Retail
Sector Focus Indico to take Looking good: Examples of the street furniture in the Lake Garda locality
Brightening up our streets will boost appeal to shoppers
I have recently returned from a week exploring Lake Garda in Italy and whilst there are plenty of locations in the UK where it is possible to observe great examples of street furniture and street finishes, I was struck by how effective the regional authority in Riva had been in making their town look so appealing. From enquiries, I established that
most of this work was completed more than twenty-five years ago – but it still looks brand new – helped no doubt by the local climate, but the quality and appearance was first class and in a relatively small town. Furthermore, they still had
vehicles running through some of the streets in question which could so easily have damaged the road surface and caused conflict between those road users and pedestrians, but it would seem not. A finish that is still more than fit
for purpose 25 years and makes such a difference to the appearance of a town must be worth the
‘gathering ideas’ and ‘consulting’ and therefore delay came up with plans almost exactly a year ago now to finally start work on rejuvenating part of – not even all of – the town centre – in “early 2019” [Burton Mail 15 August 2018]. But sadly, yet again, not a broken
Retail Therapy
By Peter Hardingham General Manager, The Octagon Centre, Burton
‘Please do something soon to help make all our town centres that bit more brighter’
investment, so I would sincerely encourage those authorities that are yet to embrace this need, not least of which is East Staffordshire Borough Council (ESBC), right here in Burton, who after years of
bit of tired block paving has yet been replaced with ‘final approvals’ and ‘local elections’ being given for the continuing delays. And Burton is by no means the only local town that needs a refresh. I am sure many readers can think
of their own example. The strange thing is Uttoxeter, still part of East Staffordshire looks great. Why should that be? I implore all local authorities and
in particular ESBC, please do something soon to help make all our town centres that bit more brighter, that bit more attractive and that bit more appealing as a place people want to visit, to relax in, to live in and most importantly to re-engage with that ultimate recreational activity – shopping.
post at Mailbox Birmingham’s Mailbox is adding to its diverse food and drink offering with the arrival of Indian street kitchen and bar, Indico, this autumn. This will be Indico’s second Midlands-based restaurant, and the menu, inspired by the North Indian street food scene, will feature food staples including chaats and curries that will be cooked fresh each day. The restaurant will also have
extensive vegetarian and lunch options and a dedicated vegan menu. Its interior will offer a colourful and welcoming atmosphere, complete with customised artwork and graffiti, which will celebrate the vibrant Indian culture. Faheem Badur, owner of
Indico, said: “We first opened our restaurant three years ago and since then have made a name for ourselves for serving high-quality Indian street food in a unique, artistic atmosphere. “We aim to take our diners
beyond the traditional Indian restaurant experience to a place that’s warm, colourful and exotic – just like India. “We’ve grown in popularity
quicker than we thought possible, making now the ideal time for our next venture. “Quality, authenticity and
overall service is at the heart of everything we do and we feel a real connection with the Mailbox in this respect. We’re proud to be opening our next eatery in such an established and iconic city centre location.”
Safety barriers transformed into floral displays
Birmingham’s Retail Business Improvement District (BID) is adding a bit of colour to the city centre – by turning anti-terrorist barriers into floral displays. The barriers – officially known as
‘National Barrier Assets’ – have been painted black (they were previously yellow) and planted up with low-maintenance palms and ornamental grasses. Most UK cities now have these
barriers in busy areas, in a bid to deter terrorists in vehicles. The Birmingham devices are at places like New Street, Temple Street and Cannon Street. It is believed this is the first time
anyone has decorated the barriers in this way. Retail BID manager Steve Hewlett said: “Retailers were keen that we improved the
aesthetic look of the barriers to ensure they had a softer impact on the street scene, whilst still recognising the important safety protection that they offer to shoppers in the city centre. “The planters were manufactured
by local craftsmen and the specialist planting also came from a local company so it’s been a great project to work on with our partners.” The project is the latest BID
initiative taking place in 2019 to make the city centre more welcoming. Another is the installation of ten flower towers. And recently BID carried out a clean-up which collected more than 30 bags of litter and removed graffiti and stickers from street furniture across the city centre.
Less oppressive: One of the anti-terrorist barriers in Birmingham city centre September 2019 CHAMBERLINK 79
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
