Annan Wins ‘Rising Star’ Award In National ‘Lets Celebrate Towns’ Showcase

Visa, in partnership with the British Retail Consortium (BRC), announced on the 1st March the list of towns Including Annan, in Dumfries and Galloway, highlighted as part of Let’s Celebrate Towns, a nationwide showcase designed to celebrate the hundreds of towns across the country helping local businesses and communities to thrive.

The ‘Champion’ awards highlighted towns that have demonstrated an exceptional ability to create a supportive environment that helps businesses and communities to thrive whilst the ‘Rising Star’ award recognised up-and-coming towns that are on their way to transforming the local economic environment and community:

Wales

Champion: Pontypridd
Rising Star: Mountain Ash

Scotland

Champion: Kilmarnock
Rising Star: Annan

Northern Ireland

Champion: Banbridge
Rising Star: Lurgan

England

Champion: Bromsgrove
Rising Star: Wythenshawe

The towns will now receive up to £20,000 of direct investment into a local community project or initiative and receive a dedicated programme of support for local businesses.

The initiative highlighted a range of exciting initiatives, including business and council partnerships to drive investment, and local mentoring to support local businesses throughout the UK.

These projects not only showcase what makes our towns unique but also demonstrates how towns are adapting to new challenges and opportunities in a rapidly changing environment, as well as actively encouraging the adoption of best practice across the nation.

On initial publication of the shortlist, Mandy Lamb, Managing Director UK & Ireland, Visa, commented:

“At Visa, we believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere. That includes the local economies created in our towns; home to a rich diversity of independent businesses operating alongside major brands, restaurants, cafes and retailers.

We believe it’s time to put towns centre-stage. We hope that by championing our local business and communities, we can showcase the many advantages that come from fostering growth and prosperity locally.”

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said:

“I am delighted to be partnering with Visa on this brilliant opportunity to celebrate the diversity of our towns and highlight what makes them great places to live and work.

As a passionate advocate for retail, I’m excited by the prospect of identifying more stand-out examples of where towns are supporting businesses, and the people that help communities up and down the country to thrive. By doing this, we can also uncover important insights to ensure best practice is shared more widely across towns to help boost our businesses and high streets.”

One of those on the judging panel was Tony Danker, Director General of the Confederation of British Industry, who commented:

“I am delighted to be taking part in the Let’s Celebrate Towns initiative and look forward to showcasing where towns are supporting businesses – of all sizes – to succeed. Faced with a challenging set of circumstances across the country, a relentless focus on growth and unlocking prosperity – especially across towns – can ensure that every region, every nation, and every corner of the UK can flourish.”

Let’s Celebrate Towns is the latest initiative from Visa to celebrate and recognise the contributions of local communities and economies across Britain, following on from its Great British High Street Awards programme and commitment to digitally enable eight million small businesses across Europe.