Norwich BID

Norwich Business Improvement District (BID) are proud to announce that Norwich’s Purple Flag status has been retained for another year.  Awarded the status in 2017, this is a positive indication of an entertaining, diverse, safe and enjoyable night out in the city.  Purple Flag is the national accreditation scheme for town centres at night. It’s the “gold standard” for night time destinations, like Blue Flag for beaches, places that meet the standards can fly the flag.

To secure the award, Norwich BID worked with key partners; Norwich City Council, Norfolk Constabulary, licensed premises and other organisations to help tackle many of the effects of the city centres night-time economy on residents, businesses and visitors.  Businesses that trade in the evening and night-time economy have established a ‘Late Night Norwich’ scheme. This important trade led initiative has created excellent working relationships across the leisure sector and has resulted in a significant impact on safety and wellbeing in the city.

Norwich will be taking part in the official annual celebration of the Purple Flag programme, which takes place during the whole month of October 2018. Norwich BID have already been flying the ‘Purple’ flag at local fresher’s fayre’s and providing students with information on how to stay safe and enjoy a great night out in the city centre.

On Saturday 6 October from 4pm to 1am Norwich City Hall will be illuminated like never before in celebration of the cities Purple Flag status.

Stefan Gurney, Executive Director, Norwich BID said, “Norwich BID has continued to work tirelessly to improve the city centre offer with the businesses and partners to ensure we continue to be recognised as a national leader. The Purple Flag award reflects the hard work and dedication that all the partners have put in to make the city an amazing place to live, work and play.  Purple Flag month is a great opportunity for the city and the night time economy to celebrate our status as a safe and enjoyable location for a night out”

The Evening and Night time Economy in Norwich is vibrant, diverse and welcoming – becoming a popular destination due to its extensive events programme. Within Norwich’s Purple Flag area there are 347 licensed premises which add to the city’s cultural scene.

The ‘after dark’ economy is worth an estimated £72bn annually to the UK, supporting thousands of businesses, employing 4.5% of the UK workforce, and significantly contributing to local economies. Purple Flag month intends to capture people’s imaginations, change perceptions and encourage people to do something different with their evening in a variety of locations.

Towns and cities across the country are planning a wide-range of events to not only showcase the quality, diversity and vibrancy of their night time economy, but also to challenge the common perceptions about the safety and quality of nights out.

The Purple Flag programme is run by the Association of Town and City Management (ATCM). Ojay McDonald, CEO of the ATCM said, “There now are over 70 towns and cities across the UK and Ireland who are proudly flying the Purple Flag after working hard to gain accreditation. The award is not just about safety, but also the vibrancy and diversity of the evening and night-time offer — this can only be achieved by people working together and across the country we are seeing some amazing examples of this type of partnership working. It is great to see so many towns and cities really celebrating their Purple Flag achievement and putting so much effort into the celebrations.”



About Norwich Business Improvement District (BID)

www.norwichbid.co.uk

Established in November 2012, the Norwich Business Improvement District (BID) is run for local businesses by local businesses.  It is a simple, tried and tested way of increasing economic prosperity for companies of all sizes through collaboration.  The BID covers a defined area of Norwich where businesses plan how to improve their trading environment, identifying additional projects and services that develop the city centre and trade.

 

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.