Are shoppers having to "run the gauntlet" to avoid chuggers?



Watch The BBC Video Here



Rochdale High Street Foundation Chairman, Paul Turner Mitchell took to BBC's breakfast show this morning (23rd July) to highlight the impact of "chugging" on the high street.

"Are town centres becoming suffocated with charity fund raisers who approach you in the street?
They are sometimes referred to as chuggers, short for charity muggers, and today some of the UK's leading charities are debating whether they should be stopped.

Shoppers are having to "circumvent" and "run the gauntlet" to avoid them according to said Paul Turner-Mitchell, chairman of Rochdale's High Street Foundation.

However, Peter Lewis of the Institute of Funding believes it is a very important way of getting long term support for charities."

Further Comments:

Charities do a fantastic amount of good work and make a real difference in the UK - but they need to come up with more imaginative and people friendly ideas for fundraising. Because this fundraising model is just giving charities a bad name. They're often too aggressive and a deterrent for shoppers. People don't want to run a gauntlet of chuggers demanding money when they're just walking down a high street. Sometimes it's like being a ball in a pinball machine bouncing from one to the next.

When you have the chief executive of Marie Curie telling a House of Commons select committee that the practice has become "disgraceful" then I think you know that change is needed.

What traders like myself are campaigning for is to revive British high streets and make them attractive, exciting and welcoming places for shoppers to come and visit. But for this to happen shoppers need to at least have space to breathe and take in their surroundings. I see customers with their heads down ploughing forward to the cash point as fast as they can, doing their best to navigate a team of chuggers who are quite simply corralling customers with collectors on either side of the road pursuing people. When customers are focusing all their energies on avoiding chuggers how can they make spontaneous purchases or properly appreciate the businesses on the high street?

Paul Turner-Mitchell

Chair, Rochdale High Street Foundation



Minutes of Meeting - High Street Foundation 4th July

Thank you very much to everyone who attended last night’s High Street Foundation meeting – please find the minutes attached. It was a great turnout and excellent debate. Thank you also to Greg Couzens for standing in as Vice-Vice Chair at the last moment!

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 15 August, 5.45pm – 7.30pm, at the Henry West Building, Hopwood Hall College, Middleton Campus.

So much has been delivered since we launched the Foundation in February and this is down to your input and ideas to transform our high streets. We will be providing a presentation at the next meeting to update you on progress on what has been delivered so far, along with what you can expect to see delivered over the coming months.

Our new Chief Executive, Jim Taylor will also be attending this meeting on the 15 August and will take part in a Q&A session which we will also be holding live on Twitter throughout the meeting.

Portas Pilot Round 2

We have also resubmitted our Round 2 - Portas Pilot Bid. Please could you all follow the link to You Tube to watch our new video and help us get the number of views increased! We are anticipating the results to be announced at the end of July. http://www.youtube.com/rochdalecouncil  I also attach our written bid as requested.

Blogs

Following the meeting there was a great blog posted by Dan Roots on his thoughts of the meeting. Please feel free to post any comments of your own:  http://www.businessvirtualtours.co.uk/the-rochdale-high-street-foundation/#.T_TBQQXz6EQ.twitter

We have also been inspired by the Blog and set up our very own High Street Foundation Blog!  This is work in progress, but please have a look and let us have your comments: http://www.highstreetfoundation.blogspot.co.uk/

Drake Street Public Realm Improvements

Please find attached a copy of the proposed public realm improvements for Drake Street which you also requested. If anybody would like further information please contact Nick Barton on Tel: 01706 924847 or email: nick.barton@rochdale.gov.uk

Chess The Musical – Complimentary Tickets

Finally, the Whitworth Amateur Musical & Dramatic Society have very kindly offered 20 free tickets to any members of the Rochdale Borough High Street Foundation who would like to attend Chess The Musical which opens this Friday 06 July and runs from 7.30pm every night until Saturday 14 July at The Curtain Theatre, Rochdale. If you would like to attend please contact the organiser: Andy Kelly on 01706 351 562 / 09747 609 277.

Frances

How To Advertise With Google, FREE!

As a business you cannot underestimate the power of web advertising, while you all may eventually have your own website, what’s the point if no one can ever find you?

Last week a member of the high street foundation was searching Google’s business listings of Rochdale, over 25% had incorrect or outdated information, think of the potential custom you may be missing out on.

Google Places or Google+ for Business as it’s becoming, is a free service that lists your business on Google Maps and an invaluable tool when people are not searching your business by name. For example, searching “Bed and Breakfasts in Rochdale” returns  a map of the town with location markers for each B&B with their business details, images and where applicable, reviews. This can be narrowed down to you being found by postcode, so if customers are looking to stay near a certain area of the town then you’re in a much better position to attract their business.

Example of Returned Results for Bed and Breakfast in Rochdale

You can further enhance your listing with optional paid add-ons from the search engine if you so wish:

Google Adwords – Ever seen those results on a magnolia background that appear at the top of the web page when your search is returned? These are paid advertisements through Google Adwords, you credit your account with an advertising budget and each time you’re business is displayed relating to the keywords that have been searched (also known as an impression) a set amount is deducted based on your business sector and the keywords that impression was returned for, if a user clicks on your advertisement (also known as an action) then a further amount is deducted, again related to the sector and keywords. Should you choose to sign up you will be given the rates applicable for your business. New applicable businesses are entitled to a £50 adwords voucher when signing up and verifying their business with Google Places.

Google Business Photos – As we blogged last week, Google Business Photos allows your premises to be added to search, your Google+ for business listing as well as Street View as an interactive 360 degree virtual tour, as shoot by a Google Trusted Photographer. Dan Root of Business Virtual Tours being the photographer that covers north Greater Manchester, including the borough of Rochdale. They have been contracted by Google to work with local businesses, to shoot, create and embed these virtual tours and still imagery into Maps. The service is ideal for business premises where presentation is key selling point.

To get started with your free advertising with Google, then please follow this link and follow the onscreen instructions, you’ll be seeing an increase in custom in no time!

Google+ makes Rochdale business go global

Award winning fashion boutique 25 Ten Boutique has become the very first business in the Borough of Rochdale to feature in a Google+ interactive view, which allows users to take a 360-degree virtual tour.

It was filmed last week at the Yorkshire Street business for the Search Engine giants, as they incorporate the 360-degree tour into their street view experience across the UK.

Commenting after taking the 360-degree tour of his business, Director Paul Turner Mitchell said:

“This really is an amazing tool and I’d encourage others to use it for their business. I often hear from people who say they’d like to visit the boutique but don’t live near enough to pop in. I’m hoping after now being able to take an interactive tour they’ll go the extra mile to get here!”

Originally trialled in the US last year, the service has proved an instant success and is now being rolled out across the UK, Australia and New Zealand with other countries being lined up in the future.

For independent business owners the Google+ tool is a chance to showcase business premises online and include all the details that customers love, allowing users to walk around, explore and interact with the business, it’s just like being there.

Dan Root of Business Virtual Tours in Middleton, who shot the first Google+ interactive tour in the Borough for Yorkshire Street’s, 25 Ten Boutique last week said:-

“It’s a real honour to shoot for 25 Ten, it’s a fantastic building both internally and externally, the virtual tour really adds a wow factor to an already very well presented premises. It can do nothing but enhance their Google+ local  listing.”