BY the time I write my my next column the Christmas lights will have been switched on in a glittering ceremony in Victoria Square. Make your way to Victoria Square on Thursday, November 16, at 5.30pm, and welcome a host of celebrities including Atomic Kitten, who will entertain you until the fantastic firework finale heralds the lights switch on. It promises to be an evening to remember!

WE BID A SAD FAREWELL

TO WHITEHEADS

IT is with great sadness we say goodbye to Whiteheads, Bolton's last family department store, that is due to close at the end of January 2001. The store has played an important role in Bolton town centre for many years, and its loss will be mourned by not only the 45 staff that will lose their jobs, but the town centre generally.

Difficult trading conditions and the rise of out of town retailing has impacted upon the majority of town centre businesses to varying degrees, and while national retailers are able to weather the storm to a greater extent, it is much more difficult for local businesses to survive.

The role of the Town Centre Company is to assist all types of businesses in the town centre to withstand the competing pressure from these large out of centre developments, and to attract investment and visitors to the town centre. Unfortunately the great strides taken this year have come too late to retain Whiteheads within the town centre.

Our recent representation to oppose the Factory Outlet Proposal for Middlebrook at the Public Inquiry, is testament to the fact that we need to resist out of centre retailing and the announcement this week of the opening of a giant Woolworths store at Burnden Park merely heightens the need for businesses to pull together in the town centre, to ensure that the town centre remains the first destination for retail, leisure and commerce.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Richard Whitehead and his staff for all their support throughout the last year, and wish them all the best for the future.

IN the first two weeks since the launch of the exclusion order scheme and new retail crime operation, the first two targets have been excluded, having committed offences in member stores. The two individuals were contained within a list of 22 targets, all of whom are persistent shoplifters within Bolton town centre.

This exclusion order prohibits the individuals involved from entering member stores. If they choose to ignore the order and commit another offence, breaching the order, this will be brought to the attention of magistrates as an aggravating feature of the offence. This may result in an increase in sentence.

Should a breach occur, the excluded individual will expose themselves to full media coverage, highlighting any increase in the severity of sentence received.

The new schemes are designed to reduce the level of shoplifting in Bolton town centre, and ensure that visitors have a safe and enjoyable visit on each and every occasion. The added benefit, as we are all aware, is that the cost of shoplifting is eventually transferred to you, the customer, as stores need to recoup their losses in the long term -- let's keep prices down!

IT WILL BE A

BUSY WEEK!

OUR intrepid new Town Centre Ambassador's will be launched into a week of training next week, starting on Monday with their first aid course, that will last until Thursday.

On Friday they will be receiving in-house training on radio procedures and their roles in general.

All this training will be supported in the near future with customer service training.

One week on Monday you will see the new expanded team out and about in the town centre -- don't forget to say hello!

Karen Wheeldon

Bolton Town Centre Limited

Market Hall

Knowsley Street

Bolton, BL1 2AR

Tel: 01204 523762

Fax: 01204 523659

Karen@boltontowncentre.co.uk