So close: Bridgnorth narrowly misses out on national award
Bridgnorth has narrowly missed out on being named the best "Rising Star" in a competition aimed at celebrating UK town's.
The town had made the finals of the ‘Let’s Celebrate Towns’ initiative, a nationwide showcase that celebrates hundreds of towns across the UK and is run by Visa in partnership with the British Retail Consortium.
If it had been successful, the Shropshire market town would have received up to £10,000 and a package of business and town support.
But a panel of independent judges spanning business, industry and regional bodies decided that Wythenshawe, in Manchester, had pipped the Shropshire town to win the Rising Star category for England.
Bromsgrove, in Worcestershire, was named as England's Champion.
The other winners named at the awards ceremony at the Houses of Parliament in London on Thursday night were Pontypridd and Mountain Ash in Wales, Kilmarnock and Annan in Scotland, as well as Banbridge and Lurgan in Northern Ireland.
Love Bridgnorth, which promotes the town, put together the award submission highlighting a range of exciting projects, including schemes and partnerships to drive investment and support local traders.
Sally Themans, founder of Love Bridgnorth, who attended the awards ceremony along with several other local businessmen and women as well as the town's MP Philip Dunne, said: "We were runners up but we are not too disappointed that we did not win as it was a great achievement and a real honour to have been there.
"I entered because I put the town in another competition in 2016, also by Visa, who were looking for the Best British High Street, and Bridgnorth was the winner.
"While it wasn't to be this time, we heard from some great speakers including Sahar Hashemi OBE, founder of Coffee Republic, who was very inspirational.
"Helen Dickinson, CEO of the British Retail Consortium, was also there and keen to explain that despite more of us shopping online the High Street is not dead, as £4 out of £5 of retail spending is still spent in brick and mortar shops, which was heartening," said Sally.
She added that the £10,000 that the town narrowly missed out on, winning would have gone towards formulating a relationship between Bridgnorth and Visit Shropshire that promotes towns to tourists.
"We are the only Shropshire town that is not in, so we'll have to find a way to fund it elsewhere," she said.
Sally, who set up Love Bridgnorth's Facebook and Instagram pages eight years ago, added: "I am just so very heartened by all the messages of encouragement and support we have received from the people of Bridgnorth."
