‘Market Drayton is The Place to Visit’ is the message that has been emblazoned across Shropshire buses in a bid to tempt people to the town.
The town was officially named Britain’s fourth best shopping experience, out of almost 80 towns nationwide, in a mystery shopping survey carried out by Skillsmart.
And to mark the town’s achievement, which was revealed back in January, business leaders decided to spend their £2,000 award from Skillsmart by promoting the town across the county’s buses.
Market Drayton Mayor, and chairman of the town’s Chamber of Trade and Commerce, Roy Aldcroft, said about 30 retailers have been involved in the process with the chamber acting as facilitators.
He said the idea of the grant was to attract footfall into the town or improve the retail facilities.
He said: “We felt the Skillsmart survey indicated once people were here they were extremely happy with the service we were providing in Market Drayton, so we looked at ways of getting people into the town.
“The ‘on the buses’ idea was formed and now the advert is travelling on 19 Arriva buses across the county. It includes the town’s success in the survey as well as local land marks and traditions, including Tudor buildings and a gingerbread man.”
Andy Brown, a member of the town’s Chamber of Trade and Commerce, who runs Sport Direct, said: “We came fourth in the country and we came top in the county.
“We were absolutely over the moon. Out of 30 individual retailers we gave them they assessed 25 of them in a mystery shop. They came in twice. They also did a street survey and checked the cleanliness and appearance of the town.
“It was a fantastic result for the town. It just goes to show Market Drayton has got a lot to offer.”
Mr Brown added the £2,000 funding from Skillsmart had to be spent on marketing the town and the chamber wanted to spend the money so it would benefit all the retailers – so they came up with the ‘on the buses’ idea.
Mr Brown added: “The advert is fantastic. It looks really good and is travelling around the county. A lot of people have made comments that they have noticed them and we had people in our shop who came in from out of town who saw the advert on the bus.
“That’s the aim – to get people into the town.”