Hamilton Road in Felixstowe has been named as one of Britain’s best high streets in the third annual Great British High Street competition.
Felixstowe was named in the top 5 of the ‘Rising Star’ category, which recognises areas that are turning fortunes around. Whilst beating over 85% of entries, Felixstowe has just missed out on going through to the public vote to decide the winner.
The judges were particularly impressed with the work being done to bring together the seafront promenade and the town centre through the new ‘Visit Felixstowe’ brand.
Although Felixstowe is just at the beginning of its journey, it could become a strong contender in the competition next year.
The Top 5 in the ‘Rising Star’ category are:
Leominster, Herefordshire
Dornoch, Scottish Highlands
Stockton-on-Tees, Teeside
Ashington, Northumberland
Felixstowe, Suffolk
*The bolded top 3 go through to the public vote
High Streets Minister Andrew Percy said:
“Felixstowe demonstrated many of the things we were looking for: a commitment to revitalising the high street as a unique place for living, working and shopping.
“Felixstowe just missed out on the public vote this year but can take great pride in reaching the final 5 and being named one of Britain’s best high streets.”
Helen Greengrass, Felixstowe Forward Change Director, said:
‘We are delighted that Felixstowe made the Top 5. It is a credit to the energy and enthusiasm of the town’s retailers and tourist providers, who have worked together on a number initiatives which have focused on building on the growth and vitality of the town centre, as well as the link between the town centre and the seafront promenade.
“Felixstowe has an emerging town centre partnership, which has strengthened and promoted the ‘Visit Felixstowe: Great Days by the Sea’ brand and is working on joint promotions including making better use of the shared community space, The Triangle. We look forward to continuing to make Felixstowe the top shopping destination in Suffolk.’
This year’s competition saw a record 900 entries across all 14 categories, including the new categories for individuals and shops. Now the shortlist has been drawn up and the public has the chance to vote directly for their best-loved high street online.
Between now and November you can cast your vote for one of the top 3 finalists* in each of the categories for free via thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk
Winners will get a share of the prize pot worth £100,000, expert training from Google’s digital taskforce for shops, bars and restaurants and a trip to Twitter UK’s London office to boost their social media skills.
The Great British High Street Competition 2016 celebrates the great work that is being done to revive, adapt and diversify the nation’s high streets. It is one of a number of initiatives to help champion high streets as the cornerstones of the community.
To go online to cast your vote, visit the Great British High Street website and follow @TheGBHighSt on Twitter.
Voting closes on 18 November.