Traders in Lichfield have prioritized branding for the city, a town centre manager, and a local website as essential improvements to attract more visitors and support local businesses. Additional suggestions include seasonal events, improved communication, and enhanced marketing efforts, with specific costs and considerations outlined for each idea. The findings aim to foster a stronger local economy by better engaging both traders and residents in promoting the city.

1. So what do traders want?
Here’s the top 15 ideas
(or top 10 if you score on total votes)

2. Traders want a brand for the city that appeals to shoppers,
restaurant and bar goes, not just tourists. This scored the
largest percentage of votes (15%).
This will be relatively simple to take forwards:
•A brainstorm with traders to generate a design brief
•A competitive pitch by local companies
•A selection process
•Development of a brand
•Application to various e-tools and marketing
Likely costs
For branding design, website
design, mobile site design, etc £1,500 - 2,000

3. Traders want a town centre manager.
This scored 11% of the votes.
With the available funding, a town centre manager could be
appointed for a number of months, however with 14 other top
ideas, we need to consider this carefully. Issues to consider:
Sustainability
If we appoint a town centre manager, what would their brief be?
Would it be to generate support for a BID?
Duration
How much money will we have left after the rest of the
ideas have been funded? How long will this last?
Impact
If we don’t want the role to deliver a BID, what impact
will a short-term post have? Will it make a difference?
Is it a good investment of money?

4. May be part funded through
May be part funded through
additional MP/High Street
additional MP/High Street
Innovation funding. Awaiting
Innovation funding. Awaiting
confirmation.
confirmation.
Traders want a city website that appeals to local people and not just visitors.
This scored 9% of the votes.
Maintenance and ongoing management We already have a website www.visitlichfield.co.uk that
represents city businesses and its maintenance is funded through core council funding. Think of this
website as a database of city centre retailers, events and attractions data!
Brand issues It would be simple to create a newly branded sister website to www.visitlichfield.co.uk
that publishes the same data, but in a different order/format to promote Lichfield to locals.
Benefits We would not be creating a whole new website, and a whole new
set of data to keep up to date. The website would be supported by existing
infrastructures. The website comes with a sister mobile website, which
could be treated in the same way – new brand, new audience.
Coverage The website could (if traders engage) represent
100% of city traders. The challenge is engaging traders, but
this could be attempted again, through the improved
communications this process is delivering
Likely costs £
In addition to the design (see branding) this could
cost in the region of £2,000 - £3,000 to deliver.

5. www.visitlichfield.co.uk lists all shops, restaurants and bars for free
www.visitlichfield.co.uk lists all shops, restaurants and bars for free
Over 35 restaurants and bars listed and over 40 shops listed, but we could list all
if traders engage and sign-up for free

6. Listings can include pictures, maps, contact details and more
Listings can include pictures, maps, contact details and more
Visit Lichfield team will keep listings up to date and also include
information in other guides/documents produced by the team

7. Food listings can feature Rate My Place score
Food listings can feature Rate My Place score
Shops and restaurants can also list
Special Offers online

8. Traders want more seasonal events. This scored 7% of the votes.
Lichfield is rich with events, and most people visiting from outside the area are amazed at the breadth
of events that take place, and the wide promotion of them through What’s On.
Where we are now In recent years we have made a concerted effort to boost the city centre presence and
appeal of existing events, including the Heritage Weekend and The Christmas Festival Weekend, as well as
host new city centre based events, including the Lichfield Food Festival, the Olympic Torch Relay and the
Jubilee Big Lunch.
Moving forwards Our annual events (Heritage Weekend & Christmas Festival Weekend) are
delivered on a shoestring budget and are only possible thanks to heritage/trade partner
support. Additional budget (marketing and event programming) could enhance
these events (and others – think Lichfield Festival Fringe and pigs?) and
transform their impact. Existing events are well spaced throughout
the year, however a spring event may also want to
be considered?
The impact of the switch-on of the Christmas Lights on a week
night, and the corresponding late date of the Christmas Festival
Weekend should also be considered. This was mentioned by
two traders.
Likely costs £1,000 - £2,000 per event

9. It is estimated events like the Heritage Weekend attract thousands
It is estimated events like the Heritage Weekend attract thousands
They are arranged on a shoe string.
How much more effective could they be if they were funded effectively?

10. Do events like the Christmas Lights Switch On boost trade?
Do events like the Christmas Lights Switch On boost trade?
How can we focus resources on events like this
to help them boost trade and make Lichfield stand out? What USP?

11. Traders want more business associations and networking opportunities. This
scored 7% of the votes.
Lichfield is rich with trader organisations – from the Lichfield City Centre Coordination Group, to the
Chamber of Trade & Commerce, to business breakfasts that take place regularly. The question is do we
really need to create more, or do we need to strengthen and improve existing structures? Issues to
consider include:
Fees Four traders requested membership/networking organisations that didn't charge
fees. The fees charged by most organisations are very low. Could organisations consider
a free year’s membership/six months’ membership to encourage new members?
Timings/regularity Six traders mentioned the timings of meetings. It might
be worth speaking to traders to see when the want meetings to take place
and what locations are easy to get to.
Above all, can we argue it is best to encourage
traders to get involved in, shape and improve existing
business associations/networks – rather than re-invent the
wheel.
Likely costs £ minimal / cover membership offer?

12. Traders want more social media promotion.
This scored 6% of the votes.
Without an identity and underpinning structure (with someone given the
responsibility to keep social media up to date) it is difficult to deliver in a
meaningful way. If a website is developed for shopping, eating, drinking in
Lichfield, it will create the necessary identify/platform to kick start more social
media activity. Issues to consider include:
Maintenance and management If a town centre
manager is appointed, they would be the ideal candidate
to deliver social media. If not, could the
Visit Lichfield team add this to their work
on tourist social media, including twitter
and facebook?
Likely costs £ Dependent on who delivers it?

13. Traders want street champions to be voted in/appointed.
This scored 6% of the votes.
This links to comments traders have made about the difficulties of attending
networking meetings and communications in the city. Traders have suggested that a
‘street champion’ or ‘street representative’ should be appointed to each area. This
person would be invited to attend Town Team meetings, and then be the main
point of contact for other traders in their street/area. Issues to consider include:
Supporting street champions Would street champions
be happy to take on the role? What could we
do to support them? Could we offer training/
support to help them carry out their role of
street champion? How do the Town Team meetings
need to change (timings etc) to allow all street
champions to attend?
Likely costs £ Cost of training/reordered town team
meetings.

14. Traders want more parking offers.
This scored 6% of the votes.
To set this into context, cheaper short-stay parking received 5 votes and free
parking received only one vote, but more ‘parking offers’ received 15 votes. Issues
to consider include:
Loss of income Parking offers result in a loss of income for the council. How is this
income going to be replaced? Will traders/the press warm to the idea of the pot
being used to replenish the council for a loss of parking income? How could we
measure the loss of income/increase of income in other areas
as a result of the offer?
Using the money in this way could see the pot
deplete quickly. And, do we know that parking
offers really bring in additional, rather than displaced
footfall?
Likely costs £ Dependent on offers

15. Traders want more and better communications.
This scored 5% of the votes.
We recently launched a reformatted City Speak (now in its 4th issue). Those traders
that are aware of the publication tell us it is very good and delivers them all the
information they need. Issues to consider include:
Moving forwards We could look to boost City Speak, but before we do that, we
are keen to know whether traders read it, and whether we should delay
a decision on this until people have had the chance to look out for
it and start to rely on it as a key publication.
We are also updating the City Speak website
www.cityspeak.info to ensure there is an online
version of City Speak for traders to rely on.
Likely costs £ Dependent on decision

16. Are traders looking out for City Speak?
Are traders looking out for City Speak?
What more communications are needed?
Are they getting enough, but just not knowing what to look for?

17. May be part funded through
May be part funded through
additional MP/High Street
additional MP/High Street
Innovation funding. Awaiting
Innovation funding. Awaiting
confirmation.
confirmation.
Traders want more city advertising and promotion.
This scored 5% of the votes.
We have never advertised Lichfield City as a shopping, eating and drinking
destination to neighbouring areas. Often times you will see advertising campaigns
for nearby areas (Stafford at Christmas / Solihull in the spring) on buses, trains and
more. Whilst Lichfield markets itself to the tourist trade (funded by partner
contributions), we have never had budget to deliver a marketing campaign for the
city. Issues to consider include:
Branding and messaging The branding for the marketing activity
would be delivered from the city branding workshop, and
would direct people to the website. Without
the branding exercise and website development,
the success of the marketing campaign would be
limited. It is essential they are all delivered as a package.
Likely costs £ Anywhere between £5,000 and £10,000,
depending on media chosen and frequency.

18. May be part funded through
May be part funded through
additional MP/High Street
additional MP/High Street
Innovation funding. Awaiting
Innovation funding. Awaiting
confirmation.
confirmation.
Traders want a mobile application or website.
This scored 4% of the votes.
Traders would like a mobile phone application or mobile website to promote shops,
restaurants and bars. They would like this to be widely marketed throughout the
town – think door stickers encouraging people to use the mobile phone app to find
their way around. Issues to consider include:
Reuse Visit Lichfield mobile website www.visitlichfield.mobi We have
developed a mobile phone application for Visit Lichfield that lists
all the content included on the Visit Lichfield website. Much
like the website, we could reskin, or duplicate the mobile site
to create a shopping mobile site, using the same
data.
Likely costs £ Mobile phone website design, plus a
small amount of development costs. Plus costs of
window stickers.

19. www.visitlichfield.mobi - a website that acts like an ‘app’
Mobile phone applications or websites can cost thousands to develop
Mobile phone applications or websites can cost thousands to develop
Do we need to reinvent the wheel,
or can we make the most of what we already have?

20. Maybe funded through
Maybe funded through
additional MP/High Street
additional MP/High Street
Innovation funding. Awaiting
Innovation funding. Awaiting
confirmation.
confirmation.
Traders want a loyalty card scheme and/or a shopping crawl passport.
Loyalty card scored 5% of the votes. Shopping crawl scored 4% of the votes.
Loyalty card schemes can come in all different shapes and sizes. From the idea of winning
a car every month for shopping in Lichfield, through to a paper card that is stamped every
time a customer makes a purchase in a local independent shop, and then when full, the
shopper can claim x% off in shops, or be entered into a prize draw. Issues to consider
include:
Special Offers Card We currently have a special offers card which is free for traders and
card holders free to take part. We are adding this to the mobile phone application at
the moment. This is maintained by Visit Lichfield and we could create a shop,
eat, drink Lichfield special offers card to accompany the brand/website/
window stickers etc. The card/offers are supported by emails
to over 3,000 customers every month. These emails could be
co-branded Visit Lichfield & shop, eat, drink Lichfield.
We could also look to do seasonal card promotions, such as
Christmas shopping crawl passports.
Likely costs £ Cost of card reprint, plus cost of email rebrand and
monthly emails and any seasonal promotions

21. The Visit Lichfield Special Offers Card Scheme has 3,000 email customers
The Visit Lichfield Special Offers Card Scheme has 3,000 email customers
And 2,ooo card holders – can we extend this
to benefit local shops and traders?

22. Traders want more Covent Garden style entertainers.
This scored 3% of the votes.
Traders see the benefit of making streets a more exciting place to be, and the benefit of well
regulated and well managed street entertainers. Issues to consider include:
Branded entertainment spaces We have discussed the possibility of branded entertainment spaces,
marked with floor vinyls. Issues to consider include planning permission, how long the vinyls last, how
they are maintained and limitations on cleaning, as well as costs.
Entertainers It is possible we could use the money to recruit a series of entertainers
to provide quality on-street entertainment over a set period of time. This is
a short-term fix and will not necessarily result in a long-term street
entertainment reputation.
Busking strategy Another alternative is to develop a busking
strategy to attempt to support and encourage quality buskers
to frequent Lichfield City centre. There are examples of successful
busking strategies elsewhere, and it may be worth investigating.
Likely costs £2,000 - £5,000 for street entertainers, depending on
frequency and duration. Vinyls tbc, busking strategy foc

23. May be funded through
May be funded through
additional MP/High Street
additional MP/High Street
Innovation funding. Awaiting
Innovation funding. Awaiting
confirmation.
confirmation.
Traders want a city map.
This scored 3% of the votes.
Traders have expressed a desire for a city centre map, to advertise the shopping, eating and
drinking areas of the city. Issues to consider include:
Frequent opening and closings A city map that includes detailed listings of all shops etc will go out of
date as soon as it is printed. An alternative would be a map that includes a very clear map, and clearly
zoned areas – Visit Tamworth Street for a wonderful variety of independent stores, from beads,
to sewing and children’s clothes, Tamworth Street is a lovely place to mooch for a unique
gift or purchase.
Traders could then pay for advertising on the reverse of the map, which could
also include editorial about why to come to Lichfield and promote
the mobile phone application and website for store listings.
Likely costs £1,000 - £2,000 depending on design and
print run. Potentially lower if advertising revenues can be
Generated.

24. Where next?
Do you agree with the issues discussed?
Do traders need to see this presentation?
Do we need to consider other ideas voted on?
What else do we need to do?

25. Presented by
elizabeth.thatcher@lichfieldc.gov.uk