Burnham-On-Sea Food Festival co-organiser Beverley Milner Simonds has been shortlisted in the third annual ‘Great British High Street’ competition and she needs your help to win.
Beverley has been named alongside two other people in the Retail Market Champion category for her work on the town’s Food & Drink Festival. Now, to be crowned champion, she needs your votes.
This year’s competition saw a record 900 entries across all 14 categories, including the new categories for individuals and shops.
Now the shortlist has been drawn up and the public has the chance to vote directly for the person working hard for their local high street.
Between now and 18 November readers can cast their votes for free via thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk.
If Beverley wins, not only will she get a share of a £10,000 prize pot, but she’ll win expert training from Google’s digital taskforce for shops, bars and restaurants and a trip to Twitter UK’s London office to further boost social media skills.
High Streets Minister Andrew Percy said: “Our high streets are the life and soul of towns, villages and cities across the country and the record number of competition entries, this year is proof of their continued importance to local life. From North London to Northumberland, great work is underway to adapt the high street to the needs of modern life. I want to wish all who’ve entered the very best of luck.”
The Great British High Street Competition 2016 celebrates the great work that is being done to revive, adapt and diversify the nation’s high streets. It is one of a number of initiatives to help champion high streets as the cornerstones of the community.
New to 2016, the competition is also looking for individuals to win a ‘high street hero’ award. With categories for store managers and employees from national or independent retailers to ‘under 25’s’ and market traders, high streets are able to enter the individuals who are making a difference to their local community.
“I am over the moon to have made it the final 3. I saw the coverage of how many entrants there were and so to have been picked as finalist is very humbling,” she said.
“With Sarah, I work hard to put on the twice a year food and drink festivals here in our hometown and I am motivated by making Burnham-on-Sea a better place to live, work and visit. Having a thriving High Street is the heartbeat for a town and experience led days out that have an economic impact locally throughout the year is a vital sign of a healthy town.”
“Working with the local Chamber of Trade, businesses and consulting widely all helps to build an event that not only massively increases the footfall in the town but also puts us in the news for all the right reasons.”
To go online to cast your vote, visit the Great British High Street website and follow @TheGBHighSt on Twitter. Voting closes on 18 November. Click here to see a video.
