Traders set up website to promote their street (From York Press)
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Bishopthorpe Road traders in York set up bishyroad.net
10:41am Thursday 4th March 2010 in Letters
Piers Maffett, front, from Cycle Heaven, with fellow traders from the Bishopthorpe Road area of York
A BUTCHER, a baker and a bicycle maker have all come together to promote their street as the best in York for independent, local businesses.
Bishyroad.net is a website that aims to promote the businesses and community around Bishopthorpe Road. The website, which goes live tomorrow, is the brainchild of Andy Shrimpton and Piers Maffett, who own Cycle Heaven.
Andy said the idea for the website came after he read about someone criticising minor York retailers.
He said: “I thought, hang on, there is more diversity in this street than in Coney Street. Then there is the quality of the businesses. There are businesses here that are absolutely the best there is, M&K’s butchers for instance. They have their own farm and they will tell you the name of the farmer who produced all their other meat; Pextons, they were voted hardware shop of the year for the whole of the UK; hairdressers Glen And Julio’s have been British champions; we won the Service With A Smile award in 2005 and we get customers from as far afield as Glasgow. There is some real excellence in this street.”
Andy said that also, most of the money spent in Bishopthorpe Road remained in the community. Money spent at chain stores, however, goes all over the country and indeed the world to pay shareholders.
More than that, he said the thriving businesses helped the community to survive. Parks, schools and shops all created a good place to live and the variety of businesses – which included restaurants, takeaways and pubs – means. There were always people about helping to create a safe atmosphere, and keep crime down.
Andy said: “As well as being made up of great businesses in their own right, we believe that as a whole, this parade is a vital amenity which plays a very significant role in what makes this part of York such a great place to live.
Our plan is to build on this and make Bishyroad.net a wider community resource and feature local community associations, churches, amenities and the like.”
To view the businesses and community around Bishopthorpe Road visit bishyroad.net from tomorrow.
Comments(4)
Pedro
says...
4:33pm Thu 4 Mar 10
Use Cycle Heaven for bike servicing and provides a good service at a fair price.
jt
says...
5:05pm Thu 4 Mar 10
micky moodys hat
says...
9:47am Fri 5 Mar 10
in fainess to acomb they have a large supermarket on the doorstep which will have accounted for alot of the demise, that and the wealth and social status of alot of the people who use Acomb. Bishy road on the other hand has no supermarket on the doorstep and I would imagine that the vast majority of people who use it are of a completelty different level of wealth and social status and that will make a big difference. Good luck to them though
Yorkiebear says...
12:47pm Thu 4 Mar 10
I live around there and even the Costcutter has a unique style, the present management keeping it well stocked and efficient.
It is a good area for healthy eating with two greengrocers. At the other extreme we have two bakers.
There is excellent parking available in the shops area.
In the sixteen years I have lived there I have never seen an empty shop until recently. When one closes it just gets taken over by something else.
Best of luck with the venture.