COVID Update 88

The warm weather and the enticing offers in Hinckley saw footfall on Monday April 12th, the first day of unlocking, soar to 9,258. This is 280% higher than the previous Monday and only 12% down on Monday April 8th 2019 pre-Covid, when all shops, cafes, eateries and pubs were open as normal!

Our BID-arranged live broadcast on BBC Radio Leicester that morning on Castle Street was greatly welcomed. Those contributing On-Air included Jo David, our very own Beefeater and Town Crier whose dulcet tones echoed far and wide as he welcomed shoppers to Hinckley and encouraged them to spend! Steve W (BID) and Gayner Johnson (Johnsons and The Lingerie Company) gave an upbeat assessment of our town centre businesses and mentioned our free and exciting Events schedule which will also drive new visitors into Hinckley. HBBC’s John Coward explained how safe it is to come into Hinckley and Paul and Sue Gardner from Hinckley District Past & Present talked the history of the town up and that so many of their 11,000 members had were delighted to be able to come into the town again. Extracts were also broadcast on BBC1 East Midlands Today on Monday evening. All such promotion is great, positive exposure for the town centre.

We are very sad to lose some of our longstanding businesses due to the pandemic and our thoughts are with all those who have suffered both commercially and personally.

We are delighted that 16 new businesses have set-up in the Town centre over the past 12 months, most of whom opened their doors for the first time on Monday – and we will be featuring them on the Hinckley BID website. They are very welcome addition to our town centre!

HBBC have today announced the launch of the Government's RESTART GRANT and have emailed 500+ businesses who usually receive grant e-mails. If you can’t locate the email, please let us know but check your ‘spam’ box just in case please. This Grant will be backdated to April 1st.

Dress Me Pretty (Hansom Court)
Dress Me Pretty Bridal Room announced this week that they have won The Wedding Emporium Wedding Industry Awards for Best Wedding Dress Shop/Boutique in Leicestershire.

Johnsons – The Lingerie Company (Castle Street)
Johnson’s ‘The Lingerie Company’ has just been awarded ‘Best Online Intimatewear Retailer – East Midlands’ in the Corporate Vision Ecommerce & Online Retail Awards.

LUXE Hair.Beauty.Bridal (Regent Court)
In the 2021 UK Hair & Beauty Awards, Luxe has been awarded 1st Place in the ‘Best Bridal Salon’ category.

Fantastic news all round. Well done!

As required by an Act of Parliament which governs the 323 BIDS (and rising) within the UK, HBBCouncil have just sent out the Hinckley BID Bills for the year 2021-22. We hope that you feel that we have worked hard to provide a high level of support during the pandemic, in addition to everything else we do on your behalf which was itemised in our Annual Report (enclosed with the Bill). In addition to helping businesses who have suffered various, often complex issues, we have worked closely with our Borough Council and County Council to keep our town safe as well as encouraging new business to open in Hinckley (four more are nearing completion).

New homes are also being filled in the town centre, which will be good news for our small niche independents.

Please remember that if we can help, we always will or find somebody who may be able to assist.

Many thanks, stay safe and well.

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Published by Hinckley BID – 15/04/2021
Steve Wegerif 0770 939 4841 – steve@hinckleybid.co.uk
www.hinckleybid.co.uk

We are available 7 days a week during the Covid Pandemic.