Business

Georgina Hustler, owner of Antique Rose in Wokingham, is part of a team of people wanting to attract more shoppers to Wokingham
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Business champions call for support of attempts to galvanise town

By Jon Nurse
March 22, 2013

Business champions are calling for support as they prepare a fashion week and Super Sunday markets to galvanise the town.

Members of Wokingham’s Town Team, which aims to promote and improve the town centre, discussed projects in the pipeline for this year and renewed their calls for people passionate about Wokingham to support their mission.

Georgina Hustler, owner of Antique Rose in Bush Walk, said: “We want to keep the momentum going and there needs to be more people that can take on responsibilities to get us moving forward.”

Plans for a fashion show have snowballed into a fashion week, which would launch with a catwalk show at the town hall on Thursday, May 23.

Miss Hustler said: “Wokingham is a great destination for clothes and fashion accessories. It’s a passion of mine. I’ve started to look around and there’s a lot of more there than you think.”

Members discussed drawing on the talents of borough’s teenagers and promoting the WADE charity shop by displaying some of its clothes.

Town councillor Stan Hetherington added: “If we believe in Super Sundays and making it a positive part of the Wokingham experience then we need people to get involved.

“For too long people have gone outside of Wokingham for their shopping.

“We want to persuade them back. Even if it’s just one in 10 people at first – next time it could be two in 10.

“Soon the place will feel like there’s a real buzz around it.”

Businesses are also being encouraged to do their bit for the town’s debut entry into Britain in Bloom by buying a hanging basket from Windowflowers Ltd, which is offering fully planted, watered and maintained displays for £50 plus a charge to install a bracket.

The meeting was used to suggest questions for a town survey that will be posted on the Survey Monkey website next month.

Miss Hustler said: “We need data to show how people feel that live in the town and draw out its strengths and weaknesses.”

The Town Team’s next meeting will be at Wokingham Town Hall on April 18, starting at 6.30pm.

Visit www.wokinghamtownteam.co.uk.

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Kaz4Wokingham:

Indeed we can but dream.....My solution? Kick the parties out of our political system....Vote for local people that adopt a more pragmatic approach, rather than the anti democratic, "I must toe the party line," types we now have.

Tonk, Wokingham
28/03/2013 at 11:43

Yep. New labor had plenty of of bankers, lawyers and tax avoiders too.

I'm hoping next round of voting we are going to wake up as a society clean up politics.

Make sure that candidates sign on the dotted line to a whole new level of lasting transparency, lasting vested interests, acting on their promises and consequences if they do not. At the moment we have no way of telling a good egg from a bad one, no matter what noises they make.

Kaz4Wokingham, Wokingham
27/03/2013 at 23:04

K4W:

Why didn't Labour reverse all of the things you talk about then? Perhaps it suited them too!

Tonk, Wokingham
27/03/2013 at 17:13

Sorry. 1979 Thatcher started tearing down the capital controls and opened the casino.

I wonder which people were encouraging her to undertake these acts and where their personal interests lie?

What do you think Redwood was doing at the time. Look him up on Wiki?

Does not talk of his private work to ensure he is advising people on investment opportunities since he is being so close to the heart of government sentiment since that would be a breach of the ministerial code as gentlemen should see it.

But check out Evercore Pan Asset and... well... anyway, in his trade, a complete lack of capital controls, offshore banking and the ability to influence the tax rules are a great asset.

I suspect he believed they were just very clever and deserving multiplying wealth out of thin air and perhaps innocently forgot the most important basic rule of a working happy economy.

People doing things of value and being suitably rewarded for the value they bring.

Offshore wealth hoarding, boom bust speculation and renting, lending ill gotten gains back to the looser, including governments, is where we are at. Thanks John.

Kaz4Wokingham, Wokingham
27/03/2013 at 17:04

Why do you blame Mr Redwood?.....He was in opposition during that time.....I blame the last Labour governments for all the ills our nation faces and am sure they will continue in the same vein when they get in at the next election, because our PM has already as good as guaranteed their victory with his useless policies and government.

I genuinely worry about the future of our once great nation.

Tonk, Wokingham
27/03/2013 at 11:06

wokybusi

I admire your effort and the retail owners trying to create a buzz.

My political stance is more of a 'Great you are trying to work round the underlying problems. But they must still be addressed.

I don't want all your hard work to be a banner saying how the Tories saved the town when you are fighting stave off the damage they have done and will not put right.

Lot of National Local cross over there.

The only local Tory I blame for 1989-2008 banking and the Buy To Let boom is Redwood.

Local rents and a secret contract £100m regeneration we are paying for with debt (for the next generation who already have it worse) and land sell off rather than bit by bit with profits I do blame them for.

Kaz4Wokingham, Wokingham
26/03/2013 at 14:16

More use needs to be made of the "Whats on" section of this site. Wokingham is noticable on this by its lack of any items. There needs to be a link between the information centre, the library and other sources of information so that Wokingham appears tobe a lot more vibrant.

I would suggest that getwokingham needs to make its "whats on" section more prominent.

PoneRana, Wokingham
24/03/2013 at 13:24

i am concerned that we do not have a council plaaning department that really wants to improve the experience in our shopping centres. If they were really on song then we wouldn't have shops like Lidl locating their new shops in indusrial estates but being located in the town centre.

We would also see more of the small specialist shops located in town instead of converted farmyards. For example Holme Grange Craft Village should not exist but be part of the towncentre.

PoneRana, Wokingham
24/03/2013 at 12:48

Kaz - it's very important that we make the distinction between WBC or even WTC activities and the things organised / completed by this town team. The team is strictly community and business lead, it's also important to highlight that there are no salaries or other financial benefits to the team. People in this team give up their own free time to revitalise our town centre and beyond. They should be treat / respected as such and we shouldn't cloud this with issues with housing /business rates and other items which are not related to and are outside the control of the team.

alex_f, Wokingham
24/03/2013 at 12:47

I think the final thing to say on this is that there are clearly some strong opinions and ideas on how we can improve the town centre and markets.

Please contribute these ideas and thoughts using the survey provided by the town team. It will ensure ideas are not missed and their efforts can be more accurately targeted to the Wokingham public.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6X5VPMV

alex_f, Wokingham
24/03/2013 at 12:40

Stig2 and others - join in.

There's a lot more planned and whilst someone may have done something similar or something different what is planned is one of many events over many years.

We don't want to get bogged down in politics because someone else has a different idea. Support it for what it is.

Come up with other ideas (bear in mind cost is a factor and the aim is get shoppers in to Wokingham) and you will get support.

Kaz4 - you are clearly a political animal and judging by your final paragraph you are rubbishing the efforts of business people in Wokingham giving up their little free time to improve the appeal of Wokingham as a shopping centre. Can't see there is any reference to more housing in the article.

Wokingham is considered a safe place to be in the evening. Restaurants and pubs are popular and some late night opening will follow.

The Living Advent calendar last year was a great success - and no doubt will be even more popular this year.

So let's support this group of mainly retailers in their desire to make Wokingham different an dappealing.

I'm sure the comments on the fruit and veg man have been noted. Don't be surprised if he is brought in to line. The market manager is involved and other retailers will put on pressure to ensure standards are maintained.

wokybusi
24/03/2013 at 11:25

I wish the team all the best with this initiative. I am concerned that the idea of using charity shops to promote retailing in wkm, at the fashion show, will only turn off trade. On the teenager point, my daughter (then 17) organised a fashion show at he school covering female and male clothing and accessories for her peers, Over 1000 people attended (in the school hall) to see a catwalk with vibrant music and magnificent clothes from the major retailers (provided free). It was an amazing experience. The point is that the fashion show should be aimed at the attendees regardless of where the clothing etc comes from but include the Antique Rose but not second hand clothes pls. It is the event which will bring in the crowds, creating footfall, and as a spin off wkm may encourage retailers into the town. The idea of a fashion week is an excellent one as I have also seen an under 12's fashion show and the attendance was incredible so there are many opportunities for attracting other people to the town. Let's hope as PR says that the shops stay open in the evening during fashion week (along with restaurants and coffee bars). This would be a good example of the 'destination' town concept that would reignite wkm. So an event coupled with a meal and an early doors coffee could give wkm the 'destination' tag it needs to buck the trend. Good luck to the team.

Stig2, Wokingham
23/03/2013 at 11:53

I wish them luck. But you seem to have worked out that the only way to get people into town is to put houses on the doorsteps and fill it with nightlife clientele.

I think if you looked at the footfall in town over the 50 years it is no lower. The margins simply must compete with online and the tenants are paying extortionate rents and rates.

Just part of the spin to build stuff. Create the need.

Kaz4Wokingham, Wokingham
22/03/2013 at 22:49

@PoneRana - awesome idea - I say 'late night Thursdays' as this is the usual late night shopping day.

@wokybusi - you are right about some of the strong independents in the town centre. Georgina / Antique Rose is probably one of the best examples, providing a very quality and different offering from high street stores. People travel into Wokingham just to go to her shop - exactly what we want for Wokingham. I know of several people who go to towns simply because of one or two strong independents - alot of my snowboarding friends go to Marlow regularly to go to Sputnik for example, or Fleet for the Snowboard Shop. They park up for 2 hours and decide to wander around and grab a coffee, groceries and might find a random pair of shoes at the same time.