Barnoldswick named as a winning Great British High Street town

Taking positive steps to halt the decline caused by the closure of local pubs and shops has seen Barnoldswick honoured by the Great British High Street competition.

The Pendle town was one of seven winning towns out of 21 originally shortlisted. Each of the winners were selected for their ability to innovate, collaborate and adapt to changing consumer habits.

Resident and councillor David Whipp and owner of Chubby’s Chippy Richard Milner set up Barnoldswick Town Centre Action Group and entered the competition.

David said: “We’re absolutely delighted at the success of Barnoldswick in this national competition. The real reward is in the vibrancy and vitality of our town centre, but to receive national recognition is the icing on the cake.

“We have had a huge team of volunteers working tirelessly to make Barnoldswick such a great place. They’ve put on some brilliant events and everyone has joined in, including some talented local musicians. The relationship between the traders, residents and volunteers has been fantastic with everyone pulling together to create a very special high street.”

The judges’ attributed Barnoldswick’s success to the outstanding collaboration between local partners, coupled with a huge sense of community pride.

They highlighted the use of the market space for multiple events including ‘Bands on the Square’, a free three-day live music festival of local talent. The area’s economy is now benefiting from additional footfall, and vacancy rates have been substantially reduced.

The winners will receive a share of prize money and support from a fund worth £50,000, as well as dedicated support and mentoring from industry experts. This could range from one to one coaching or advice on creating business plans, to workshops on digital marketing.

David added: “Our Visit Barnoldswick Facebook post has now reached over 33,000 people and more than 1,200 people have watched the video we released about the town.

“And we’ve had congratulatory messages from towns in America, Canada and Australia!” There was more 135 entries from across the UK – more than a third of local town teams. The seven winners were:

• Local Centre – Barnoldswick
• City category - Norwich Lanes
• Coastal category - Colwyn Bay
• Market Category – Belper (chosen also as overall High Street Champion)
• Village - Broxburn
• Town Centre – Wantage
• London - Kingston