We’ll keep the Purple Flag flying here!

Purple Flags will continue to fly proudly in Bury over official recognition of the town’s night-time economy.

Bury has been successful in securing Purple Flag status for a second year following an assessment by the ATCM (Association of Town Centre Management) which manages the UK-wide scheme.

The Purple Flag is the equivalent of the Green Flag for parks, and recognises the quality of a town’s evening and night-time offer.

Since Bury won Purple Flag status in 2015, a promotional campaign has been aimed at raising awareness of its attractions: from restaurants, cinema, leisure, bowling to theatre, food and drink plus an ongoing programme of events.

Councillor Sandra Walmsley, cabinet member for resource and regulation, said: “This is great news for Bury town centre and confirms that Bury continues to be ‘on the up’ with an ever expanding offer for both day and night time visitors. Bury remains the only town centre across Greater Manchester to achieve this prestigious accreditation and we aim to continue working with our partners and town centre venues to maintain that status, while working hard to build on our evening offer to provide a safe and enjoyable night out. We want to encourage an even wider range of evening and night-time businesses to get involved, spread the word and support Purple Flag.”

Arnold Wilcox-Wood, centre director for The Rock, said: “Bury’s continued accreditation is the result of an ongoing partnership and commitment between the council, Greater Manchester Police, businesses, venues and all key agencies in our night-time economy. We continue to offer a strong daytime and evening offer here in Bury in the light of ever increasing competition and I look forward to continuing this partnership to bring forward further investment and activity to benefit all town centre users and visitors from further afield.”

For details of ‘what’s on’ in Bury, visit http://www.visitbury.com/

ENDS

Press release issued: 19 January 2016.

Note to editors:

About Purple Flag

The Purple Flag programme was developed following the Civic Trust’s “Night Vision” report in 2006, and is now managed by the Association of Town & City Management.

Purple Flag is:

• An accreditation process similar to Green Flag Award for parks and Blue Flag for beaches. It leads to Purple Flag status for town centres that meet or surpass the standards of excellence in managing the evening and night-time economy.
• A comprehensive set of standards, management processes and good practice examples designed to help transform town and city centres at night.
• A research, training and development programme, to help towns and cities improve their evening and night-time economy.
• A positive initiative that indicates an entertaining, diverse, safe and enjoyable night out.

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