"How incredibly welcoming all the lovely, independent businesses have been..."

Warwickshire’s economy is heavily powered by its towns, each with their own unique appeal, charm and range of independent small businesses. Within each town, much work is going on to maximise its assets and promote those businesses. In Warwick, town centre manager Kelly Scott, is on the case…and loving it.

Since taking the role as Town Centre Manager for Warwick three months ago, I have embarked on a wonderful journey learning all about this unique historic market town.

Employed by Warwick Town Council, I am located in the Old Court House, currently the Visitor Centre. Right in the heart of town, it is a key point of contact for the town centre and a great space for a Town Centre Manager to work as it offers an insight to all the enquiries about the town from both tourists and locals.

One thing that has stood out to me the most is how incredibly welcoming all the lovely, independent businesses have been. It is clear that they have so much passion about the County town of Warwick and want to see it thrive as much as I do.

There is a strong and proud community spirit amongst those in Warwick which only serve to make the town centre even more endearing. The town centre also has such a good variety of uses, museums, retail, beauty, food and beverage, markets, alongside the surrounding parks and landmarks, it all makes for a great place to work, live and visit.

Like all town centres, Warwick’s has not escaped the hardships of economic challenges and changes to the way consumers shop. Part of my role is to assess the needs of the town centre and help it evolve to overcome these challenges with the aim to see an increase in footfall and commerce.

Prior to my appointment, the Town Council undertook a series of engagement workshops, a collaborative approach, tapping into a variety of skill sets to identify the town’s strengths and weaknesses, and picking key priorities for the town centre to grow and remain sustainable in the future. A key part of my role is to take the outcomes from these workshops and deliver the next part of the emerging Town Centre Vision.

In the short three months I have been at Warwick Town Council, so far we have seen the winners of Warwick in Bloom announced, a Town Centre Tidy up, Victorian Evening and light switch on, with an expansion of lights this year thanks to generous sponsors, a successful Small Business Saturday and most recently a promotional video for Warwick Town Centre which showcased just some of what is on offer here.

There is so much more yet to come with plans already looking as far ahead as next Christmas. I hope to see the return of events in the town centre that were successful last year. Based on the positive feedback of the recent Town Tidy Up we hope to bring this back again.

I have had a fantastic first three months with Warwick Town Council and look forward to continue working with the other councils, engaging with businesses, landlords and other key stakeholders to continue building on this already vibrant market town. KELLY