Evidences of Global trends for decreases in footfall and increases in void retail properties in town and city centres and causal relationship
Over the past ten years there has been a sea change to city and town centres across the world. The impact of out of town shopping, particularly on middle-order district and local town centres has been ‘strongly competitive’ rather than ‘benignly complementary’ (Thomas, et al., (2004))and latterly the rise of online shopping has taken their toll on many high streets including reducing footfall and increasing vacancy rates through competitive pressures (Weltevreden, 2007)
The changes in market share of traditional retailing in town and city centres has mainly considered vis-à-vis their supply side effects for example, the level to which online shopping and out of town has replaced elements of use of traditional town centres across Europe and the world (Weltevreden, 2007) (Weltevreden, et al., 2014). In the UK between 2008 and May 2018, 409 large and medium sized retailers have gone into administration affecting 28,378 retail stores and 280,425 employees (Bamfield, 2018).
Other reasons that have been identified as contributing to the downturn in bricks and mortar retailers include drops in demand for consumer goods, in part driven by the sluggish economic growth since the financial crisis, intensive price competition and a developing trend for a smaller proportion of household income to be spent on retail, supplanted by spend on holidays and travel, eating and drinking out, experiences and weddings – all of which are growing faster than spend on retail (Bamfield, 2018). This downward trend in spending on comparison goods seems to be replicated in the USA. According to retail consultant Howard Davidowitz, numerous USA midmarket malls, are suffering from this drop in spend (The Manchester Guardian, 2014). Whilst out of town shopping and the rise of internet shopping may not be the only causes, the literature suggest that they are certainly significant contributory factors (Astbury, 2014) (Weltevreden, et al., 2014). It is worth noting though that although there have been significant swings towards online shopping the research evidences that still the vast majority of retail is taking place within a physical retail environment with eMarketer estimating that globally retail ecommerce sales will increase to $4.058 trillion in 2020, making up 14.6% of total retail spending (Chaffey, 2018). and that some retailers are already indicating that future models of retail will likely still benefit from retaining physical “bricks and mortar locations” often on the historical high streets (Retail Customer Experience, 2018)(Grimsey, 2018) Certainly “service” retail which is co-produced with the consumer benefits greatly from having a physical presence on the high street there are however some disadvantages to this high street presence, not least of which in the UK is the disparity in taxation – according to Centre for Cities Research business rates are the equivalent of 2.3% of bricks-and-mortar retailers’ sales and 0.6% of online traders’ sales and prevent shops competing effectively with their online rivals. (Bamfield, 2018)
International trends have shown an increase in empty retail units and a decrease in footfall in many towns and cities (Weltevreden, et al., 2014). It is expected globally that these trends will continue (Ellis-Chadwick, 2018). In the UK as a whole, Store vacancies have been running at around 11.9% for some time, although there was a rise to a vacancy rate of 14.3% in 2011 (Bamfield, 2018). As of February 2019 UK vacancy rates are running at 11.5% (Local Data Company, n.d.). It is widely reported that negative changes to a place including high retail vacancy rates and the loss of key industries or trends in mobility and tourism, can profoundly undermine the reputation of a place (Millington & Ntounis, 2017) which in turn can lead to a deleterious cycle of footfall declines, spend declines, poorly trading/failed businesses, town/city centres becoming less attractive due to higher vacancy rates which again leads to lower footfall and so-on. This is not necessarily demonstrated in all areas, and local effects can influence this (Grimsey, 2018)

Local Impact on Gloucester UK
For the purpose of the this analysis we will be looking in detail as to the impact of these global changes on the city centre of Gloucester, UK a small city with a population of 129,000 and with a hinterland of 150,000 (Office for National Statistics , 2017)
Vacancy Rates and Footfall
As of January 2019, Gloucester has been similarly impacted by the difficulties faced by the high street. We will be investigating through this report how local initiatives appear to have affected the area, analysing the statistics for footfall and vacant retail properties to note differences from national and global changes and investigate any probable causes for those differences in Gloucester.
In Gloucester over the last ten years the global effects of the changes have been mitigated at times for example in 2010 the city was reported to have among the highest number of empty shops in England, according to a study commissioned by the BBC’s Inside Out West programme from the Local Data Company .(BBC, 2010) with retail vacancies at nearly 21.9% in 2010 however these fell to 12.1% in 2016 but rose by December 2019 to 19.3%. (Local Data Company, n.d.). Note that these figures relate to the historic city centre and that current figures for vacancies including Glouecster Quays bring the current vacancy rate to 12.8%

Figure 1
Source (Local Data Company, n.d.)

Figure 2

Source Marketing Gloucester

Figure 3
(source Springboard)

Figure 4

• Impact on perceptions of place
In Gloucester surveys of local visitors reports in local press (Phillips, 2018) indicate a negative impact on perception of the areas of the city with higher retail vacancies c.f. areas that have been regenerated and perceived to have a lower number of retail vacancies (My Local Economy, 2017)
• Political impact
The concern expressed by businesses and residents in Gloucester has led to a focus by local politicians on physical and culture regeneration with the aim of redeveloping the city and repositioning from a comparison shopping centre to a destination for residents and visitors (Council, 2019).The poor perception of place has been seen as being a potential negative by the political incumbents (Conservative) and conversely positive news in terms of footfall and vacancy rates along with regeneration activity has been seen as a benchmark of political success (Gloucester Conservatives, 2016)
Specific Local issues
In Gloucester as with many UK cities there has been a closing of branches of a number of high street chains which it might be concluded ad naturam would impact footfall. The local picture, evidences that the model is more complicated than it might initially appear for example the percentages of empty stores was skewed with 54 new retail and leisure units being built at the new Gloucester Quays designer outlet during 2009. Many of these units remained unoccupied after the outlet centre was opened and were then filled over subsequent years. As of 2019 there are 641 retail and leisure units (Local Data Company, n.d.) within the city centre of Gloucester as defined earlier in this document, including those at Gloucester Quays – it is evident how the occupancy of these additional units would affect reported percentage levels of vacancy. These additional units at Gloucester Quays were mostly filled by 2015. A further complication has been added to the analysis of 2017 onwards as alongside the impact of national chains closing, there has been a hold back on releasing some of the empty units which have been bought by Gloucester City Council as art of its strategy of land acquisition and consolidation to enable an planned regeneration of a quarter of the city
It can be concluded that Gloucester is subject to the same Global trends regarding footfall and vacancy rates. One element that needs to be taken into consideration in Gloucester is the significant emphasis that has been placed on the visitor economy and events as drivers for footfall, Events such as Gloucester Goes Retro 25th August 2018 increased footfall by 40,000 and in one of the busier retail areas increased footfall for the week by 20% (Local Data Company, n.d.)
The strategic responses to date and planned and evaluation of the efficacy of historical initiatives and examination of current and future planned responses c.f. best practice
Historic strategic responses
As indicated by the literature it has been common practice by cities which have suffered decline to develop strategies to overcome negative stereotypes and change the image of a place into one attractive to investors, property speculators and visitors (Millington & Ntounis, 2017) . The importance of “place marketing” in post‐industrial towns is well documented (Kotler, et al., 1999) and the role of events within a place marketing strategy has been recognised (Wood, n.d.)
Following a high impact flood in 2007 and the subsequent world-wide economic crises the leader and cabinet of Gloucester City Council formed Marketing Gloucester Ltd (Marketing Gloucester Ltd, n.d.) a new public private partnership with a wide remit to engage in place making activities and especially focussed on Place Marketing (Parker, 2011) recognising that to reverse long-term structural decline an holistic place management approach would need to be implemented which following identified best practice widely engaged stakeholders (Brand, 2007). This multifaceted coordinated approach is one that is widely recognised model (Switzer, 2009) (Vanalo, 2008). Also much emphasis is made in the literature that developing the multi-layered “product” of place is a prerequisite for the implementation of an interconnected and credible place-branding strategy (Ntounis & Kavaratzis, 2017)

Strategic initiatives to drive growth through developing the visitor economy through branding, events and promotion

In 2014 a wide reaching strategy was produced by Marketing Gloucester and adopted by Gloucester City Council entitled “Growing Gloucester’s Visitor Economy” (Jason Smith, 2014). This aimed to identify the barriers to growth and set out key actionable strategies and identified 20 areas that could be worked on in order to develop the place product and place branding and marketing, there were 54 actions that were highlighted that could help deliver growth (Jason Smith, 2014, pp. 24-31).
One element of this strategy was to develop the concept of experiential branding through events that would build on the history and heritage of the city and would provide ample opportunities for place marketing to promote the brand positioning (Vanalo, 2008) (Lodder, 2010)

Figures 5, 6

Statistics (figures 5,6) indicate that there has been an upturn in visitors to Gloucester due to this strategy
Building on strategic responses for future growth
There is evidence that best success in place repositioning is based a multistrand, holistic approach which builds a strategy based on “clear or shared” understanding of the identity of a place (Millington & Ntounis, 2017). For those involved in place branding and place marketing this includes two significant elements, firstly the positive portrayal of a place focussing on “the good bits” to attract inward investment, influence the political influencers and encourage visitors and topophilia, secondly the controlling, containment or ignoring of “the bad bits” (Hankinson, 2003) .
Using Events and Place Marketing to develop brand and drive footfall
It has been demonstrated by the direct impact on footfall of events marketing (Wood & Masterman, 2007)and the positive effects on place branding (Wood & Masterman, 2007) that events and place marketing have been significantly successful in having an impact on the growth of the local economy in Gloucester and drivers for footfall. Much of this success has been due to the successful implementation of a focussed place branding exercise and place marketing by Gloucester’s place making organisation Marketing Gloucester (My Local Economy, 2017) (Creative Tourist Consults, 2016) this approach has been successful by the treating of place as an assemblage where contributory elements are used to develop a nuclear product (Hankinson, 2003). This strategy responds to a number of the most important factors identified as affecting vitality and viability of town and city centre’s (Cathy Parker, 2014) such as improving visitor experience, providing entertainment and leisure activities, improving attractiveness through city dressing for events and giving a “hook” to hang place branding and marketing, which is recognised as being an important use of events (Pugh & Wood, 2004). Key to this strategy will be looking at historical anniversaries and connections to significant events as they relate specifically to Gloucester.
Although there should be a multistrand approach to the global challenges faced by Gloucester of falling footfall and increased vacancy rates (Grimsey, 2018) many of these are not quick fixes and require significant capital investment (Gov.UK Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, 2018)
Resources necessary to implement this response
The building blocks of place branding process have been described as being analysis, strategy and participation (Ntounis & Kavaratzis, 2017)

Information
As demonstrated earlier in this document evidence of trends in footfall and vacancy rates, along with tourism visitor numbers which are collated from footfall counters, vacancy rate counts, Acorn T-Stats, Visit England and so-on are important to informing strategic responses. It will be important to ensure that the collation of these datasets and analysis (Ntounis & Kavaratzis, 2017) is consistent and adequately resourced.
Leadership/Organisation/ Coordination

Effective leadership is identified as essential to effective place branding (Hankinson, 2003) and as discussed previously wide stakeholder buy-in and support can increase effectiveness of activities (Brand, 2007). In the city of Gloucester this leadership is provided on behalf of stakeholders by bodies including the BID, Gloucester City Council, Gloucester Civic Trust, Glouceste Heritage Forum, Gloucester Culture Trust, Gloucester Chamber of Commerce and Marketing Gloucester. The strategy for Place branding, Place Marketing and city events are coordinated and lead on by Marketing Gloucester as mandate by contract with the City Council and Gloucester BID and by formal and informal arrangement with other bodies. Each of these bodies is mandated by statutory status or by their stakeholders. This continued support from stakeholders will be an essential resource to the success of developing and implementing the strategic response of utilising events and especially heritage themed events as a focus for place branding and place marketing. Bodies such as Marketing Gloucester which provide leadership need to be adequately funded to ensure success.
Stakeholder engagement
The place product is managed by a complex organisation of public and private sector stakeholders (Hankinson, 2004) making it difficult to present a consistent brand proposition. Place branding therefore inevitably becomes a coordinated process rather than a managed activity (Hankinson, 2003). Furthermore, the role of coordinator usually falls to local authorities, which operate on low budgets and are subject to political control and interference which further exacerbates the task of brand management. (Hankinson, 2003) In the need to resource this activity has been recognised and has been given to the public private partnership organisation Marketing Gloucester. These type of “Urban Partnerships” are often held up to be good models for stakeholder engagement (Le Feuvre, et al., 2016)
It is important looking forward to continue to review the type of urban partnership that best suits the aims of developing and delivering the strategic responses outlined in the place specific context ensuring avoidance of the “transient tranquilizer of avoidance” or the “high-stakes politics of absolute conquest” relationships between stakeholders, ensuring the main focus of stakeholders is knowledge exchange and collaborative working to give the best opportunity to maximize the chances for success from effective partnership working (Brand, 2007)
It has been recognised in the literature that successful shared intelligence amongst stakeholders engaged in place management can “help inform the identification of new strategic objectives, appropriate interventions and project planning and delivery” (Millington & Ntounis, 2017) Ensuring that there are fora to facilitate stakeholder informing and shaping strategy and helping to implement strategy will be key to the success of the proposed place branding strategic response. These same stakeholders will be needed to provide organisational, leadership and financial resource.
Funding
Key to successful place branding and place marketing is ensuring that there is sufficient funding to implement strategies. Marketing Gloucester has developed a rolling 5 year business plan which identifies that a successful implementation of the above strategy including the elements provided on behalf of Gloucester BID will require direct funding for place branding activities, including events and place marketing of approximately £900,000 per annum plus resource for the funding required from partners or leveraged funding for other place making activities.
In April 2018 to March 2019 funding of £1.1 million for Events and Marketing in Gloucester which are aimed to develop place branding, drive footfall in Gloucester came from – Gloucester City Council , Gloucester Business Improvement District (BID), private sector sponsorship, and funding from other bodies such as Visit Britain, Arts Council England, Heritage lottery Fund GFirst LEP and the Heritage Lottery Fund. It is envisioned that the ongoing strategy which has been attractive to these funders will continue and built upon with ongoing funding support .
BIDs are becoming increasingly important in the funding and steering of place marketing including events (Morcol, 2008). In Gloucester there is a close symbiotic relationship between the BID and the Destination Management Organisation which is run by Marketing Gloucester. Nearly £2.5 million over 5 years has been committed by nearly 600 businesses to place management, place marketing and events. Currently Gloucester City Council commits £249,000 per annum to supporting Marketing Gloucester, £160,000 of which is spent on events (Gloucester City Council, 2018). In 2019/20 sponsorship and commercial income is expected to reach just under £0.5million.
Currently consideration is being given to Gloucester applying for 2025 UK City of Culture status we would expect the cost to prepare these bids to require and additional £150,000 to £200,000 of direct funding (BirminghamLive, 2010).  There is yet to be produced compelling evidence that UK City of Culture has a comparable return on investment compared with other initiatives.
Conclusion
It is the development of the place product through events, often utilising key heritage physical assets, that is the key factor in the proposed strategy enabling the development of place branding and place marketing activities to drive footfall and help decrease vacancy rates.

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1) Margaret of Anjou (French: Marguerite; 23 March 1430 – 25 August 1482) was a fascinating character, much maligned by Shakespeare, but by any measures an extraordinary woman in a time dominated by men. Margaret was the Queen of England by marriage to King Henry VI from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471. Born in the Duchy of Lorraine into the House of Valois-Anjou, Margaret was the second eldest daughter of René, King of Naples, and Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine.
2) She was one of the principal figures in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses and at times personally led the Lancastrian faction. Owing to her husband’s frequent bouts of insanity, Margaret ruled the kingdom in his place. It was she who called for a Great Council in May 1455 that excluded the Yorkist faction headed by Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, and this provided the spark that ignited a civil conflict that lasted for more than 30 years, decimated the old nobility of England, and caused the deaths of thousands of men, including her only son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471.
3) In events leading to the battle of Tewkesbury, the actions of the city of Gloucester in turning her and her troops away at the South Gate are claimed by many to have been decisive in deciding the results of the battle and the war.

Proposal

4) To commemorate the 550th anniversary of the turning away of Margaret of Anjou at South Gate at we are proposing a week-long festival will be held in Gloucester. One key element to this will be the reconstruction of the South Gate and part of the wall on Kimbrose Triangle. This would provide a backdrop and performance space for many of the other activities and provide a valuable link activity area between city centre and docks. The team at Marketing Gloucester are working up a plan with partners including Tewkesbury medieval festival.  We are delighted to confirm that early support has been committed to the infrastructure by Gloucester BID who see the huge benefits of increased visitor numbers through the year. We are very happy to hear from anyone who would like to be involved and envisage that the History Festival in September could be an important part of the celebrations. Currently we have partners involved in the following, or who are investigating:

a) Building of replica South Gate and part of the wall at Kimbrose triangle, with this to also provide performance space to the North Side, and be suitable for other uses during the year, including Gloucester Day

b) Re-enactment celebrating the anniversary in 2021 including a potential march from Gloucester to Tewkesbury. Timing to be around Tewkesbury Medieval Festival second week of July with possible additional events 3rd May 2021
c) Original Play on Margaret of Anjou (possibly outdoors at Kimbrose Triangle)
d) New devoted Margaret of Anjou Website
e) Partnership with the other towns/cities connected with Margaret of Anjou particularly Tewkesbury
f) Series of Talks on Margaret of Anjou (Glos Hist Fest)
g) Medieval Fayre
h) Medieval Banquet at the Cathedral
i) Museum exhibition regarding Margaret of Anjou and Gloucester’s importance in war of the roses (Richard III)
j) Schools education piece/competition
k) Civic Trust walking tours
l) Archaeology TBC Andrew Armstrong
m) Performance of series of William Shakespeare’s 1st Tetralogy of History plays, which include Margaret of Anjou: Henry VI, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Richard III. She is the only character to appear alive in all four plays.
o) Further uses for gate, including morphing for use during Civil War re-enactment and Gloucester Day

Background

5) Battle of Tewkesbury – King Edward realized that the Lancastrians were seeking to cross the River Severn into Wales. The nearest crossing point they could use was at the city of Gloucester. He sent urgent messages to the Governor, Sir Richard Beauchamp, ordering him to bar the gates to Margaret and man the city’s defences. When Margaret arrived on the morning of 3 May, Beauchamp refused her summons to let her army pass, and she realized that there was insufficient time to storm the city before Edward’s army arrived. Instead, her army made another forced march of 10 miles (16 km) to Tewkesbury, attempting to reach the next bridge at Upton-upon-Severn, 7 miles (11 km) further on. Edward meanwhile had marched no less than 31 miles (50 km), passing through Cheltenham (then little more than a village) in the late afternoon. The day was very hot, and both the Lancastrians and Edward’s pursuing army were exhausted. The Lancastrians were forced to abandon some of their artillery, which was captured by Yorkist reinforcements following from Gloucester.
6) At Tewkesbury the tired Lancastrians halted for the night. Most of their army were footmen and unable to continue further without rest, and even the mounted troops were weary. By contrast, King Edward’s army was composed mainly of mounted men, who nevertheless dismounted to fight on foot as most English armies did during this period. Hearing from his “prickers” or mounted scouts of Margaret’s position, Edward drove his army to make another march of 6 miles (9.7 km) from Cheltenham, finally halting 3 miles (4.8 km) from the Lancastrians. The Lancastrians knew they could retreat no further before Edward attacked their rear, and that they would be forced to give battle.
7) Margaret was taken prisoner by the victorious Yorkists after the Lancastrian defeat at Tewkesbury. In 1475, she was ransomed by her cousin, King Louis XI of France. She went to live in France as a poor relation of the French king, and she died there at the age of 52

Depictions in Fiction
8) Margaret is a major character in William Shakespeare’s 1st Tetralogy of History plays. Henry VI, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Richard III. She is the only character to appear alive in all four plays. Shakespeare portrays Margaret as an intelligent, ruthless woman who easily dominates her husband and fiercely vies for power with her enemies. In Henry VI, Part 2 Margaret has an affair with the Duke of Suffolk and mourns his death by carrying around his severed head. In Henry VI, Part 3 she personally stabs the Duke of York on the battlefield (after humiliatingly taunting him) and becomes suicidal when her son Edward is killed in front of her. Despite the fact that Margaret spent the rest of her life outside England after the death of her husband and son, Shakespeare has her return to the court in Richard III. Margaret serves as a Cassandra-like prophetess; in her first appearance she dramatically curses the majority of the nobles for their roles in the downfall of the House of Lancaster. All of her curses come to pass as the noblemen are betrayed and executed by Richard of Gloucester, and each character reflects on her curse before his execution. Shakespeare had famously described Margaret : “How ill-beseeming is it in thy sex/ To triumph like an Amazonian trull/ Upon their woes whom Fortune captivates.”[27]

9) Margaret is the title character of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s 1820 opera Margherita d’Anjou.

10) In the 1963 production by the Royal Shakespeare Company of The Wars of the Roses, broadcast by the BBC in 1965 and 1966, Margaret was played by Peggy Ashcroft. In the second series of The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, a three-part television adaptation of the Tetralogy first broadcast in 2016, Margaret was portrayed by Sophie Okonedo.
11) Margaret of Anjou has an important role in Bulwer-Lytton’s The Last of the Barons (1843).
12) Margaret of Anjou is the main character in Barnaby Ross’s 1966 novel, The Passionate Queen – Barnaby Ross was a publisher’s house name for historical novels written by various authors, among them Don Tracy, who wrote The Passionate Queen.
13) Margaret of Anjou is the subject of Betty King’s 1974 biographical novel Margaret of Anjou – a sympathetic portrayal.
14) Margaret of Anjou is an important character in Sir Walter Scott’s 1829 novel Anne of Geierstein, where she appears disguised as a beggar following her exile.
15) Margaret of Anjou is the main character in Jean Plaidy’s 1982 novel The Red Rose of Anjou.
16) Margaret of Anjou is the important character in the early parts of Sharon Kay Penman’s 1982 novel The Sunne in Splendour, up until the Battle of Tewkesbury.
17) Margaret of Anjou is the subject of Alan Savage’s 1994 novel Queen of Lions, a portrayal which imagines she had an exceptionally active sex life.
18) Margaret of Anjou is one of the major characters in The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory (2011), narrated by Jacquetta of Luxembourg.
19) She also appears in The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (2009), narrated by Elizabeth Woodville.
20) She is mentioned in The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory (2010), narrated by Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby.
21) She also appears in The Kingmaker’s Daughter by Philippa Gregory (2012), narrated by Anne Neville.
22) Margaret of Anjou is the main character in Susan Higginbotham’s 2011 novel The Queen of Last Hopes – a sympathetic portrayal.
23) Margaret of Anjou is a major subject in Stormbird, the first book of Conn Iggulden’s trilogy about The Wars of the Roses.
24) She also is the subject of a fictional biography, The Royal Tigress by a fictional character, David Powlett-Jones who is the main subject of To Serve Them All My Days, R.F. Delderfield’s novel of a Welsh schoolmaster at a Devon public school from World War I to the Battle of Britain in the 1940s. Delderfield, in the person of Powlett-Jones, appears to have a very good grasp of Margaret’s life and the Wars of the Roses, and the content and development of the book give us an entertaining sub-plot to the book’s main narrative.
25) In the television series The White Queen (2013), based on Gregory’s The Cousins’ War novels, Margaret of Anjou is portrayed by Veerle Baetens.

Potential partners
26) Tewkesbury Medieval Festival
27) Museum of Gloucester
28) Gloucester City Council
29) Gloucester Heritage Forum
30) Gloucester History Festival
31) Gloucester Music Festival
32) Gloucester BID/ Marketing Gloucester
33) Strike a light
34) Gloucester Culture Trust
35) G15+
36) Gloucester BID
37) Richard III society
38) Others..

Links
39) http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/margaretanjou.htm
40) http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/margaret-robber.htm
41) http://nicolequinnnarrates.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-legend-of-queen-margaret-of-anjou.html
42) http://dangerouswomenproject.org/2016/06/11/margaret-of-anjou/

For enquiries please contact Karen@marketinggloucester.co.uk or Natasha@marketinggloucester.co.uk

Water City Music, Gloucestershire Academy of Music and Marketing Gloucester are joining forces to bring a magical extra dimension to this year’s Gloucester Tall Ships and Adventure Festival.

Visitor numbers to the historic Gloucester Docks reach 200,000 over the weekend (May 25^th to 27^th) attracting visitors from across the UK and the Water City Music programme will see children and other musical groups perform on three stages around the docks.

Led by Gloucestershire based artistic director Michael Bochmann, Water City Music stages musical events – of assorted size and scale – at striking water-based venues across the UK.   The annual flagship Tower of London Festival each June has, in recent years, involved over 1,800 musicians and 60 schools performing for huge numbers of daily visitors and it is hoped that similar success can now be spread to the Gloucester event.

The Water City Music day will be held on the Saturday of the Bank Holiday weekend (25^th) with massed choirs put together from Gloucestershire schools to perform songs on one of the stages whilst smaller performing groups will have 20 to 30 minute slots to entertain the thousands of visitors.  In the run up to the event schools will receive expert guidance from Gloucester choral specialist Vicki Field.

A third stage will be used to showcase the Gloucestershire GAMELAN, an amazing orchestra of Indonesian percussion instruments bringing the music of the rainforest right to the water’s edge of Gloucester’s historic docks; with free workshops and performances taking place throughout the day.

County schools and performing groups are invited to join the event by enquiring directly with admin@wcm.org.uk or via Gloucestershire Academy of Music.

All participants in the Water City Music festival will get free access to the Tall Ships & Adventure event and free access for 1 accompanying adult.  We look forward to seeing you there.

The Water City Music organisation is an entirely self-funding body relying on grants, sponsorship and fundraising to sustain its events and programmes. Every penny we raise goes back into expanding our reach, putting on bigger and better events and more sustainable programmes.  Local businesses are invited to contact the charity (admin@wcm.org.uk) to discuss sponsorship and profile-raising opportunities.

http://watercitymusic.com/

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At the time of writing that article there were many cynics who thought that this was just another project that was “jam tomorrow”.  Anyone who sees the completed project  will be delighted by the speed of the conclusion of this project and particularly the fantastic job done by Architects BDP led by Neil Sansum, Kier Construction and all the partners involved, not least GFirst LEP for providing funding and the team at Gloucester City Council .  Whatever your political views there is also no doubt that Leader and cabinet member for regeneration Cllr Paul James  led on this project and should be commended for his efforts in the continued regeneration of Gloucester. What particularly has been satisfying is to see how Architects BDP listened closely to those who wanted this building to be grounded in its place and be recognisable as distinctly Gloucester.  In many peoples opinion it is a beautiful modern building that through the use of limestone and a future installation of stained glass will tie it into the city. Now we are in a similar position with Kings Quarter as we were when I wrote the article in 2015.  Once again I have confidence that this regeneration will come to pass, since much of the funding is in place and the City Council now own almost all the plots that need development.  However once again I believe that before the diggers go in it would be well to reflect on what we want from Kings Quarter – something that is just better, or something that is good or even great?  Below are some images from the recent application which demonstrate current thinking on design.

Business rate reduction
Business rates for retailers with a rateable value of up to £51,000 will be cut by one third for the next two years, potentially benefitting almost 500,000 businesses and saving them around £900 million. Local Authorities will be fully compensated for the loss of income. The cut takes effect immediately in England but will need to be agreed in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
High Street Fund
A £675m Future High Streets Fund was announced to support local areas in England to prepare long term strategies for their high streets and town centres and then co-fund investment in town centre infrastructure, including to increase access to high streets and support redevelopment and densification around high streets through allowing investment in land assembly. The Fund will also support the regeneration of heritage high streets (up to £55m of the overall Fund). The expectation is that local authorities will partner with the private sector to develop proposals. The Fund is for High Street change not for adding additional retail space. Full details of the Fund will be announced by the year end but further information is available in a Department fact sheet

High Street Taskforce
The Fund will also support a new High Streets Taskforce that will support local leadership, providing high streets and town centres expert advice to adapt and thrive. This will provide hands-on support to local areas to develop data-driven innovative strategies and connect local areas to relevant experts. This will be launched early next year.
Planning consultation
A planning consultation opened yesterday to help support change on the high street. It is for England only and runs until 14 January 2019. This aims to make it easier for high streets to adapt for the future, with a wider range of retail, residential and other uses, looking at conversion of retail space to homes or offices and the potential for mixed use schemes. A second consultation will be published soon, including how to support the more effective use of tools such as Compulsory Purchase Orders and Local Development Orders.
Commercial property register
A register of empty commercial properties to support wider regeneration of our high streets and town centres is to be piloted.
Community use pilot
An ‘Open Doors’ pilot in five town centres to bring empty properties back into use by matching landlords of vacant premises with local community groups looking for space will be launched.
Public toilets
Standalone public toilets, however owned, will be no longer pay business rates. This covers 3,500 premises but will need legislation to introduce.
Transforming city fund
This has been increased to £2.4 billion and includes an extra £90 million for on demand buses
Belfast recovery
£2 million allocated to Belfast to help recovery from the Primark fire.
Digital Services Tax

Comes into force in April 2020 and expected to raise £400 million and only applies to companies generating more than £500 million per annum through the taxable business lines. This would include Amazon and other online marketplaces.
Immediate highway activities

£420 million made immediately available to local authorities for pothole repair, bridge repairs and other minor works. To be spent this year.
Pubs

Beer, cider and spirit duty have been frozen in a move to support pubs, which are an important feature of many high streets. The British Beer and Pub Association has welcomed the announcement saying: “An early Christmas for pubs and pub goers, saving the trade more than £100 million and securing thousands of jobs.”

Note, all information taken from Institute of Place Management

The Gloucester Rhythm and Blues Festival (Saturday 21 – Sunday 29 July) takes over the city for a jam-packed festival of live music with nearly 70 live performances in the city’s pubs and cafes over nine days. The long-running festival opens with a special preview night (9pm Friday) at the Dick Whittington with the D. B. Smith Band. Then on Saturday, the festival kicks into overdrive with seven gigs including a performance from Blues supergroup Hipkiss, fronted by the 2012 British Blues Award-winning saxophonist, Patsy Gamble, and Muddy Manninen (ex-Wishbone Ash).

Highlights include former European Blues Challenge winners Max and Veronica from Milan, Innes Sibun Band, Buzzin’ Hornets, Oliver Darling And The Dirty Robbers, Storm Warning and the critically acclaimed Elles Bailey Band whose 2017 debut album ‘Wildfire’ earned rave reviews. Maverick Magazine gave ‘Wildfire’ top marks (5/5) calling every song ‘Fresh & Original’ and Blues In Britain reminding us that ‘It’s a fact that very few make it to the big stage but Elles Bailey has the necessary talent, the drive, and now the product.’ She has been nominated for this year’s Best Female Act at the European Blues Awards and has scooped another 4 nominations at the British Blues Awards.

On Wednesday 25 July, The Cross Keys Inn hosts the official Blues Festival Open Mic hosted by Mark Cole. Expect a few surprise guests popping in to play with the Sons of the Delta front man. On the closing weekend, both the Dick Whittington and Café Rene will have outdoor stages. The venues involved are:

• Angie’s Bar – Bull Lane
• Café René – Southgate Street
• Cross Keys Inn – Cross Keys Lane
• Dick Whittington – Westgate Street
• The Fountain Inn – Westgate Street
• Gloucester Brewery – Gloucester Docks
• The Old Bell – Southgate Street
• Peppers Café – Bull Lane
• The Tall Ship – Southgate Street
• Tank – Gloucester Docks

Gloucester Rhythm & Blues is a mainstay of Gloucester’s Summer of Music, Arts & Culture and is organised by Marketing Gloucester in association with Tim Porter and supported by Gloucester City Council.

The full schedule can be found at www.gloucesterblues.com