Town OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY Barton Willmore WINNER Maidenhead
From left: Gail Kenyon, Cllr MJ Saunders, Steph James and Mark Shephard (second right) of RBWM and Bob Dulson (third right) of PRoM, received the award from Kim Cohen (centre) of sponsor Barton Willmore
The main dinner course was over and Jeremy Vine announced that three more awards would be presented before dessert was served.
The first of this trio of category awards was … well, different.
One difference was that it wasn’t being awarded to a person or a company, but to a town that has implemented a successful town-centre strategy, and enhanced its brand. Another difference was that Ascot had probably never staged such a competition – a two-horse race.
The finalists for this award were Maidenhead and Wokingham.
The category – Town of the Year – was sponsored by Barton Willmore, itself an expert in town planning, and in fact the largest such consultancy in the UK.
Maidenhead is being regenerated to make the town a “distinctive heart of the community . . . both accessible and welcoming with a vibrant economy, providing an appealing home to people and commerce.”
Run by the Partnership for the Rejuvenation of Maidenhead (PRoM), the ongoing campaign with its Enjoy Maidenhead branding, aims to create a “place that celebrates its green Thames Valley setting”. The work of PRoM is already achieving results with increased footfall in Maidenhead’s town-centre last year. Footfall was 1.8% up on the previous year, which bucks national trends.
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The new Maidenhead vision is backed by local MP and Home Secretary Theresa May, who hosted a Transforming Maidenhead event at the House of Commons in December. The Maidenhead Town Centre Area Action Plan is currently gaining momentum with redevelopments focused on six key town opportunity areas.
Wokingham’s ‘Town Team’ has been busy developing brand and awareness programmes promoting Wokingham’s attractiveness – all part of the campaign making people ‘fall in love with Wokingham again’.
Workshops have helped to identify local perception of the town, its strengths and weaknesses, and the ‘Town Team’ is working hard publicising Wokingham’s new strategic image to shoppers, businesses and residents, using traditional and social media. Events and entertainments have been trialed to gauge their effectiveness to increase footfall and boost visitor experience of the town
Recently the Town Team has also been working with councils on a number of initiatives, and with the Chamber of Commerce on a Business Improvement District (BID) programme for Wokingham.
Jeremy Vine invited Kim Cohen, partner at sponsors Barton Willmore, to come to the stage to reveal the winner.
People living near M4 junction 8/9 probably heard the cheer as the name of Maidenhead was announced by Cohen.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JUNE 2014
Having received the award Bob Dulson, chairman of PRoM, said: “I would first like to thank the organisers, judges and sponsors for initiating these awards and staging such an impressive inaugural event.
“Our award recognises almost seven years hard work by a lot of people – some paid, many unpaid – under the auspices of the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead and PRoM, towards the re-making of Maidenhead town centre. This year looks to be our turning point."
Approved town centre plans include a navigable waterway, a waterside mixed-use scheme and an open-air amphitheatre. Set to be unveiled was a proposal for homes, offices and retail opposite the station.
Having used the Town Centre Area Action Plan in marketing to attract investment, he felt sure “. . .this award will provide another encouraging stimulus and is very welcome.”
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