Business is booming in Oswaldtwistle after a successful campaign funded by Mary Portas’s high street scheme and local retailers.

A flyer promoting the town’s shops and services was financed using £1,000 Mary Portas funding plus contributions from retailers – who say trade has been on the up ever since.

In a survey carried out by marketing company Scott Dawson Advertising, who designed, produced and printed the leaflet, 45% of shopkeepers included in the flyer said they had seen an upturn in business since it had been circulated, with 10% declaring that trade had increased by 50% within five days of distribution being completed.

Around 70% of business owners said their customers had mentioned the campaign when visiting Union Road shops.

Sean Reid, owner of The Chippy, said customers have been “buzzing” about the leaflet, while Kevin Aaron, of K & S Aaron Butchers, said many customers had been prompted to take a walk down Union Road after picking up the leaflet up in Oswaldtwistle Mills.

Azar Iqbal from Oswaldtwistle Pharmacy said: “We’ve already requested more flyers to put into bags with prescriptions and we plan to put a screen up in the shop to show all of the videos featured in the leaflet on a rolling loop. It’s been fantastic for Oswaldtwistle.”

Gayle Knight from the Oswaldtwistle Town Team said: “There has been a lot of negativity about how Portas Pilot funding is being spent but our campaign shows a little financial support can go a long way towards enticing people back to their local high street.”

A second leaflet is already in the pipeline – Oswaldtwistle Town Team is currently seeking funding for a Christmas flyer encouraging Hyndburn shoppers to support the region’s shops in the run up to the festive period.

Anyone who wishes to attend the next Oswaldtwistle Town Team meeting can contact Gayle Knight on 01254 398319, or info@civicartscentre.co.uk

To view all of the videos featured in the leaflet, visit www.youtube.com/oswaldtwistlevideos

Scott Dawson puts Portas fund to good use in Ossy

Scott Dawson’s managing director Murray has completed a gruelling charity cycling challenge to raise money for North West Blood Bikes.

Murray joined nine friends and fellow cycling enthusiasts to pedal their way from Liverpool to Leeds along the canal on a sunny Saturday and Sunday.

The team included Paul Dwyer along with his son Danny Dwyer, Allan Nutter, Nick Garratt, Alex Roberts, Stephen Greenhalgh and John Slater, while Sean Keenan and Sean Dwyer ran the support vehicle.

North West Blood Bikes (Lancs and Lakes) provides a vital out-of-hours services to the NHS delivering life-saving medical supplies to hospitals in the area. Their volunteers travel by motorcycle to transport blood, samples, donor breast milk for premature babies, doctors’ notes and urgently required theatre equipment between hospitals.

They run this service during the night, at weekends and Bank Holidays and it’s funded through donations so hospital funding can be concentrated on patient care.

Murray and the team have managed to raise £1585 for the charity so far, as well as £717 for Prostate Cancer UK.

There’s still time to sponsor the team – visit their fundraising page here:

http://www.justgiving.com/bikerboysbloodbikes

You can find out more about North West Blood Bikes (Lancs and Lakes) here: http://www.nwbb-lancs.org/

Well done to Murray and the team on behalf of everyone at Scott Dawson!