A campaign to boost local businesses as they emerge from months of lockdown is getting underway in Penwortham, encouraging residents to start safely enjoying the town’s high streets again.
Enjoy Penwortham is a place-marketing campaign devised by local resident and marketing agency boss Lee Petts, and has already started to attract attention.
Designed to help businesses bounce back from months of closure during the Covid-19 lockdown, and those affected by a loss of passing trade since the new John Horrocks Way bypass opened, the Enjoy Penwortham campaign will see a one-off tabloid-sized newspaper produced and distributed to all 8,867 local homes, giving participating businesses a unique chance to tell their lockdown stories, explain the changes they’ve made to ensure that their premises are Covid-secure in line with Government guidelines, and to encourage residents to return to their high streets and safely enjoy the shops, bars, eateries and beauty salons that make the town such a desirable place to live.
The campaign has already attracted the backing of businesses like Booths which operates a supermarket on Millbrook Way. John Gill, head of marketing and trading, said: “Booths are really pleased to support the Enjoy Penwortham campaign. We pride ourselves on being part of the local community, and being involved gives us an opportunity to support other local businesses and customers during what have been, and continue to be, unprecedented times.”
Jen Maudsley, a single mum-of-two that owns hair and beauty business Meraki Beauty, says the campaign will be a great help and is encouraging the town’s firms to get behind it. “Independent local businesses like mine have really suffered during Covid lockdown. We need all the help we can get when it comes to rebounding. The Enjoy Penwortham initiative will put my brand in front of an enormous audience in a way that I just couldn’t afford on my own, and give me a chance to attract customers that might not otherwise have found me.”
Lee, who runs Preston-based PR and marketing business 52M Consulting, explained why he came up with the idea for the campaign: “I’ve lived in Penwortham for 16 years, and I absolutely love it here. It’s really begun to flourish recently, with a host of new businesses opening including shops, bars and restaurants. But after being forced to close for months, and unable to earn a penny, many of them will have undoubtedly suffered a big hit. While things are also a bit quieter than usual for us, I wanted to pour our expertise, creative thinking and connections into a scheme that would help Penwortham businesses to survive and thrive.
“We decided that the best way to do that would be to provide businesses with a way of getting in front of Penwortham’s 18,000 adult residents that doesn’t rely too heavily on the internet and social media, partly because not everyone uses them, but also because many of the popular platforms like Facebook intentionally restrict your reach in order to coax you into paying for advertising. Not only that, social posts disappear very quickly these days as they get pushed down our feeds by new content. A newspaper, on the other hand, has a much better chance of being seen by people of all ages and is more likely to remain visible in each household for longer.
“The focus is on encouraging local people to get out, support and enjoy the town’s businesses, but to do so safely and sensibly, especially in light of increased Covid-19 restrictions recently introduced in Preston and other parts of Lancashire.”
It is hoped that the newspaper will be ready for publication and circulation by mid-September, but it will only proceed if enough local businesses get involved, said Lee.
Penwortham retailers, hair and beauty salons, pubs, bars, restaurant and cafe owners are all invited to take advantage of the Enjoy Penwortham campaign and are being encouraged to sign-up to get their stories told at www.bit.ly/EnjoyPenwortham
