The latest initiative in Croydon Council’s #LoveCroydonShopLocal campaign has seen a team of information officers help more than 1,100 businesses reopen safely.
Love Croydon Shop Local celebrates our fantastic businesses and high streets as they return to life following this most challenging of years.
The council has so far distributed more than £70m to businesses in the borough since the first lockdown and is in the process of awarding £500,000 to help boost pubs, clubs and restaurants to support our night-time economy.
Recent activities have focused on reopening our high streets safely and include lamppost banners and ground stickers reminding people to stay safe, and the introduction of a team of information officers.
After four weeks eight covid information officers have visited more than 1,100 premises to provide covid-safety advice on topics such as signage, social distancing and QR codes. Funding for the officers has been provided by the government’s Reopening High Streets Safely (RHSS) programme.
The officers are different from the enforcement teams and their role has been to reduce the need for enforcement by providing a visible, high-quality information service directly to businesses.
One of them, Sophie Peacock, said: “I’ve been educating people about safety measures and also acting as a go-between for the council and business owners to discuss anything that’s impacting their business such as funding opportunities. It’s been a big remit!”
“In general the response has been very positive and people are very happy to see us out and about. Since I started the job I’ve seen more and more people going back to the shops and it does seem to be booming now.”
“Our Love Croydon Shop Local campaign supports and celebrates those brilliant local businesses and high streets that help make the borough the vibrant community it is.
“We have so far provided millions of pounds worth of support to businesses but we are conscious that people still want to feel safe when doing their shopping.
“To help with this we introduced a team of information officers to answer all your questions and installed a range of colourful banners and stickers to welcome people back to our high streets and remind us all to play our part in the continual fight against the pandemic.”
Councillor Manju Shahul-Hameed, cabinet member for communities, safety and business recovery
For more information about our #LoveCroydonShopLocal campaign visit our resources hub here.