The awards that helped a city believe again
If any event helps showcase a place and mark its progress it is an awards ceremony, and a trip through the Believe in Gloucester Awards archive describes a city on a brilliant journey of discovery.
Dear readers,
We hope you caught some of that weekend sunshine! Here at Raikes we started with week by reading a rather exciting email from another business that wants to become one of our Founding Partners. Which is simply fantastic news.
Then we went to meet the man behind another exciting start-up company, someone very well known to many people in Gloucester thanks to another very popular business he also founded. That’s for a story we have coming up soon!
At the end of last week we ran a piece about the forthcoming Gloucestershire Economic Strategy, which we pay-walled for our members. That plan goes before the county council for a vote on Wednesday.
Ahead of that decision we also spent some of this morning reading the draft. We’re just not allowed to share it with you yet! But we will.
In the meantime, we hope you have a great week!
Got a story idea? Please send it to andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk. Or telephone 07956 926061.
Why today’s main story?
When Raikes first set out on its mission it promised to help champion Gloucestershire, especially its businesses, charities and those involved in education and training, to help create community and back those trying to do the same.
That is pretty much what the Believe in Gloucester Awards set out to do – and which it did until 2019 when organisers Reach called it a day, just before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived to change everyone lives forever.
Looking back at the awards, as we do in our main article today, you can see how far Gloucester has come, and what part the awards helped play in raising the morale of a city which had forgotten how to feel good about itself, which felt positively forgotten.
We chart a little of the origins of that significant change in the article, and note that the Peel Centre - the catalyst that gave birth to the very name of the awards - does not just continue to believe in Gloucester, it is also joint headline sponsor of Gloucester BID’s relaunch of the awards. We can tell you, they were always one heck of a party!
We speak to some of those involved, about what it means, why they are bringing it back and how you can get involved. And why it is part of the story of the rebirth of a city fit and proud to be called the county’s capital again.
Cheltenham Paint Festival
Andy Dice, who runs Cheltenham Paint Festival, has been bringing street artists from all over the world to the town since 2017 to work their magic on an agreed number of spots as part of a much-loved event, generating interest, excitement and drawing attention to the town.
Five hundred applications have already come in from artists from 50 different countries for this year’s festival, but Dice heard last month that the Arts Council would not be helping with funding this year afterall!
So he launched a GoFundMe page to raise the £20,000 the event needs – the key to which is a headline corporate sponsor (£15,000). This includes the chance to reach several million viewers when you are featured as part of an interview Dice has pre-arranged interview with BBC’s The One Show! This is our third post in support of his quest. To find out email: director@cheltenhampaintfestival.co.uk
Your Monday briefing notes
🎓Raikes wrote a story for our members in March (Apprenticeships are on course to become more popular than degrees) which noted that the numbers of applications for apprenticeships was threatening to overtake the numbers applying for university through the UCAS system. The data came from Universities and Colleges Admissions Service itself, which helps place wannabe apprentices just like it does those who want to study at degree level in the UK. Part of what is driving the nation towards gaining qualifications while getting paid is just that - cost. Apparently, the rate of entry to university from the most disadvantaged students, which is judged on whether they received free meals at school meals or not, is falling. For 18-year-olds it is just 19.1 per cent, compared to 36.4 per cent of those who are not eligible for free school meals. It’s a small measure, but UCAS will now be waiving the £28.50 university application fee for students in receipt of free school meals who apply for a place at university.
📰 💪🏼We particularly liked Oli Christie’s email newsletter this week. Many will know Christie as the founder of the successful Cirencester-based designer of games for mobile phones, Neon Play. Like most people who achieve their goal of a successful business it’s easy to assume it’s all been a well-thought-out plan executed adroitly. But in Christie’s reflective Thought for the Week he talks about how those best-paid plans were almost derailed from the start. He then picks out the lessons he learned in the hope it helps anyone else in the same position. It is well worth a read. The edition we’re referring to is called “Never give up”. You should be able to find it on his website here.
🏆 We’re introduced you to the Gloucestershire Deaf Association before, but we felt this story was more than worthy for a number of reasons – not least because it celebrates the value to both sides of a partnership between a charity and a business. Gloucester retail centre retail and leisure destinations - including the Eastgate Shopping Centre, King’s Walk, Kings Square and St Oswalds - teamed up to support Gloucestershire Deaf Association in a partnership that allowed the charity to help spread the word about what it does, raise much needed funds, and educate too. The retail centres, which all fall under the wing of property giant Colliers, were so pro-active that GDA awarded each a Certificate in Deaf Awareness - making them the first retail and entertainment venues in the region to receive the recognition. Read the full release here.
* Everything you read on The Raikes Journal is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne; our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College; our Founding Members and all our wonderful paying subscribers. If you upgrade to paid too, you’ll be able to see beyond the paywalls we place on many of our second and third email editions of the week and that lock our archive after two weeks. You will be able to view our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series, comment on our stories and you’ll be helping to make possible this community interest company dedicated to supporting the county, its businesses, charities and education and training providers — all for just £2.30 per week!! For commercial opportunities visit our About us page or email andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.
The awards that helped a city believe again
If any event helps showcase a place and mark its progress it is an awards ceremony, and a trip through the Believe in Gloucester Awards archive describes a city on a brilliant journey of discovery.
By Andrew Merrell
It was a phrase coined by the British billionaire John Whittaker, chairman of Peel Group and a key figure in the making of the Gloucester we know today.
Asked why his business was investing millions to create the Gloucester Quays designer outlet, when no one else would invest in the city, Whittaker replied “I believe in Gloucester”.
His reply became front page news at the time (the early 2000s), and the comment inspired the launch of the Believe in Gloucester Awards as the city seized on the positivity to help cultivate the seeds of pride that began to show almost overnight after years of cynicism that had threatened to choke the city.
The awards ended in 2019, the city continued to move on, but that quote resonates still and has become something of a mantra for Gloucester BID, which has relaunched the once ever so popular awards.
Emily Gibbon, manager of the Gloucester BID, which represents city centre businesses, said: “As of this morning (Monday 13 May) we have had 210 nominations. The entries are open to businesses, organisations, charities and individuals from across the greater Gloucester area.
“We are looking for entries across all categories, but in particular in the Heritage and Regeneration, Bar and Pub and Young Ambassador categories - and we have just one sponsorship opportunity left available, in the Hair and Beauty category. It is going really well.”
Given the original of the comment that gave the awards their name, it seems only fitting that the joint headline sponsor is Gloucester Quays itself.
When the Quays outlet centre opened its doors in 2009 Whittaker had been true to his words - the development of the waterside retail and leisure space coming in at a cool £248 million.
WSP Solicitors is the other headline sponsor, with 15 awards listed in total - each with their own sponsor and each still open for you to nominate your preferred winner (you can see the full list below of awards below, and find a link to the awards website).
Richard Graham became MP for Gloucester in May 2010, a year after the Quays opened, and has been at the heart of driving the city’s evolution ever since.
“I think when this all started the key driver was there were not enough people being positive about Gloucester and various people wanted to encourage that positivity.
“Since then, some really great things have been happening. I don’t think people are talking so much about Gloucester’s potential now as about what is happening here and about its ambition.
“There are a number of ambitious projects underway – we have two lots of Levelling-Up cash totaling about £32.5 million to invest in the city.”
Graham also cited the ongoing transformation of Debenhams into a new city campus for the University of Gloucestershire, the plans to bring Greyfriars back to life and transform the Eastgate Centre and Market beside it, the potential development of the former Fleece Hotel off Westgate Street, the History Festival and the Tall Ships Festival as signs of a city on the move. Almost unrecognisable even.
“What we need to do now is drive all of these developments through to completion, to build on what we have and continue to be positive.”
Matt Cass, a director of Barnwood-based family business Cass-Stephens Insurances Ltd, which employs 28 staff in the city and is this year sponsoring the Best Customer Service category at the Believe in Gloucester Awards. His business also happens to have been a winner the last time the awards were staged in 2019.
“I think when the awards started is was a reaction to not enough people being positive about Gloucester. But just like you can talk yourself down, so you can talk yourself up.
“Today people are certainly more positive. They see all the changes. There are still challenges, but there is plenty to celebrate in Gloucester.
“This year we’re sponsoring the Customer Service Award. In our business, customer service is paramount, so to be able to help see something we believe in celebrated in other businesses and organisations will be brilliant. It is about us putting something back.
“It is great to see the direction the city continues to go in and help support that, which is what the awards are all about.”
Mhairi Smith, is one of the organising team behind this year’s awards – alongside other well-known names, including the former leader of Gloucester City Council, Paul James, and Adrian Ball, co-owner of Kara Hair & Beauty in Southgate Street.
The team did the initial research to see what people thought about a return of the awards.
“Poeple’s reaction was ‘you’re bring them back? That’s great!’, which answered the question for us straight away,” said Smith, a freelance events and production manager, as well as production manager at Gloucester’s Guildhall.
“Something worth mentioning is the awards are not for profit – and free to enter. There is no charge. Three out of the four of us organising it are not being paid.
“We are doing it because we love the city and we want people to feel good about it. And it’s good for business too, of course!”
There are 15 different categories available for nominations:
Ambassador of the Year, sponsored by the University of Gloucestershire
Young Ambassador of the Year, sponsored by King’s School
Business of the Year, sponsored by WSP Solicitors
Small Business of the Year, sponsored by Davies & Partners Solicitors
New Business of the Year, sponsored by Kara Hair & Beauty
Hair and Beauty Business of the Year, sponsored by The Local Answer
Food Business of the Year, sponsored by Gloucester Food Dock
Retailer of the Year, sponsored by Gloucester Quays
Bar or Pub of the Year, sponsored by Gloucester City Safe
Best Customer Service Award, sponsored by insurance firm Cass Stephens Insurance Ltd
Sustainability Award, sponsored by King’s Walk Gloucester
Heritage/Regeneration Award, sponsored by Gloucester City Council
Community Project/Organisation of the Year, sponsored by Gloucestershire County Council
Event of the Year, sponsored by security business GMS Group
Charity of the Year, sponsored by Eastgate Shopping Centre
Remember, nominations close on May 31. Judges will meet in July to shortlist, voting for the finalists will be open in August and September with the awards night itself due to take place on 20 November 2024.
You can find out more, and about how to enter the awards, right here.