Welcome back!
The majority of our BID Member Businesses will be able to re-open from the 15th June with additional safety measures in place.
This re-opening presents challenges and please don’t hesitate to ask if the BID team can support you in anyway. During lockdown we have been in regular contact with Rochdale Council, Greater Manchester Police, town partners and our wide network of retailers and members. A summary of our support to you during lockdown can be found here: https://www.rochdalebid.co.uk/Docs/covid/re-opening.pdf
For your information, to support the gradual reopening of the town, The BID, the Council and partners are putting in place a range of measures:
- A marketing campaign to both encourage social distancing but also gently welcome people back. View the latest campaign video here: https://www.facebook.com/rochdaletowncentre/videos/3318539314837636
- Social distancing information signage in high footfall areas.
- An enhanced cleaning programme will be undertaken https://www.facebook.com/rochdaletowncentre/videos/277662713609211
- BID Rangers and the Councils Wardens will be out and about to help and advise people, while officers from GMP will look to ensure people are observing the safe distancing rules and not gathering in groups
- Safety signage will be displayed across the town centre.
- To support your business for reopening we have produced a pack of assets that will allow businesses to put some physical distancing measures in place, in order to open as safely as possible to the public again. In particular, the free assets will go some way to helping shops and leisure businesses manage queues outside their frontages. The resources are free to businesses and can be ordered by emailing paul@rochdalebid.co.uk
- The website contains a list of which town centre businesses are open https://www.rochdaletowncentre.co.uk/shopping/
- To support town centre businesses through the recovery stage we have partnered with Loyal Free. The free to download app provides free advertising for local businesses to promote their offers and events, with the option to run a “loyalty stamp” scheme, feature in local shopping trails and sell products or vouchers online through a no-commission marketplace. Further details regarding Loyal Free are below.
Retailers are fundamental to the success of the reopening of the town centre and so as your BID, we ask you to:
- Please speak with your neighbours to develop / agree how queues are to be managed on the footway and consider what interior space can be used for effective queue management. Where you are located next to an empty unit you may also be able to use that space. Providing a notice to show where an individual queue ends could be achieved with a window sticker.
- Follow ongoing government health and business guidance: gov.uk/coronavirus
- Follow the BID website: https://www.rochdalebid.co.uk/covid-19/ for the latest guidance and support.
- Follow the BID on social for alerts to the latest information.
Facebook /rochdaletowncentre
Twitter @RochdaleTown
Instagam @rochdaletowncentre
LoyalFree has now been launched in Rochdale Town centre and it is free!
What is LoyalFree and How Can it Promote Your Business?
We at Rochdale BID are urging all businesses to take advantage of an innovative new scheme aimed at boosting trade and helping you bounce back from the Covid-19 lockdown.
The free to download app – which, so far, has more than 47,000 users – provides free advertising for local businesses to promote their offers and events, with the option to run a “loyalty stamp” scheme, feature in local shopping trails and sell products or vouchers online through a no-commission marketplace.
The app will promote businesses when the centre re-opens! In the meantime, however, there's ways of promoting your business now. If you are open and providing a service, even if that's in a delivery/takeaway capacity these can be included in a trail so the public can see that you are trading, or you could promote discount/voucher offers to buy now and use when you are open. The possibilities are endless!
Businesses can see the app and how it works at: loyalfree.co.uk/demo.
The place promotion app will highlight various aspects of Rochdale, including tourism information, business offers, event listings, interactive trails and more.
Businesses will benefit from the advertising of your offers and events to locals and visitors alike; you will get customer insights through a live dashboard; and links to your website, social media, reviews and more.
You will feature in town centre “trails” on the LoyalFree app, which will guide shoppers to a list of retailers, hospitality and leisure providers, such as Open for Business, Vegan Food, Family Friendly, Dog Friendly, Best Independents and so on. Eventually, these may be interactive ones where people can vote and scan.
Once some form of "normality" resumes and more businesses are opening up again the LoyalFree team along with Rochdale BID will visit your establishment and provide you with all the details you need to know including your own personal log in and a QR code for your customers to scan to collect discounts/points/rewards when they visit. All deal information is uploaded by the LoyalFree team so there's nothing extra for you to do other than let us know what your deals are as and when you create them.
LoyalFree also have a new Marketplace feature. This gives all businesses an online platform to be able to sell their products/vouchers online without having to have their own website. The LoyalFree team will set up your online account for you and then all you need to do is upload your products you wish to sell. This is a fantastic opportunity for levy paying businesses to trade on line without the hassle and costs of setting up your own digital platforms.
https://www.loyalfreemarketplace.co.uk/
There is nothing to lose and potentially a lot to gain from providing us with your latest offers/deals and your current operating details so check out how LoyalFree can help your business during the recovery phase and beyond.
Don't delay, contact today!
info@loyalfree.co.uk
Thank you
Please get in touch with the team if you have any concerns or questions.
Useful Links
COVID-19: what you need to do
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Support for businesses and employers during coronavirus (COVID-19)
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support
General guidance for employees during coronavirus (COVID-19)
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-and-support-for-employees-duringcoronavirus-covid-19
COVID-19: guidance for food businesses on coronavirus
If you have any queries regarding the support which his currently being offered, please don’t hesitate to contact me on 07811 278517.
Paul Ambrose
BID Manager
12 Jun 2020