Chairman of The Town Centre Forum Steps Down

The chairman of Wrexham’s Town Centre Forum has stepped down after more than two and a half years in the position.

Nigel Lewis, owner of Wrexham Savers, took over the role from Eagles Meadow manager Kevin Critchley in December 2014.

Today Cllr Andrew Atkinson, who acted as temporary chairman of the meeting, confirmed that Mr Lewis had announced he was stepping aside from the position.

Since taking on the role over two and a half years ago, Mr Lewis has been involved in a number of projects to improve the town centre, including the introduction of the monthly street festivals, lower prices for car parking and a campaign to fill empty shops and improve their frontages.

One of his earliest projects was the collaboration with the Healthy High Streets programme and helping to bring the national Small Business Saturday events to Wrexham.

There have also been several notable clashes on his watch, including a strong debate over the introduction of littering enforcement officers, Kingdom, the arts hub and more recently the issues over homelessness and substance misuse in the town centre.

More operational changes have also been introduced to encourage more businesses to the town centre forum, including bi-monthly meetings and the creation of the town centre steering group.

Speaking today, Cllr Atkinson said: “Nigel has done a huge amount to improve the town and I’m very grateful to him and want to thank him on behalf of the group.

“The Street Festivals were Nigel’s brainchild and have brought real vibrancy to the town once a month. He’s campaigned successfully on many issues including getting parking charges lowered and working to improve the town in many ways.

“It’s been a pleasure working with him as chair and I look forward to this continuing as well as the opportunity for someone new to put new energy into the role.”

Such comments were echoed by owner of the Lemon Tree Sam Regan, who last week took over the role as chairman of the town centre steering group.

Sam said: “We’ve got to commend Nigel on getting us to this point, he’s spent a lot of time effort end energy doing what he has. This is a good opportunity for someone to follow in his footsteps and they are big shoes to fill.”

Speaking about his appointment to the steering group, he added: “I am excited about the role. I and try and help to make a difference and speak to people and do what I can.

“We’re all in the same game looking to improve the town. As a collective there’s no reason why we can’t continue to improve.”

Top pic: Left, the acting Chairman today Cllr Atkinson and right, outgoing Chairman Nigel Lewis