BOLTON Town Centre Manager Cathy Savage with her fortnightly briefing from the Town Centre Company

HELLO and welcome to the first of my columns in my new role as Bolton's Town Centre Manager.

First, may I say how delighted I am as someone born in the town to have been appointed to such a key role. I would like to express my thanks to my predecessor Karen Wheeldon and wish her every success in her new venture.

You may have seen Angela Kelly's excellent report on my background in the Bolton Evening News on Monday. If not, let me just briefly recap.

I was born in Smithills in 1961, and was educated at Smithills Moor Grammar. I am married, have two children, and live in Bromley Cross.

I worked in the Advertising Department of the Bolton Evening News for 21 years, rising to Display Advertising Manager. I left the newspaper in August 2000 and joined the Bolton Town Centre Company as Marketing Manager.

Since I have been with the company, I have been involved in organising a variety of events in an effort to attract visitors to the town centre, probably most memorably the Clowns Festival last year, which proved to be a great success.

But enough about me. Now that the World Cup and Wimbledon are over, the next major sporting event of 2002 is almost upon us. The Commonwealth Games begin on July 25, and here in Bolton, and to tie in with the Games, we have organised a festival appropriately entitled "Spirit of Bolton", to take place in Victoria Square from July 31 to August 3, to celebrate the cultural diversity of our town. Keep an eye on the Bolton Evening News for more details.

On a final note, I must emphasise that the company is a team effort, and I would like to take a moment to familiarise you with the other "players". They are: Rob Dyson, Town Centre Security Manager; Trish Laalej, Office Manager, and "new boy" Seb Pearce, who joined us on Monday, and, of course, the Town Centre Ambassadors who are the public face of the company. I look forward to working with them to celebrate and promote all that Bolton Town Centre has to offer.

If you have any suggestions that you would like to share with me or my team, please feel free to contact us.

Cathy Savage

Bolton Town Centre Ltd

Market Hall

Knowsley Street

Bolton. BL1 2AR

Tel: 01204 523762

Fax: 01204 523659

E-mail: catsava@aol.com