Ethos Public Relations Manchester

Momentum builds for first ever Wigan Galleries Arts Festival

by Ethos public relations

Excitement is building ahead of the first ever Wigan Galleries Arts Festival, sponsored by Wiganplus, where local amateur artists from across the borough will showcase their work throughout The Galleries Shopping Centre during May.

In partnership with Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, the two-week festival, with its Wigan Heritage theme – ‘Past, Present and Future’ – will run from 1 May to 15 May.

And the festival will see traders in The Galleries Shopping Centre displaying paintings in their shop windows. There will also be a main exhibition which will be held in the Wiganplus shop at Standish Galleries.

Half way through the festival, on Wednesday 9 May, a judging panel, made up of some very well-known names from across the borough, will visit the shops to choose the top five paintings, which will then form a permanent display within The Galleries.

Commenting in the run up to the festival, Mike Riddell, Head of Partnerships at the Wigan-wide loyalty card scheme, Wiganplus, said: “We are very pleased to be sponsoring the first Wigan Galleries Arts Festival to help celebrate the past, present and future of our town and we cannot wait to see what our region’s talented amateur artists create.

“Since September last year, we have made the walls of our Wiganplus shop available to various Art Groups and individual amateur artists to display their work, and we’ve been delighted with the success of these exhibitions and the high standard of work we’ve seen.”

Now in the run up to the Wigan Galleries Arts Festival, artists from across the borough as well as local art groups, such as Standish Art Group and Scholes Art, are enquiring about taking part and displaying their work throughout the two-week celebration.

Mike added: “We are very much looking forward to working with The Galleries and Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce to ensure the Wigan Galleries Arts Festival is a massive success and a real celebration of our rich history and wonderful Wigan heritage.

“We look forward to seeing you there!”

The two-week art festival will not only be a great event for the people of Wigan, but it will also help to attract more visitors into the town centre, and reinforce the important role of the high street in defining the economic and social fabric of the town.

To find out more about Wiganplus, please visit the website - www.wiganplus.com - or email info@wiganplus.com. Or call the team on 01942 247091.

To read other news from HometownPlus click here.

Posted at 5^th March 2012

‘Loyalty is key to our Retailers and to the community’

by Ethos public relations

“It’s time to inject a big dose of community into retailer loyalty schemes,” says Tony Meehan, Chief Executive of HometownPlus.

Launching a new white paper on where next for loyalty schemes, Tony says: “Retailers’ loyalty schemes have, in recent years, focused on providing benefits to the retailer and its shareholders rather than instilling a real sense of community that could pay dividends both to the local community and the retailer itself.

“Town-wide community loyalty schemes, using smart card technology to connect individuals and organisations but which also reward citizens for volunteering can lead the fight against declining towns and high streets and really bring the communities back to life.”

To date, schemes such as Tesco Clubcard have focused on how the retailer can ‘exploit’ customer information in order to improve its performance. Loyalty in such a scheme is targeted to maximise benefit to one side only, namely Tesco, argues the HometownPlus white paper.

But it does not have to be that way. HometownPlus, a community loyalty scheme, delivers the transactional element of contribution and reward, but has wider ambitions.

HometownPlus aims to improve communities and the well-being of local people, creating a sense of belonging, pride and increased prosperity, by bringing together individuals, businesses and local authorities and rewarding all parties for their participation.

According to Tony Meehan, a mutual scheme such as HometownPlus, can deliver so much more than a ‘Clubcard’ in that it can bring benefits to retailers and customers.

HometownPlus not only enables local town centre retailers to be more competitive and engage with the right customer, through the right offer at the right time and place but it also gives consumers the information they want, when they want it, where they want it.

HometownPlus can also provide a local brokering service between members with spare assets, such as cars, domestic tools or spare bedrooms and members needing these things. This mutual collaboration benefits both parties.

Changes in shopping patterns and the rise of the internet are resulting in major challenges to both retailers and communities, says Tony.

“Now really is the time to establish mutually rewarding behaviour and facilitate community co-operation. Then we might be able to counteract decline and rebuild local communities.”

A copy of the white paper, From Loyalty to Community: an Enabling Platform, is available to download now at http://hometownplus.co.uk/_lib/downloads/whitepaper.pdf.

For more information about HometownPlus, please visit www.hometownplus.co.uk.

To read other news from HometownPlus click here.

Posted at 17^th February 2012

Consumers and retailers urged to rally behind Wiganplus in run up to Christmas

by Ethos public relations

With recent figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealing the weakest high street trading for six months, consumers and retailers in Wigan have a unique opportunity to support the High Street in this all important run up to Christmas, thanks to Wigan-wide loyalty card, Wiganplus.

According to Mike Riddell, Head of Partnerships at Wiganplus: “These are very tough times for both retailers and customers and with the number of shopping days to Christmas reducing fast and so many people choosing to shop online, our high streets are continuing to suffer and many independent retailers are at risk.

“But by working together, we can really do something to help support the whole community here in Wigan.”

On Cyber Monday (Monday 5 December 2011) – the biggest online shopping day of the year - £19million was spent in one hour – a total of £456 million in just 24 hours.

Mike says: “The dismal BRC figures combined with how much shoppers are spending online underlines that we really must rethink the important role our high streets have in defining the economic and social fabric of our towns.

“With Wiganplus, people across our town have the opportunity to work together to get more out of our high street and keep more money in the pockets of local people, as not only does it give customers access to unique special offers but it also gives retailers access to local customers who want to support their businesses.”

By using smart card technology, Wiganplus connects individuals and organisations in the town and is now helping to strengthen Wigan’s economy and community. The card is completely free and rewards shoppers in Wigan. But the card is much more than a ‘discount’ card. 

Mike Riddell explains: “The Wiganplus card is designed to create and encourage a sense of community and belonging in Wigan, using the latest technology to reward people for supporting local businesses, leisure and travel partners. Wiganplus members are not only rewarded for spending, but for trading and providing their resources and time within the community. Over the next few months we will have some exciting announcements about how the card can be used, so now really is the time to sign up and get yours!”

To find out more about Wiganplus and to sign up for a card, please visit the website www.wiganplus.com, email info@wiganplus.com or call the team on 01942 247091.

To read other news from HometownPlus click here.

Posted at 9^th December 2011

HometownPlus welcomes Ethos public relations to its community

by Ethos public relations

Manchester-based Ethos public relations has been handed the brief to raise the profile of HometownPlus, the organisation behind Wiganplus.

HometownPlus aims to improve communities and the well-being of their people, creating a sense of belonging, pride and increased prosperity, by bringing together individuals, businesses and local authorities and rewarding them for their participation.

As part of that vision, Wiganplus is a community co operative that uses smart card technology to connect individuals and organisations in Wigan. But the Wiganplus card is much more than a loyalty card – its goal is to strengthen the town’s economy and community.

Tony Meehan, Chief Executive of HometownPlus, explains: “At a time when our high streets are suffering, local businesses are struggling to compete and unemployment and prices are rising, it is vital that we do what we can to support our communities.

“The Wiganplus card is designed to create and encourage a sense of community and belonging in Wigan, using the latest technology to reward people for supporting local businesses and organisations. Wiganplus members are not only rewarded for spending, but for trading and providing their resources and time within the community.

"We are very keen to promote the benefits to the whole community in Wigan and Ethos public relations will be key to helping us achieve this.”

Ethos public relations will focus on helping Wiganplus grow its membership both in terms of individuals in the town taking up the free smart card and local businesses and organisations making offers through the scheme.

Shaun Fisher, Director at Ethos public relations, said: “The importance of communities and rebuilding community cohesion is more important than ever.

“Everyone should have a sense of pride and belonging in their home town, city or community and the HometownPlus model enables local people, businesses and local authorities to join together in one community which, in turn, rewards them for their participation.

“We are delighted to be working with HometownPlus to raise its profile and promote the Wiganplus model of corporate community engagement and we’re looking forward to getting started on the project.”

To find out more about Ethos public relations, please visit www.ethos-pr.com.

For more information about HometownPlus, visit www.hometownplus.co.uk. And to find out more about Wiganplus, visit www.wiganplus.com.

To read other news from Ethos public relations click here.

Posted at 16^th November 2011