West Kilbride Leads Great British High Street Vote With One Week To Go
With just days to go, West Kilbride is urging residents to keep voting as the national competition to find Britain’s best high street reaches a climax.
The public vote closes at midnight on Friday, so it’s the last chance for people to get online and show support for their local retailers.
And with the public vote making up 50% of judging, the team behind West Kilbride are urging local people to get behind their bid for glory.
Kay Hall, from West Kilbride high street said:
“Everybody has worked so hard to make West Kilbride a better place to work, shop and socialise.
“We are delighted that West Kilbride has reached the final stage of the 2015 Great British High Street award, but we need your support to keep ahead in this final push.”
West Kilbride is alongside Twyford and Brigg in the Village category. With one week to go in the extremely close public voting, West Kilbride was in first place.
But with more than 140,000 votes already having been cast – everything is up for grabs.
High Streets Minister, Marcus Jones said:
“The excitement this competition has generated has been proof that the local high street is the life and soul of towns, villages and cities across the country.
“It’s also been great to see the innovation that’s going on to make sure the high street is the go to destination for years to come.
“West Kilbride has done fantastically well to make it to the final, but the result is still in the balance. If you cherish your local shops, pubs and restaurants get online and cast your vote.”
The Great British High Street Competition 2015 is run by the Department for Communities and Local Government and sponsored by Boots, Costa, Post Office, Marks and Spencer, Tesco and the British Council of Shopping Centres.
It is one of a number of initiatives to help champion high streets as the cornerstones of the community.
These include a billion pound package of investment ranging from targeted business rate discounts, sensible planning changes and action that reins in over-zealous parking practices
Winners in each of the seven categories get a share of a prize pot worth £80,000 which includes expert training and tailor-made tips from Google’s training taskforce for one hundred of their shops, bars and restaurants.
This year’s competition saw a record 230 applicants and for the first time saw the public have the chance to vote directly for their best-loved high street online.
Alongside the public vote each finalist will be visited by an expert judge – one of a panel of industry experts from the Future High Streets Forum. The judges have a 50% say on who wins the competition.
The twenty-one finalists for the Great British High Streets competition were announced on 1 October. Voting closes 13 November.
To go online to cast your vote, visit the Great British High Street website and follow @TheGBHighSt on Twitter.