Welcome to the May 2016 update.
Tour de Yorkshire
We are delighted to inform you that during Saturday 30th April when the Tour de Yorkshire came to Otley our Footfall Monitors recorded 18,000 people came to cheer on our very own Lizzie Armitstead for the start of the Women’s Race, and a staggering 25,000 people were in town to see the start of the Stage 2 Men’s Race.
Whilst we accept that some businesses were not helped by the Tour coming through the town on the busiest day of the week, others capitalized on the fantastic crowds it brought in. We do believe that the publicity Otley received on the day, and it’s ongoing benefits, are absolutely tremendous. The town had no choice as to which day was chosen for Otley to host the Stage 2 departure but we must remember that people saw how fantastic Otley is and the amazing support the race received all over the UK and the World through social media, television, radio and printed media. If a small percentage of those people visit Otley in the future, which we know they have done since we hosted Yorkshire’s first Tour de France, then businesses are continuing to reap it’s rewards 2 years on.
Here’s some statistics from Otley’s Tour de Yorkshire publicity generated by Otley Town Council and Otley BID:
WANTED! Town Team Volunteers
Do you know someone who is supportive of the town, would like to meet new people, have a say in what happens at events, wants to learn new skills and has an hour to spare each month?
In conjunction with the Otley Chamber of Trade, we are looking to expand our group of Town Team Volunteers to help support the vibrant events and businesses. We need help with distributing the Economic Bulletin and interacting with businesses, feeding back ideas and information that can be beneficial to the trading of the town. Help is also needed at the many events that are mainly volunteer led such as the Otley Show, Carnival, Folk Festival, Cycle Race and the list goes on.
If you are interested, or you know someone who could give some time we would be delighted if you could join us at M’deena on Tuesday 21st June at 5.30pm where you can sample some of their fine cuisine and find out more. Please RSVP to steph.lee@otleybid.co.uk if you are able to join us.
Refurbishment of Street Furniture
As reported in last month’s Bulletin, the Phase 1 painting of the street furniture has now been completed. Leeds City Council are pleased with the work that the Community Payback Scheme have done and we are delighted to announce that they have given permission to move onto Phase 2 in the near future.
Artwork in Empty Spaces
Plans for placing vinyl graphics in the windows of empty premises to make them look more visually appealing is continuing positively. Local artists include Julia Odell, Shane Green and Leslie Child, have all helped us with this project by giving us permission to use a selection of their artwork to brighten up these empty premises until they are occupied. These premises include Motor World, Academy Florists, Discount Fashion, Taylors Shoes and also on a side window in Barclays Bank. If you know of empty premises that can benefit from this campaign please contact peter.mudge@otleybid.co.uk.
Bay Horse Court
We were delighted that the new mural at the entrance of Bay Horse Court was completed prior to the Tour de Yorkshire weekend and received lots of very positive feedback from both residents and visitors.
We are currently investigating other areas where we can commission similar art projects.
The mural was designed and created by James Davis from Studio Seven Art Gallery and took over a year to come to fruition after going through the appropriate planning applications and seeking agreement from the landlord and adjoining businesses.
Business Savings
Excel Office Supplies now have 40 levy businesses using them and would welcome approaches from other businesses who are currently not taking advantage of their exclusive Otley BID discounts. Please contact bruce@excelofficesolutions.co.uk quoting Otley BID.
Lili Waste Services have also been very pro-active in working with local businesses to save them money on their commercial waste. For a free quote contact tom.bustard@liliwaste.co.uk mentioning Otley BID.
Otley in Bloom
We continue to support Otley in Bloom’s work in funding 2 half round flower planters at the entrance to the Children’s Centre on Boroughgate near the Civic Centre.