in town should merit as much publicity as a new retailer opening up shop.

The key lessons learned from the workshop will be developed into a blueprint by the two organisations and rolled out at the ATCM annual Summer School in July.

ATCM’s Martin Blackwell said: We have always known that we have much in common as groups but the potential for win-wins surprised even me. I confidently expect that the benefits from this collaboration will help both disciplines as well as, ultimately, the customer.

RSBPG’s Paul Harding, added: “I was excited by the energy and enthusiasm in the room to use the RSBPG as a route to increase town centre managers’ understanding of the relationships between landlords and occupiers.”

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Editors' Note: For further information, contact Richard Dennery on 07885 945404 or media@atcm.org

ATCM BACKGROUND

Known for over 20 years as the Association of Town Centre Management, it is now referred to as the Association of Town & City Management.

The ATCM, supported by a range of partner organisations, was selected in March 2013, by the DCLG to take forward work on the Portas Pilots as well as Town Teams for a further two years and its Chief Executive, Martin Blackwell, was named to the Future High Streets Forum.

For further details of the ATCM, look online at www.atcm.org, on
Facebook at http://on.fb.me/Q1vONJ, and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/atcmuk

Town Team information can be found at http://www.townteams.org

Purple Flag information can be found at http://www.purpleflag.org.uk

BID information can be found at http://www.ukbids.org/

Sunil Varu Named ATCM Representative in Scotland

25 April 2013: Sunil Varu, Vice Chairman of Holyrood’s Cross Party Group on Towns and Town Centres and a former town centre and business improvement district manager, has been named as the Association of Town & City Management (ATCM) representative in Scotland.

Says ATCM Chairman Alexander Nicoll, “Sunil brings to his new role broad practical experience and an in-depth understanding of the wider policy and strategic context of town centre development in Scotland.

“He was the architect of the first Holyrood Cross Party Group (CPG) on Town Centre Development in 2008, and has served as town centre manager in both Ayr and Kirkcaldy as well as BID manager in Kirkcaldy.

“Uniquely, and at a time when BIDs are being seen more than ever before as a way of focusing financing on town centres , Sunil has successfully delivered three contrasting BIDs: one in Kirkcaldy town centre, one in the entire town of Largs and one in Dunoon which included the town centre, the adjacent village and an industrial estate. “

Says Sunil, “My 20 years’ experience and background within the public, private and public/private sectors as well as achievements in strategy development and effective project delivery, give me the ability through the ATCM role to help partnership boards and organisations optimise their achievements.“

Debate and action on town and city centres in Scotland have been pushed up the agenda in Scotland through the CPG, the creation of an External Advisory Group (EAG) to the Scottish Government on a national review on town centres and the formation of the Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP).

Says Alexander Nicoll, “ATCM Scotland continues to play a significant and proactive role for its members by being fully involved and engaged in these groups through Sunil, Stirling Town Centre Manager Andy Kennedy on the EAG and Ojay Macdonald, ATCM research and policy manager, on the STP.
Sunil is also in his second term as both a Director of the ATCM itself and as chair ATCM in Scotland.

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Editors' Note: For further information, contact Richard Dennery on 07885 945404 or media@atcm.org

ATCM BACKGROUND

Known for over 20 years as the Association of Town Centre Management, it is now referred to as the Association of Town & City Management.

For further details of the ATCM, look online at www.atcm.org, on
Facebook at http://on.fb.me/Q1vONJ, and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/atcmuk

Town Team information can be found at http://www.townteams.org

Purple Flag information can be found at http://www.purpleflag.org.uk

BID information can be found at http://www.ukbids.org/

Sharon Scott Named as NI Representative for ATCM

Sharon Scott, founder and director of Place Solutions, a consultancy company specialising in, place management and marketing, has been named as Northern Ireland representative for the Association of Town & City Management (ATCM).

A former town centre manager in Coleraine, Sharon also sits on the Purple Flag Advisory Board in Northern Ireland. Purple Flag recognises excellence in the management of town and city centres and aims to raise standards and improve the quality of our towns and cities at night. It is similar to the Blue Flag for beaches.

She has also been actively involved in the development of the “Milestone Town Centre on-line Performance Monitoring System” in the province. Milestone monitors key aspects relating to the performance of towns and cities, including economic profile, property values, consumer demand, town centre provision and town centre quality. Developed by the ATCM and Springboard, it is already in use in over 5000 UK locations.

Says ATCM Chairman Alexander Nicoll, “Sharon brings to the role a broad practical experience, coupled with an in-depth understanding of the wider policy and strategic context in Northern Ireland.

“She is pro-actively engaged with the various NI Assembly departments involved in town centre regeneration and tourism, working to effectively position Town Centre Management as a key delivery mechanism within the emerging economic development, tourism and community planning framework.

“She co-authored various research papers submitted to the Department for Social Development’s Town Centre Task Force, which looked at the implications of the Mary Portas report in Northern Ireland and has prepared a number of consultation responses on the introduction of Business Improvement District legislation to Northern Ireland.”

Sharon has over 15 years’ experience both as a practitioner and as a consultant. She set up and managed Coleraine Town Partnership, a public/ private limited company, and was responsible for the strategic development and promotion of the town centre.

In her consultancy role she has advised Ballymena Borough Council on the set up of Ballymena Town Centre Development Company, and has worked on town centre masterplans in Newry and Coleraine

She is currently working on a BIDs and partnership development programme with five locations in NI, Scotland and ROI, funded by Interreg and is developing Place Branding and Marketing Strategies for Magherafelt and Enniskillen town centres.

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Editors’ note: For more information, contact Richard Dennery at media@atcm.org or 07885 945404

ATCM Board Elevates and Adds Members

3 April 2013: The Association of Town & City Management (ATCM), the not-for-profit organisation supporting town and city centres throughout the UK and further afield, has named PRUPIM representative Tony Bennett as Vice Chairman and added two new board members.

Paul Crutchley, NFC Market Development Director at global trade association the GSMA, is an additional appointment to the board while Rhiannon Kingsley, Bridgend County Borough Council town centre manager for Bridgend, Porthcawl and Maesteg, replaces Chris Edwards as the representative from Wales.

Tony Bennett as Vice Chairman

Currently a Director of Property & Asset Management at CBRE Ltd., Tony has represented PRUPIM, one of ATCM’s Corporate Champions, on the Board since March 2006, and has held the role of Honorary Treasurer since October 2008.

He graduated with a BSc in Urban Estate Surveying from Trent Polytechnic in 1977 and is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, with 35 years’ experience of managing property assets.

Said ATCM Chairman Alexander Nicoll, “Tony has been a loyal and effective 'servant' of ATCM for several years and, apart from his general contribution to the work of our Board, he has quietly shouldered the two roles of Treasurer and Secretary, bringing skills to both and giving us all great support.”

Paul Crutchley, new board member

Paul Crutchley, NFC Market Development Director at global trade association the GSMA, has joined the Board as part of the ATCM’s leading contribution to the moves to digitise UK High Streets and Town Centres.

Paul Crutchley is part of the GSMA’s Mobile Commerce Programme working on Near Field Communication (NFC) and is responsible for developing a stronger relationship with the retail ecosystem. The GSMA believes that mobile can help to energise the high street by creating a link between the online world and the bricks and mortar retail environment. It is building and developing the relationship between the two industries by working with retailers and retail associations to develop a proposition which for the first time can bring socio-economic wealth back to the town centre.

Said ATCM Chairman Alexander Nicoll, “Paul brings an incredible energy, knowledge and range of contacts to support our efforts aimed at promoting and developing today’s High Street and our work to connect with the increasingly important mobile world which influences everything,” “Having a representative of the GSMA on our Board reflects our necessary, growing and comprehensive focus on the future of town centres, not only in the UK but internationally.”

Rhiannon Ringsley, new board member

Prior to becoming Town Centre Manager in Bridgend in January, 2010, Rhiannon Kingsley was Business Improvement District Manager in Swansea for just over two years. She holds a BSc (Hons.) Environmental & Evolutionary Biology from the University of Liverpool and has worked as a city centre projects officer and parks development officer in Swansea in addition to spending four years with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers in London and Wales.

Said Alexander Nicoll, “I am delighted to welcome Rhiannon onto the ATCM Board. We take our coverage of the whole of the UK seriously and, as we have Welsh members engaged in the full range of town centre management concerns, it is absolutely right that those members are represented at Board level.

“Rhiannon has also worked as a BID manager and her experience will be helpful as ATCM seeks to further develop its engagement with and services for our growing number of BID members.”

Said Rhiannon Kingsley, “I’m very proud to be representing Wales on the ATCM board. Welsh towns have a long and varied history and have always been close in the hearts of their communities. It is a challenging time for our towns and we have to be courageous in embracing change.

“I hope to strengthen existing partnerships and develop new relationships and friends during my term as regional chair in Wales. I am looking forward to working closely with ATCM members and bringing their knowledge and expertise back home.”

The ATCM board consists of members from the private sector, ATCM Chief Executive Martin Blackwell plus serving managers representing all four countries of the UK.

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Editors’ note: For more information, contact Richard Dennery at media@atcm.org or 07885 945404

Photos of Tony Bennett and Rhiannon Kingsley can be sent separately by sending a request to media@atcm.org

For further information on the GSMA and its Mobile Commerce programme go to: www.gsma.com/mobilenfc/

ATCM BACKGROUND

Known for over 20 years as the Association of Town Centre Management, it is now referred to as the Association of Town & City Management.

For further details of the ATCM, look online at www.atcm.org, on
Facebook at http://on.fb.me/Q1vONJ, and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/atcmuk

Town Team information can be found at http://www.townteams.org

Purple Flag information can be found at http://www.purpleflag.org.uk

BID information can be found at http://www.ukbids.org/

ATCM Delivers New Approach to Help High Streets

2 April 2013: A new report and toolkit designed by the Association of Town & City Management (ATCM) aimed at bringing fresh life into the UK’s town centres and high streets is now available on-line.

The report, Successful town centres - developing effective strategies, can be found at www.atcm.org/tools. It offers a series of easily used tools and ideas that will empower retailers, communities and local planners to help ensure their town centres meet the changing demands of local residents and businesses. Many of the efforts recommended can be undertaken without cost to communities.

Supported by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the report and accompanying toolkit created on behalf of Gloucestershire’s Local Economic Partnership, the government’s retail Pathfinder, comes at a time when the number of empty retail units is still a concern and online purchasing trends continue to grow.

It was launched at an event organised by Gloucestershire’s LEP.

The report and toolkit can be used by communities to help them analyse their retail centres and position their destinations strategically in line with the ‘personality’ of their town centres.

This can then be used in conjunction with a new National Town Centre Performance Framework, which is linked to an indicator-based toolkit, to help town centres improve their competitiveness and performance by staying true to their roots and ‘personality’.

Michael Fallon MP, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, said: "A successful retail sector needs thriving high streets and town centres - and successful high streets and town centres need a thriving retail sector.

“That is why BIS supported this work to help towns across the country find new ways to keep their high street at the heart of local economies. I congratulate Gloucestershire LEP and the Association of Town & City Management on their achievement."

Diane Savory, chair of Gloucestershire LEP, said: “Local communities are passionate about their high streets and town centres. We now need to harness this passion and encourage these areas to develop their own personalities and unique traits.

“In the current economic climate and with the growth of online purchasing, it is now more important than ever for high streets to find their own place. Our toolkit and report help communities to work together with local authorities, town teams, LEPs and town centre managers to make sure our high streets thrive.”

ATCM chief executive Martin Blackwell said: "This is a real breakthrough in thinking and allows us to look at our town centres, high streets and parades in an entirely different way. The old method of classifying places, such a market town, sub-regional centre or city, just didn’t tell you enough about what it’s really like– its personality.

“Determining a town's personality type is an extremely useful step for developing strategies for reaching out to existing and potential visitors and customers. We look forward to many towns taking advantage of this unique new tool, many elements of which are free to use."

Andres Coca-Stefaniak, ATCM’s International and Research Partnerships Manager and lead author of the report, said: “Past approaches to revitalising high streets have struggled. What we needed was radical out-of-the box thinking. This report delivers on that by incorporating best practice from the UK and overseas building on a variety of disciplines like tourism, local development, retail, marketing, urban planning and regeneration.

“It also brings performance monitoring and strategic thinking directly to communities, using tools that are simple to use and yet compatible with the most sophisticated approaches available in the market. We are really excited by the initial results we have obtained.”

The report and toolkit can be found on the ATCM website at www.atcm.org

The tools include:

• A town centre classification matrix linked to a ‘personality test’ – every town centre can be classified as one of four main ‘personality types’, based on what they do and the perceptions of their visitors: community-focused entrepreneurs; sustainable destinations; specialists; or global celebrities. The classification system helps retail communities better understand their town centres, and informs future vision and plans for revival.

• A new type of national performance framework for town centres – this enables better monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of a town centre. It focuses on themes such as footfall, vitality, consumer perceptions and economic characteristics and takes into account local, regional, national and global trends which impact on a town centre’s performance.

• A town centre performance toolkit – this allows a monitoring and evaluation system to be put in place for any town centre to check progress towards its vision for the future. It is a ground-breaking way of demystifying town centre performance indicators and showing how to get the most out of them.

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Editors’ Note: For further information, contact Richard Dennery on media@atcm.org or 07885 945404

REPORT BACKGROUND

The Association of Town & City Management (ATCM) has been working on the project with support from a number of partners, including:
The Association of Convenience Stores
Boots plc.
British Council of Shopping Centres
British Retail Consortium
Department of Business Innovation & Skills
Department for Communities & Local Government
Economic & Social Research Council
Experian
IsaacPartnership.co.uk
Jean Ball
Jones Lang LaSalle
The Local Government Association
London School of Economics
Loughborough University
National Skills Academy for Retail
Purple Flag (part of the ATCM)
Savills
Urban Pollinators
UK Trade & Investment

Retail Pathfinder status means that the Gloucestershire LEP will be the national leader on promoting, showcasing and recommending to government, businesses and LEPs across England on the role that LEPs can and should play to support the retail sector.

As the retail Pathfinder, the LEP will feed back to the Government Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) about key issues within the retail sector, and develop and implement joint projects.

GFirst, the economic development company that promotes Gloucestershire as a location for business, for visitors and for investors, is the driving force behind Gloucestershire’s LEP.

ATCM BACKGROUND

Known for over 20 years as the Association of Town Centre Management, it is now referred to as the Association of Town & City Management.

For further details of the ATCM, look online at www.atcm.org, on
Facebook at http://on.fb.me/Q1vONJ, and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/atcmuk

Town Team information can be found at http://www.townteams.org

Purple Flag information can be found at http://www.purpleflag.org.uk

BID information can be found at http://www.ukbids.org/

ATCM to Guide Portas Pilots and Town Teams for Next Two Years

25 March 2013: The Association of Town & City Management (ATCM) has been selected by the Department of Communities & Local Government (DCLG) to lead delivery of a comprehensive programme to support and develop England's High Streets and Town Centres for the next two years.

The programme’s multi-focused agenda recognises that there is no "one size fits all" and is designed to improve leadership, town team capabilities and partnership working, to share learning and spread best practice, with each area of work broken down into a range of activities including one-to-one guidance, regionally based workshops, national training, webinars, reports and 'How To' guides, study visits, conferences and seminars.

Says ATCM Chief Executive Martin Blackwell, “together with our partners, we are creating a comprehensive set of tools and providing expert guidance focused on specific problems in - and solutions for - each area. The knowledge gained will be useful to all towns and cities, not just in England but in the rest of the UK and further afield.”

The package is part of the government’s continuing response to the Mary Portas Review of the High Street completed in December 2011. Since then, 27 Portas Pilots and over 330 Town Team Partners (TTP) have been created in local communities with more springing up all the time.

Local Growth Minister Mark Prisk commented, "Over the last year this Government has worked hard to help boost the high street, including initiatives to simplify planning, revamp the public realm, cut the business rate burden and revive local markets.

"This package of support, alongside the work of the Future High Streets Forum, will help drive forward these initiatives and provide Town Teams with the strategic leadership needed to help their high streets adapt to the modern market."

The Pilots each received up to £100,000 in government funds to spend on projects they developed with input from local authorities, town councils, local businesses and communities together with support from Business in the Community while the TTPs each received £10,000 and a package of support provided by the ATCM.

Says ATCM Chief Executive Martin Blackwell, “some of the funding has already been well used to generate ‘quick wins’ on local community levels. Other funds have been allocated to target longer range problems as well as insuring wide spread ‘buy in’ from local residents as well as businesses and authorities. What is important is not how much of the Portas money has already been spent, but what is actually happening on the ground, including consultations and match funding that is being levered through the Portas vision.”

As Europe's largest membership organisation dedicated to helping town and city centres, the ATCM has worked with partnerships focused on town centre and high street improvement for over 20 years. It has a wealth of experience across the country and further afield, with over 600 members and Partners.

“The government has recognised the breadth and depth of experience brought together in our consortium by awarding us this grant and knows we will hit the ground running,” says Blackwell.

“We work with our partners to provide information, expertise and support, and our membership also provides intelligence on how conditions are changing in the high street, which allows us to develop new support mechanisms and investigate some of these issues proactively.

“We look forward to putting our resources together to support the Portas Pilots, Town Team Partners and our own members, be they Town Centre Partnerships, Business Improvement Districts or other organisations to help areas adapt to the economic challenges they face as well as bring local residents and businesses back into the hearts of their high street communities.”

Over the next two years, beginning on 1 April, the ATCM and supporting partners will provide support on business planning; a range of regional workshops; one to one advice; ‘How to’ guides and access to expert mentors and supporters.

Other work includes place branding; social media and marketing; town centre greening and climate change adaptation; developing age friendly town centres; volunteering; running and developing markets; living over the shops; access and parking; destination management and pop-up shops.

Annual conferences will bring together experts, partners and local groups from throughout the country, supplementing more frequent regional meetings.

Says Blackwell, “Professional management of town centres and high streets is as essential to their success as good planning and private sector investment. There is an evidence base that shows managed towns perform better and we are expanding the concept of management during the daylight “retail” hours into the evening and night time economies through such efforts as Purple Flag (www.purpleflag.org.uk).

James Miller, Lead Consultant at Experian, says, "We have been working with the ATCM for some time and last year published a significant review of the future of the UK's town centres focusing on key demographic, economic, consumer and technological trends up to the year 2020.

"We will now be able to provide detailed analysis for all eight English regions, expanding on trends and potential adaptation strategies - delivering actionable reports to Portas Pilots and Town Teams at a series of regional presentations.

"It is vital for every town and city to understand their market, both now and in the near future. This intelligence will help them respond more effectively to the significant drivers of town centre change - helping them survive and thrive in years to come. We're pleased to be able to partner with the ATCM in this important endeavour."

Joe Harrison, Chief Executive of the National Market Traders Federation (www.nmtf.co.uk), says, “The NMTF is delighted to hear that ATCM have been selected as the appropriate organisation to head up the support of the Town Teams. In our opinion they are the ideal people to do so.

“As a long established market organisation and an ATCM partner, we will be supporting Town Teams with aspirations of developing or improving their market offer, particularly those who will be looking to encourage new business start-ups on their markets.

“This will start in late April with a series off roadshows that will be drop in events that will highlight just what we can offer.”

Diane Wehrle, marketing director of Springboard, says, “We have worked closely with the ATCM developing tools for town centre managers and others to use in developing their town centre offer. We pride ourselves in delivering the most robust data on footfall and vacancies that are available, and we look forward to continuing to share our expertise and knowledge with the Portas Pilots and Town Team Partners”.

Tony Hothersall of the Community Forest Trust, the charity that supports community forestry initiatives, says that as one of the partners in the project, with extensive experience in transforming urban areas in Greater Manchester and Merseyside into greener, healthier and more satisfying places to live, work and invest, it will now be possible to share their knowledge with Portas Pilots and Town Team Partners.

"Greening is an essential component in making our town and city centres more sustainable and vibrant. Greening, such as street trees, pocket parks, green walls and green roofs, can have a significant impact on the local economy by making town centres more attractive places to live, visit, work or invest.

“With the onset of climate change, greening can also help to reduce urban areas’ vulnerability to overheating in extended hot periods as well as reducing surface water flooding, helping to improve air quality and reducing the impact of noise pollution.

“Increasing the levels of greenery will also attract more wildlife into cities which combined with the proven psychological calming effects of trees and green space will create a more attractive and less stressful environment for residents, workers and visitors."

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Editors’ note: For further information, contact Richard Dennery on media@atcm.org or 07885 945404.

Notes:

1. Most of the organisations below are providing services, skills or expertise as part of a consortium which will be co-ordinated by ATCM.

Association of Convenience Stores - www.acs.org.uk/

Boots Group - www.allianceboots.com/

British Council of Shopping Centres - www.bcsc.org.uk

British Property Federation – www.bpf.org.uk/

British Parking Association - www.britishparking.co.uk/

CBRE - www.cbre.co.uk/

CLES - www.cles.org.uk/

Dartford Borough Council – www.dartford.gov.uk

DTZ - www.dtz.com/UK

Experian - www.footfall.com

Federation of Small Business – www.fsb.org.uk

Galliford Try plc/ Ian Coull Consulting - www.gallifordtry.co.uk/

Green Infrastructure Partnership -

http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/10/11/more-green-spaces/

GSMA (mobile operators) - www.gsma.com

International Downtown Association (Washington DC) - www.idadowntown.

org

Local Government Association - www.local.gov.uk

National Association of British Market Authorities - www.nabma.com/

National Trust - www.nationaltrust.org.uk/

NCR - www.ncr.com/

National Market Traders Federation - www.nmtf.co.uk/

PopUp Britain - www.startupbritain.co/popupbritain/

Sheffield Hallam University - www.shu.ac.uk/

Small Back Room - www.smallbackroom.com

Springboard - www.spring-board.info/

Storecheckers - www.storecheckers.co.uk/

The Retail Group - www.theretailgroup.co.uk/

UKBIDs – www.ukbids.org

ULI Europe - uli-europe.org

University College London - www.ucl.ac.uk/

Visit England - www.visitengland.com

2. ATCM is Europe's largest membership organisation dedicated to helping town and city centres realise their natural roles both as prosperous locations for business and investment, and as focal points for vibrant, inclusive communities.

Our members are primarily public/private partnerships from across the UK as well as both public and private and third sector stakeholders.

ATCM has worked with partnerships focused on town centre and high street improvement for over 20 years and has a wealth of experience across the country and further afield. We have over 600 members and partners with whom we work providing information, expertise and support. Our membership also provides intelligence on how conditions are changing in the high street, which allows us to develop new support mechanisms and investigate some of these issues proactively.

We have been working with Town Teams since 2012 and have gained a unique insight into the types and size of partnerships reinvigorated by the Mary Portas review

We have developed relationships with Pilots and other Town Teams and are providing support as a critical friend.

Our staff teams have experience of working with and for local authorities, development agencies, public-private partnerships and within academia. Our experience spans industries and sectors within retail, property, transport, tourism, business management and consultancy, marketing and PR to name a few.

We have experiences of directly operating with scarce resources and maximising opportunities through research. In addition we have direct delivery experience of regeneration and economic development projects/programmes in challenging circumstances and periods of economic decline.

We have worked with a range of communities including in the UK and internationally. We also have partners from across the sector and outside who have significant experience which we can draw upon.

ATCM has been delivering the Town Teams Support package since September 2012 and has been working with over three hundred TTs during this time. We have a team of advisors in place who are committed to the programme, as well as a significant number of partners who have the capabilities to provide volunteer support.

They have made great strides in understanding the needs of the Town Teams on their “patch” and relationships and trust have been established.

With regard to providing additional support to Pilot projects we have identified a number of key supporters who are able to act as mentors to be assigned to Towns upon the successful award of this programme.

The ATCM team has a wealth of experience and as such have the capabilities to plan and manage this scale of programme immediately. Our partners on this programme have agreed to work with us. Timing etc., will depend on requirements by Pilot and Town Team areas but a generic programme of training will commence immediately. Deliverables in the first two months are identified in the programme schedule. Additional specific requests will be addressed going forward.

ATCM BACKGROUND

Known for over 20 years as the Association of Town Centre Management, it is now referred to as the Association of Town & City Management.

In early 2012, it launched a 10-point manifesto for town centres and high streets which can be downloaded at http://www.atcm.org/mfiles/files/971-ATCMManifestoA42.pdf and last summer launched an encyclopaedia of ways to help the High Street, at http://www.100ways.org.uk

Having been involved with the Mary Portas Review since it was first announced at the end of 2010, ATCM organised nine workshops across England on behalf of the Department of Communities and Local Government to help prospective Portas Pilots put their funding applications together. Since the autumn of 2012, ATCM has been working with over 300 Town Team applicants providing support for Town Centres and High streets across the country. It has launched a website, www.townteams.org, and published a new guide for Town Teams.

Alongside the Government funded support programme, ATCM also established the new 'High Street 100' group which brings together local authority recipients of £100,000 High Street Innovation Fund grants providing assistance via expert advice and solutions to tackle issues including growing vacancy rates.

The ATCM also runs the National BIDs Advisory Service and the Purple Flag accreditation scheme which works to improve management of the early evening and late night economy in towns and cities in the UK and Ireland.

For further details of the ATCM, look online at www.atcm.org, on
Facebook at http://on.fb.me/Q1vONJ, and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/atcmuk

Town Team information can be found at http://www.townteams.org

Purple Flag information can be found at http://www.purpleflag.org.uk

BID information can be found at http://www.ukbids.org/

ATCM announces exclusive UK couponing, loyalty and reward scheme
agreement with MoLo Rewards Using NFC

25 February 2013: The Association of Town & City Management (ATCM) has signed an exclusive agreement with MoLo Rewards to give local independent shops the same mobile phone and smart card capabilities as the majors.

Using Near Field Communication (NFC) contactless capabilities now being built into mobile phones (which works the same way as London Transport’s Oyster Card) the technology created by market leader MoLo Rewards connects people with their local town centre shops and others.

As part of the ATCM’s mission to improve town and city centres and after two years of collaboration and a 6-month proof-of-concept pilot in Reading, the ATCM is now recommending MoLo Rewards Ltd., for the provision of couponing, loyalty and reward schemes by all its membership locations.

Says ATCM Chief Executive Martin Blackwell, “It is more important now than ever that town and city centres embrace the potential of the digital high street. The ATCM has started to work with a number of innovative and strategic players to help integrate mobile contactless
technology with the complex systems of urban place management and retailers.

“The joint-venture with MoLo Rewards is aimed at bringing mobile loyalty and reward within reach of independent retailers across the UK. We are organising meetings with key representatives of UK mobile network operators, card issuers and retail groups, and helping to shape the adoption of NFC technology.

“We are using over twenty years of on-the-ground experience to enhance the broader public experience of the high street. NFC will have a key role in delivering that experience. MoLo Rewards is at the leading edge of this sector.”

Says Blackwell, “Our members have been asking which route to go with local loyalty and rewards schemes and who to work with. Having done thorough research and conducted a highly successful pilot in Reading, we are delighted to be able to announce this tie up and to recommend MoLo Rewards to our members.

Peter Sprogis, Executive Chairman, MoLo Rewards Ltd., says,“MoLo Rewards is delighted to be working with ATCM. It is our belief that MoLo’s NFC based solution provides the opportunity for independent retailers to adopt a powerful multi-channel marketing tool to compete
in the High Street mobile coupon and loyalty space.”

What is MoLo Rewards?

MoLo Rewards is an innovative solution for the immediate in-store redemption and use of loyalty rewards and coupons in a mobile environment. MoLo is a compelling consumer proposition with an added value ‘app’ for Merchants to use the NFC (Near Field Communication) mobile eco system.

MoLo’s idea is that complex rewards schemes, messy paper coupons and confusing special offers will be replaced by a mobile phone based app that accrues points through shopping, use of public transport, and redemption of coupons. When it comes time to use your points, or to redeem retail / travel coupon offers, the entire transaction can be done simply by “touching” your phone or smartcard to a contactless terminal.

What does MoLo have to offer ATCM and its members?

In order to differentiate this scheme from the variety of loyalty and reward schemes already operating, MoLo uniquely levels the playing field for independent retailers working in a multiple-dominated market environment, by allowing independents to create and manage their own coupons, offers and loyalty schemes.

MoLo rewards consumers by connecting them with promotional offers from local retailers. MoLo offers retailers the ability to reach tens of thousands of local consumers individually, bringing retail loyalty and rewards together with other key elements such as parking, public
transport, facility access (think leisure centres), hospitality sector for proof of age ID, event access and even community non-profit engagement.

MoLo is working with key mobile industry partners and through the ATCM member network to create a nationwide contactless infrastructure for a technology that will be accessible by millions of UK smartphone and smartcard users. This contactless network can help independent and Tier 2 retailers in town centres compete with national brands, out-of-town retail parks and internet shopping.

MoLo Rewards has successfully run a pilot of its leading edge NFC-based coupon and loyalty solution in Reading for the last 6 months. This has allowed retailers to create their own offers in their own time, directly onto the MoLo system; by connecting MoLo retailers to Reading Buses’ simplyBus card, 22,500 public transport users can access these offers. The second operational location is Bracknell, with significant involvement of the local authority through
its 70,000 e+ smartcards distributed to residents, offering discounts and offers in leisure centres as well as local retailers.

ATCM and MoLo Rewards will be working to offer this innovative system to town and city centres across the country during 2013.

- ENDS -

Editors’ Note: For further information, contact Richard Dennery on media@atcm.org or +44(0)7885 945404

ALEX SMITH MANAGES ATCM'S EVENING AND LATE NIGHT ECONOMY DRIVE

25 February 2013: Alex Smith has joined the Association of Town & City Management as Project Manager for evening and late night economy, an underappreciated staple of many towns and cities worth over £60 b

Town Centre News from around the UK

20 September 2012
Humberside Police
BUZZING FREEDOM FESTIVAL HELPS HULL’S PURPLE FLAG BID...

20 September 2012
This is North Devon
Soul diva Beverly to switch on town lights...

19 September 2012
This is Hull and East Riding
Purple Flag would boost Hull's nighttime economy...

19 September 2012
BBC News UK
Parades Commission defers Orange march decision...

19 September 2012
This Is Grimsby
Purple Flag would boost city's nighttime economy...

19 September 2012
Priti Patel MP
Priti Patel raises local issues in Parliament...

18 September 2012
Laura Sandys MP
Sandys Signs Up for £20,000 Cash Boost for Town Teams...

18 September 2012
This is North Devon
Singer Beverley Knight to switch on Barnstaple’s Christmas lights...

18 September 2012
RB.ru - Russian Business
"ТЕРКАС": Испытания нового оборудования для МЦ АУВД отложены на неопределенный срок...

18 September 2012
Press-Release.ru
Испытания нового оборудования для МЦ АУВД отложены на неопределенный срок...

18 September 2012
London.gov.uk
Support for London’s high streets on the agenda...

18 September 2012
Cumbria 24
MP endorses local communities as National Town team partners...

18 September 2012
Rory Stewart
Rory endorses local communities as national ‘Town Team’ partners...

18 September 2012
Midlands Business News
Nottingham Olympic hero to launch Purple Flag Week...

17 September 2012
Arriva
Arriva supports five-point plan to generate economic growth through bus travel...

17 September 2012
Guardian.co.uk
The hard work on Britain's town centres has only just begun...

14 September 2012
The Press Newspaper
Wanted - A new name for the Princess of Wales precinct......

14 September 2012
London.gov.uk
The week ahead at the London Assembly...

14 September 2012
Morpeth Herald
£10,000 funding boost for town team...