A FIRST FOR SCOTLAND:
BATHGATE HOSTS THE BRITISH VETERANS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

The first ever British Veterans Cross Country Championships to be held in Scotland took place in Bathgate’s Balbardie Park on Saturday, April 12 and was hailed as a resounding success.

Almost 200 top competitors from all over the UK took part in the event, which was sponsored by Enterprising Bathgate.

Sam Crawford, chairman of Enterprising Bathgate, said: “We were extremely pleased with the turnout for the event. Many of the runners were very impressed with the facilities we have in Bathgate and we hope that events like this will help raise the profile of the town and encourage many of them to return to Bathgate.”

Race organiser Danny Wilmoth representing the Amateur Athletics Association sais he was delighted that the championships were held in Bathgate.

“We would like to thank Enterprising Bathgate for sponsoring this event. The venue and race trail were first class and the people of West Lothian are very fortunate to have these excellent facilities on their doorstep. We would welcome the opportunity to work with our hosts sometime again in the future”

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Images copyright gb photography 2007

SHOP FRONT IMPROVEMENT SCHEME

With funding received from the Scottish Executive and West Lothian Council, Enterprising Bathgate has introduced a shop front improvement scheme for the businesses in the town centre. A grant of 50% of expenditure incurred was available - up to a maximum of £600 - for all those who qualified.

To date 85 businesses have registered interest in the scheme and 64 grants have been awarded. What has been really encouraging is that for a grant of approximately £30k there’s been a collective spend from the businesses of just over £200k. Many businesses took advantage of the scheme just to give their shop front a lick of paint, others decided on a more expensive re-furbishment.

Whatever, the result will make the town centre a more attractive place to visit. Work is expected to be completed on most of the properties by the end of the summer 2007.

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SHOP FRONT IMPROVEMENT SCHEME - Follow up

Shop front improvement scheme a BIG HIT in Enterprising Bathgate

A shop front improvement scheme was chosen as a demonstration of the type of project, which a successful BID would bring to the town centre. To date 102 businesses have registered their interest in participating in the scheme.

The demonstration project was made possible after the town was awarded a grant from the Scottish Executive of £25k at the start of 2007. Because of the huge interest in the scheme West Lothian Council agreed to provide an additional £15,000 towards grants. 75 grants have already been awarded totalling £37,000.

The grant was set at 50% of qualifying expenditure up to a maximum award of £600. Not only has the level of interest been exceptional but also many of the businesses have been encouraged to carry out some major shop front refurbishments. We anticipate that the overall expenditure by the businesses on their shop front improvements by the end of the project will exceed £200k.

As well as the improvements to existing businesses the BIDS team has been greatly encouraged by the shop occupancy figures for Bathgate town centre.
Many properties which have been empty for some time?are now?occupied and the new occupants are now participating in the scheme, leaving Bathgate with the smallest number of vacant properties for many years.

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Marked improvement thanks to market    

The second Farmers Market in Bathgate has been hailed as a resounding success.  A recent survey by West Lothian Council showed that 100 per cent of shoppers and 85 per cent of traders felt the Farmers Market on April 14 was a good thing for the town.  Of the 40 shoppers surveyed, an overwhelming 95 percent said they would come back to Bathgate for the market, with 35 per cent of those attending stating they did not usually come to Bathgate on Saturday.  A majority of 85 per cent said they also visited other shops in the town, with 47 per cent of non-Bathgate residents confirming that the market would encourage them to visit Bathgate at other times of the week.  Of the traders surveyed, 35 per cent said their shop was busier because the Farmers Market was on, with 30 per cent also reporting a slight increase in turnover.  John Masson, West Lothian Council’s tourism and town centres manager said: “The results of the survey following Bathgate’s second Farmers Market were extremely encouraging. “ Almost everyone believed the market was good thing, and helped by the good weather, brought more people to Bathgate.  “ It’s a very positive beginning for the Farmers Market, and we expect the next event, which takes place in the Steelyard, Bathgate, on Saturday, May 12th, from 10am to 3pm, to be even more successful.”

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CLEAN UP

West Lothian Council’s, Nets & Land Services in partnership with the Bathgate in Bloom group had a very successful Community clean up in Bathgate town centre last Friday. All Bathgate primary schools sent volunteers to assist on the day with further assistance coming from members of the Bathgate Town Centre management group and local councillors. Thanks to all who assisted and special thanks to our sponsors, Enterprising Bathgate.What is good about working together like this, is it creates a sense of community and for some of our younger volunteers it will be their first taste of active citizenship.

A West Lothian spokesperson said “ this clean up will show others that we care about the future of our local environment and that we are not prepared to live, work and play in an area that is blighted by rubbish, cigarette ends and dog fouling etc. We will use all enforcement powers at our disposal to target this form of anti social behaviour.

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ENTERPRISING BATHGATE RECOGNISED AT NATIONAL AWARD CEREMONY

Bathgate Town Centre was recognised at an awards ceremony hosted by Enterprising Britain. A total of 27 organisations from all over Scotland entered this year’s competition and Bathgate made it through to the last 9 in the regional heats.

Enterprising Britain is a nationwide competition to find the most enterprising place in the UK - the city, town, place or area in the country that is best improving economic prospects and encouraging enterprise. Bathgate’s entry consisted of contributions from a number of organisations in the town including: Bathgate In Bloom, Bathgate Traders Forum, Bathgate Town Centre Management and Enterprising Bathgate, Bathgate’s Business Improvement District (BIDS).

Sam Crawford, chairman of Enterprising Bathgate said,
“We in the Bathgate Town Centre partnership are extremely pleased with the progress being made in the town and are proud to be recognised by Enterprising Britain in this way”.

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BLOOMING BATHGATE

Bathgate entered the Blooming Scotland competition this year and was again one of the finalist’s in its category of large town and we are very proud to announce that Bathgate won the award for ‘Best War Memorial with a Garden’. The Bathgate in Bloom Committee would like to thank all it’s sponsors for their contributions towards the maintenance of the flower arrangements.

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JOHN SWINNEY MSP VISITS BATHGATE

Mr John Swinney MSP, and Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth visited Bathgate in July to meet the Enterprising Bathgate team. The BID’s team delivered a presentation to Mr. Swinney and other invited guests before accompanying him on a tour of the town centre. The BID’s team was pleased to receive a positive feedback from Mr. Swinney and other colleagues in Parliament.

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HAVING YOUR SAY

Enterprising Bathgate produced a questionnaire earlier this year to gauge feedback on a number of projects that businesses would like to see implemented in Bathgate to help improve the town centre environment. More than 140 businesses have taken part in the survey, completing questionnaires to identify the priorities for Bathgate town centre for the next 5 years. The priorities identified in the questionnaire will be incorporated in Enterprising Bathgate’s forthcoming Business Plan. All businesses in the town centre will have the chance to vote in February 2008 to approve Bathgate’s status as a Business Improvement District. Bathgate hopes to be the first traditional town in Scotland to receive this status.

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BATHGATE BUSINESSES GO BACK TO SCHOOL

Enterprising Bathgate and Enterprise in Education plan to develop a new initiative which would see local businesses presenting the “story” of their businesses to schools in the Bathgate area. The project is intended to encourage pupils to see how their studies relate to the world of work, inspire them and encourage them to take a pride and interest in their local community.

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LOCAL BUTCHER NOMINATED FOR PRESTIGIOUS AWARD

David Stein butchers has been nominated for the ‘Meat Trades Journal’ butcher of the year award in the category of Butchers Plus. The awards ceremony is taking place in Claridges Hotel, London in November. They are also finalists in 2 categories in this years Scottish Retail Excellence Awards. We wish this local firm every success.

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CHRISTMAS IN BATHGATE

Enterprising Bathgate will once again be sponsoring the skating weekend this year. The ice rink will be set up in the Steelyard and will be part of a programme of events organised for the three weekends leading up to Christmas Day. This attraction proved to be a big success last year with hundreds of children taking to the ‘ice’ some for the first time. Full details of the Christmas events programme can be found in this edition of the bulletin.

Enterprising Bathgate will also be providing a new Christmas lights display for the town and we are confident that the new lighting designs will help showcase the town centre and all that it has to offer.

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