#portaspilot

Recently, I had the opportunity to write a couple of press releases for the Portas Pilot project. The first focusing on promoting a Mother's Day event at the MR BIG Corner Shop. Since the event has already passed I thought I would showcase the work that I did. Any tips on how I could improve are welcomed.

  MR BIG CORNER SHOP HOLDS MOTHER’S DAY SHOPPING EVENT

MARKET RASEN, LINCOLNSHIRE, EAST MIDLANDS – 22ND FEBRUARY 2013 The Market Rasen BIG Improvement Group (Mr BIG) plans to hold a Mother’s Day shopping event at the Mr BIG corner shop on Thursday 7th March 2013 between 4pm and 7pm.

The Mr BIG corner shop will partner with Greens of Lincolnshire and be the ideal shopping event for young children in pursuit of purchasing that special something for their mother this upcoming Mother’s Day. The overarching theme of the event will be ‘it’s the thought that counts’ with the majority of products on sale being hand-made and of ‘pocket money prices’.

Products will range from cakes, chillies, jams and chutneys, courtesy of Greens of Lincolnshire, to hand-made gift cards and arts and crafts, courtesy of local arts and crafts makers.

    It’s been a while since I reported on the progress of the MR BIG corner shop; my last post on the subject stated that I, along with two other volunteers, was to manage the PR activities involved with its launch before the holiday period … It’s now February and a lot has changed: the two other volunteers have dropped out of the project and the corner shop opened without us knowing! But I was keen to stay involved as I believed working on the project to be an invaluable experience.

    So today I’ve travelled to Market Rasen to get an update on the progress of the Portas Pilot project in general which, so far, has involved: the launch of a grocery store, Greens of Lincolnshire; the launch of the MR BIG corner shop; a visit from the woman herself, Mary Portas; and the introduction of an arts and crafts festival, Plank 2013. With all this going on it’s hardly surprising that the levels of communication dropped over the Christmas period!

    Upon arrival at the MR BIG Corner Shop, which finally opened its doors on 2nd February, I was pleasantly surprised. What was once a cold and empty building now felt warm and friendly filled with locally hand-made products ranging from greetings cards and artwork to elegant cushions and scarfs; many of the products having exceptional attention to detail! I was quite fascinated by the dedication put into making one collection of woolly hats and scarfs; I was told that the lady who makes these products uses the wool from her own sheep!

Portas Pilot

    Portas Pilot is a project developed by customer service guru Mary Portas, which focuses on refurbishing high streets across the UK. In order for your high street to be a part of the Portas Pilot project an online bid was required (here’s the link to Market Rasen’s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VJxJAzs0Ro). With 371 towns bidding, only 12 places available and a staggering £1m up for grabs, there was tough competition but Market Rasen was able to outshine the competition and was granted Portas Pilot town status.

    The key aims of the bid focused on tidying up the high street; putting the ‘market’ back into Market Rasen; creating a sustainable shopping strategy via support from budding entrepreneurs and landlord engagement, and promoting offers to local, regional and national visitors (http://www.maryportas.com/portaspilots/market-rasen/page/2/). With the aims in mind, a trip to Market Rasen was in order to first, see the high street for myself and second, to get inspiration for the project.

Impressions of Market Rasen

    Market Rasen is a small town on the outskirts of Lincoln comprising of a small population of just 3,500 people. Walking along the high street it was clear that it is in need of some sprucing up as a number of vacant shops were visible. I found the people to be very friendly and they were willing to answer some questions; shop owners agreed that Market Rasen is a nice place to live and that customers are friendly and loyal, but the town is in need of something different.

MR BIG’s Progress

    So far the Market Rasen Business Improvement Group (MR BIG) has organised and carried out markets to be held on the first Saturday of every month (the November market, being held tomorrow, is to be a Halloween themed market named Monster Market with activities such as a pumpkin carving competition). There are to be approximately 45 stalls at the November market with the likelihood of increasing over the upcoming months.

    As well as the monthly market MR BIG intends to launch two shops this month: a greengrocers and a MR BIG corner shop; that’s where I come in.

My Involvement

    The MR BIG corner shop will be a variety of shops all in one shop. The aim is to get a number of traders to trade at this shop with the ambition that they could, depending on their success, move into retail and trade on Market Rasen’s high street.

    Along with two other volunteers, I am to manage the public relations (PR) activities involved with the launch; these include the writing of press releases; using social media; blog submissions and media relations.

    With the hope of launching the shop before Christmas, a lot of work is to be done and a lot of effort to be put in. We will be making something out of nothing and hopefully the transformation will be incredible!

http://www.maryportas.com/portaspilots/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Marketrasen

Twitter: @MarketRasen_BIG