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Town centre manager recognised for ‘remarkable achievements’

Town centre manager recognised for ‘remarkable achievements’

 

The outstanding contribution made to Bognor Regis by town centre manager Toyubur Rahman has been recognised on a national level.

The ‘Special Recognition’ award was bestowed by Minister for Local Government, Marcus Jones MP from the Department for Communities and Local Government, as part of the Great British High Street of the Year 2015 competition.

In a letter informing the town centre manager of the award, Toyubur’s contributions are listed as including the introduction of creative events like the Aerial Birdman and award-winning customer service training from Butlin’s, describing his achievements as “remarkable”.

Cllr Gillian Brown, Leader of Arun District Council said: “This award is fantastic and richly deserved. It is great that Toyubur’s hard work and achievements have been so visibly recognised.”

Chris Heaps, Chair of Bognor Regis Traders’ Association, said: “Toyubur has worked with traders to strengthen the pride they feel in their town with events like the Community Clean-up Day. His creative ideas and well-managed events such as the Dickensian Christmas Market have created a positive buzz in the town and attracted new people to come and visit, as evidenced by great footfall and record takings at local shops.

“I think we are very lucky to have Toyubur and we are looking forward to working with him over the coming months and years to make Bognor Regis ever better!”

Since taking up the town centre manager post in 2014, Toyubur’s work with the town centre traders has resulted in a reduction in vacant premises from 35 to 23 shops [which equates to 8.8% vacancy rate against a national average of nearly 13%] a complete refit of more than ten shops, and attracting new businesses to the town, such as the Tonsorial Parlour, Hogan’s Shoes and Sports Direct.

Toyubur, who spent ten years working for the Association of Town and City Management before coming to Bognor Regis, said: “The initiatives I have implemented are things that town centre managers and town teams across the country should be doing to ensure that their town centres have an active role for the future. This recognition demonstrates what can be achieved relatively quickly with a little funding and lots of creativity to bring about positive change for the future of a town.

“People forget what a beautiful place Bognor Regis is, it has so much potential and the time is right for the town to realise that potential.”