Changing Negative Perceptions Of Wrexham

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  • #53813

    Rob
    Participant

    We went to a meeting tonight to discuss the report – there wasnt much on top of what is in the report / plan , but we added notes / quotes on Council To Change Perceptions Of Wrexham | Wrexham.com

    The report itself can be found on the council’s site here – https://www.wrexham.gov.uk/MinutesData/EmpBusInv/Reports/hccs0213s.pdf

    Purpose:
    To consider the findings and recommendations of the Employment, Business &
    Investment Scrutiny Committee (EBISC) Task & Finish Group established to consider how to improve the perception of the town centre.

    Its worth a read!

    #58181

    Sam
    Participant

    It’s a very interesting read actually.
    Some points:

    5Y – Root cause analysis has been around for years.
    Wrexhams strengths and weaknesses – delusional if they think a £20k advertising campaign will Raise Wrexham town center.

    Wrexham needs retailers albeit in the form of collection centers or whatever.

    What we don’t need is an app for incentives, there are plenty out there already.

    WHEN Wrexham is match fit, then advertise ! Are you going to promote empty shops to the general public

    #58137

    thewayneinspain
    Participant

    I would have loved to have gone to this…

    Good points
    Someone is actually using the “5 whys” technique. (suggested reading: “the lean startup”)
    The desire for half full glasses is very positive
    The campaign seems a good way of capturing all markets and areas.

    Bad points



    The background to stats are missing from results of survey to the shop vacancy rates being 10%. (I made my feelings known before, that I thought the survey was biased rather independent)

    I have a concern about what the PDI’s will be. There doesn’t seem to be any clear goals or a decision on what is a good PDI or a bad PDI.

    Suggestions


    add more data capture to the marketing and thereby have a database to market to individuals… through a simple cheap almost free email campaign.

    Questions


    The promotional film – Has this gone out to tender yet and if so where? I know quite a few filmmakers and for one of them, this is his bread and butter.

    The App – Has this gone out to tender yet and if so where? I’m interested. The quote is too expensive. It should be half the price with a website version included too.

    #58169

    Adam
    Participant

    Rather than negative perceptions I would suggest that a bigger blockage to improving the town are the negative attitudes of many towards the additions (or proposed additions) of higher end outlets in the town. Nothing grates me more than to hear people dismiss some of the stores in Eagles Meadow as “too posh”, “too expensive”, “not a Wrexham shop”. Some pillock on TripAdvisor claims that EM has “some of the most expensive shops there are”.

    Why would anybody invest their own money in a new venture such as a deli, a Tapas bar, a boutique (i.e. something which could add a different dimension to the town and attract new visitors) when you hear attitudes such as these? And yet the irony is we are able to sustain 40+ “beauty and hair” salons, countless mobile phones shops (some of the duplicated), 3 Greggs, numerous bars, 4 or 5 tattooists etc, etc. Hardly the sign of a town with no disposable income..

    And this is the kind of image a marketing director of a large retail store would see of the town when looking for towns to expand into. In fact they probably wouldn’t bother to look any further than Experian’s Mosaic classification of the town, something I’ve yet to see, but would be very interested to.

    This is where the council can play a role however. Rather telling potential investors that they’ve got it all wrong about the town, show them they understand the current failings of the town and this is the 2/5/10 year plan…

    #58187

    zinger
    Participant

    People will not forgive the demolition of beautiful old buildings with history to be replaced by buildings of little character. The new builds should be sympathetic to the old. Eagles Meadow is so obviously separate to the old town centre that you choose to go to one or the other. The younger element is more likely to go there whereas with the bus station at the opposite side of town older people are not going to walk that far. Bad town planning. It was the same with the Peoples Market. Entry from the town centre was only an afterthought. Separate chunks instead of joined up thinking.

    #58170

    Adam
    Participant

    @zinger 3023 wrote:

    People will not forgive the demolition of beautiful old buildings with history to be replaced by buildings of little character. The new builds should be sympathetic to the old. Eagles Meadow is so obviously separate to the old town centre that you choose to go to one or the other. The younger element is more likely to go there whereas with the bus station at the opposite side of town older people are not going to walk that far. Bad town planning. It was the same with the Peoples Market. Entry from the town centre was only an afterthought. Separate chunks instead of joined up thinking.

    I’d certainly concur with your first point. EM will never win any architectural awards however I could ream off a long list of visually more offensive buldings. Top 4 would probably be:

    -Regent St Buldings (Brynyffynnon)
    -Queens Square
    -Lord street (opp back of old Woolies)
    -Crown buildings

    Not only are the above visually offensive in their apathetic design, due to their poor build quality some are showing signs of wear beyond that of some of the pre 20th Century buildings.

    The peoples market doesnt work simply because it looks and feels like an underground carpark and sells items that can now be bought (probably cheaper) in large retail stores.

    #58128

    wrexview
    Participant

    Just think what Wrexham would be like if we did not have the new Eagles Meadow development. We were extremely lucky that it was completed in the Autumn of 2008 just as the recession started. How many other towns of Wrexham’s size would be delighted to have such a development within their town centre. We really should appreciate what we have.

    #58157

    Born Acorn
    Participant

    I’m sure we do; it had a record 3 mil visitors last year according to the BBC.

    I get the general feeling that some negativity toward it comes from observers rather than those who use it; as Adam says, a lot of people think it’s too expensive!

    #58125

    Rob
    Participant

    @Born Acorn 3042 wrote:

    I’m sure we do; it had a record 3 mil visitors last year according to the BBC.

    We challenged the method of recording via Eagles Meadow’s PR agency last year , and followed up with a query in December but didnt hear back.

    Interestingly in the reports and stats give was the nugget that 50% of Eagles Meadow visitors use the bridge that joins EM to town.

    That is of course good – but also means 1,500,000+ people do not use the bridge.

    That is a hell of alot of people !

    #58188

    zinger
    Participant

    I lived & worked in a different part of the country many many years ago where they had shopping precincts then to the detriment of the City centre. The Debenhams, M & S, BHS, Next, etc, etc just move into the next new bigger precinct that is built after demolishing more huge chunks of the historic City. The are like sheep. Chester is one of the few success stories. Possibly because they didn’t separate the old from the new. The shopping precinct is part of the City. I have to say though that I wasn’t around to see what was there before.

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