Flying the Purple Flag for Bury

Bury has become the first town centre in Greater Manchester to fly the Purple Flag in recognition of its thriving night-time entertainment.

Purple Flag is a town and city centre award – similar to the Green Flag for Parks and Blue Flag for beaches – which aims to raise the standard and broaden the appeal of town and city centres between 6pm and 6am.

To achieve Purple Flag status the Bury team had to provide information relating to a number of criteria including cleanliness and safety, movement and transport, the range of attractions, entertainment and events, high quality environment and strong partnership working. This was followed by a late night visit from external assessors to see the town centre in action.

The assessors were particularly impressed with the commitment and evidence of bringing art and culture into the night time economy in Bury. This was seen first hand by the assessors as their assessment coincided with the annual Bury Light Night event in October which this year attracted 25,000 visitors. The assessors also commented on the strong sense of leadership from Bury Council and its partnership with all stakeholders including Greater Manchester Police and the town’s Pub Watch and Street Pastor groups.

Councillor Mike Connolly, leader of the council, said: “We are delighted to receive this prestigious award in recognition of the ongoing excellence of Bury town centre. Purple Flag status reflects our recognition of the importance of the night time economy and builds on our overall approach to ensure that the town centre continues to support the wider economy while also supporting our work on the Greater Manchester Alcohol Strategy.

“Bury was recently ranked third best retail destination in Greater Manchester, after the city centre and the Trafford Centre, and was in the top three in the recent Urbanism Great Towns award. This is further proof that Bury continues to go from strength to strength, outperforming neighbouring towns in Greater Manchester for both our day and night time economies.”

Lisa Newton, chair of Bury Pub Watch, said: “Achieving Purple Flag status is a fantastic achievement and reflects the close partnership working between the council and the wide range of pubs, clubs and venues across the town centre. Our Pub Watch group is gaining strength and we intend to work closely with the council to publicise all that Bury has to offer. We are all determined to work together to ensure a safe, enjoyable night out for town centre users of all ages.”

Councillor David Jones, chair of Bury’s licensing and safety panel, said: “This is just the start of the process for us and we will be working with our night time economy businesses and partners to promote our offer which includes attractions for all age groups, and bring forward an Action Plan aiming for continuous improvement in the quality and diversity of our night time offer.

“Our continuing close working partnership with Greater Manchester Police, Pub Watch, the Street Pastors project (who provide assistance to vulnerable people), transport providers, The Rock and venues across the town will help us to achieve this.”

The scheme is managed by the Association of Town Centre Managers working alongside the Purple Flag Advisory Committee – a partnership of key stakeholder groups backed by Government, police and businesses, as well as sponsors Diageo Great Britain.

Since 2007, the programme has awarded Purple Flag status to 54 towns and cities in the UK and Ireland. Purple Flag accredited towns have all reported a consistent increase in footfall and decrease in crime within the night time economy.

Philip Kolvin QC, chairman of the Purple Flag Board, said: “The continual expansion of the Purple Flag initiative is recognition of the important challenge to create a balanced, safe and vibrant night time offering. Each city demonstrates how organisations who work with the public produce positive, innovative outcomes for the night time economy. With over 50 Purple Flag centres now across the UK and Ireland, it is inspiring to witness the ongoing diversity of efforts from all accredited towns, old and new alike.”

Mark Baird, head of Alcohol in Society from Purple Flag sponsor Diageo GB, said: “Diageo is delighted to be a part of the tenth round of the Purple Flag programme. It is fantastic to see over 50 cities in the UK and Ireland now flying the Purple Flag; each one of these centres has been individually recognised for their efforts to promote a fun yet safe night time environment. Purple Flag is an excellent initiative working to eradicate the negative stereotype associated with urban centres at night.”

ENDS

Press release issued: 17 February 2015.

Picture: With the coveted Purple Flags in Bury town centre are representatives from Bury Council, Greater Manchester Police, Bury Pub Watch and partners. In the centre are Bury Council leader Mike Connolly and Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd.

Notes to Editors:

About Purple Flag

The Purple Flag programme was developed following the Civic Trust Night Vision report in 2006, and is now run by the Association of Town Centre Management, London.

To find out more about Purple Flag, please visit: https://www.atcm.org/programmes/purple_flag/WelcometoPurpleFlag

About Purple Flag sponsors Diageo

Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, beer and wine. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, JεB, Windsor, Buchanan’s and Bushmills whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Baileys, Captain Morgan, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is a global company, with its products sold in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands, and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com. For our global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit DRINKiQ.com.

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