Thame’s ‘rising star’ high street recognised by national award

THAME High Street has been officially recognised as a ‘Rising Star’ among British high streets, and yesterday (November 30), was honoured with a special certificate at the Great British High Street Awards ceremony at Admiralty House, in Whitehall, London.

L to R: Marcus Jones MP, John Howell MP, Helen Johns, Sonja Francis and Simon Roberts

The event was hosted jointly by High Streets Minister, Marcus Jones, and the President of Boots, Simon Roberts, who are co-Chairs of the Government’s Future High Streets Forum, which instigated the Great British High Streets Awards. The judging panel said that the Rising Stars particularly impressed them ‘with their commitment to working together to bring new life into their high streets’ and of Thame in particular, special mention was made of its Neighbourhood Plan and for the way Thame has ‘been put back on the map through the use of social media’.

Two of Thame’s GB High Streets team, Helen Johns and Sonja Francis, were at Admiralty House to receive the award on behalf of the town, supported by Thame’s MP, John Howell, who was instrumental in formulating the Government’s Neighbourhood Planning policy.

After the event, John Howell said: “It was a great pleasure to be at the awards ceremony and to support Thame. I think Thame did very well to be chosen from across the country and I was particularly pleased to see that its Neighbourhood Plan was specifically mentioned. This is good news for Thame and the excellence of what it has to offer in its High Street.”

In his introduction Marcus Jones said: “All of today’s finalists have proven themselves to be among Britain’s best high streets and I congratulate them on their good work. We’ll be sharing all of their top tips with other high streets across the country to make sure others learn from their success.”

A delighted Helen Johns from the Thame team said: “A small group of people put time and effort into preparing Thame’s application during the summer and it is fantastic to hear that our hard work has paid off because of the Rising Star award being given to the town. I would like to thank all those who worked hard to ensure Thame has been put on the national map in this way and hopefully, next year, when we are told the competition will be even bigger, we can look forward to seeing Thame moving up the scale and awarded as winner in the market town category.”

References: The Future High Street Forum – http://thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk/about
The Great British High Street Awards – http://thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk