logo
Campaign to promote Market Drayton gets under way

Campaign to promote Market Drayton gets under way

BBC News26-06-2025
An initiative to promote a Shropshire town and help its businesses has said it wants to bring people closer together.Make it Market Drayton is due to launch on Thursday evening with an event for local traders.Helen McCabe, who is leading the campaign, said she felt the town had a lot to offer, but it was sometimes hard to find out what was going on and businesses did not always talk with each other."[The project is] just really about bringing businesses together, supporting each other and just sharing how great the town is," she said.
Ms McCabe, who ran a similar initiative to help Wem, started planning the Market Drayton campaign in February by walking around the town and getting to know people.She said it was a "vibrant" place, which "just has so much" to offer.She conceded, though, that traders were often "busy building their own business", so sparing time to meet up was difficult.But meetings offered the chance to confer over how the town's trade could grow, she explained.The first networking event is fully booked, but future events are planned, including one for voluntary groups, plus a community event in July.
Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

ALEX BRUMMER: Bank fears Farage turmoil in No 10
ALEX BRUMMER: Bank fears Farage turmoil in No 10

Daily Mail​

time30 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

ALEX BRUMMER: Bank fears Farage turmoil in No 10

As a public figure, the governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey receives most attention from consumers and businesses alike for his role in setting interest rates. Critical as that is to national wellbeing, it has long been my belief that Bailey is more comfortable with the Bank's other, less discussed role of maintaining financial stability. Bailey was first to the battlements in his early days in office in March 2020 as the pandemic shut down Britain and much of the world. Bond markets in New York were in panic, and the Bank, led first by Mark Carney and then Bailey, moved to calm events. A currency swap deal with the US was activated, interest rates were cut to the bone and more money printing, through quantitative easing, was authorised. Bailey passionately urged government to take steps to prevent scarring to the economy. He was also at the tiller in the autumn of 2022 when Liz Truss's tax-cutting mini Budget sparked a run on the pound and a sudden retreat from British government bonds. The scale and suddenness of the move caused ructions for pension funds which had used derivative products to gamble on returns. The episode had threatened, without Bailey's intervention, to cause a cascade of financial collapses among banks who had provided credit for the trades. The Bank of England became a butt of criticism, not least on these pages. Its twice-yearly Financial Stability Report had in the past warned of the potential danger of liability driven-investment products (LDIs) but neither the Bank nor the Pensions Regulator addressed the matter. It is one thing for the Financial Stability Committee to identify and warn of dangers to the financial system, but quite another to tackle a weakness and close it down. Bailey was in the Bank's engine room in the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, so has vast experience of dealing with fractures in the financial system and knows how rapidly contagion takes place. All this experience tells him that Chancellor Rachel Reeves' efforts to encourage growth, by deregulating the City, could be a huge error. It is a reminder of the light touch regulation in the run-up to the collapse of Northern Rock in 2007 and the crisis which followed. Readers of this month's Financial Stability document would find few clues to what Bailey believes is the most acute concern at present. It is not Trump tariffs or the present Government's borrowing needs, as serious as they may be. The governor's biggest worry is political uncertainty. It may seem mad to think that this should be the case given Labour's vast Commons majority and four more years in office. The significant statistic is that Nigel Farage's Reform UK has led the other parties in 65 consecutive polls. And the present kerfuffles in Epping and the record small boat arrivals in a long hot summer make the potential for a Farage journey to Downing Street ever more credible. Bailey and the independent Bank never indulge in party politics. But for the governor, pound sterling, the bond markets and the whole stability of the financial system, the number one threat is a big-spending populist released into Downing Street. Reach for the safety straps.

Charging point shortage dents demand for EVs
Charging point shortage dents demand for EVs

Daily Mail​

time32 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Charging point shortage dents demand for EVs

A shortage of charging points is denting demand for electric vehicles, according to industry experts. Figures show there are just 82,369 public chargers in the UK with 48 added each day on average so far this year. Analysis by the Mail reveals Britain needs to build around 130 a day – nearly triple the current number – to reach the goal of having 300,000 public charging points by 2030. The shortage of charging points – which has fuelled so-called 'range anxiety' among motorists worried about where they can plug in – has been highlighted as one of the reasons why demand for electric cars has dwindled. Drivers have also been put off by the price of electric vehicles, which are typically more expensive than petrol and diesel cars. The Government has this summer announced plans to give motorists up to £3,750 to switch to EVs in a bid to boost demand to meet net zero targets. But experts said the shortage of charging points was a major threat to these efforts. Quentin Willson, founder of FairCharge, said the Government 'should do more to fast track and better support installations, especially in areas where there are charging deserts'. He added: 'Consumers rightly worry that there aren't enough public chargers. 'Government needs to send out a clear message to drivers that they are in control of the EV charging narrative, that they will support investment into the charging sector and help keep prices down.' According to charging point statistics website Zapmap, about 8,670 were added to the public network in the first half of this year. But this is less than half of the 19,834 added in 2024, suggesting the rollout is slowing. Just 1,371 were added to the Zapmap database in June – or 46 a day. Susan Wells, a director of EV charging point firm Hive, said: 'Charging must become as straightforward as filling up a petrol or diesel car.' A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'We're adding a public charge point every half an hour.

British Gas send dead man's family a letter demanding payment of a penny
British Gas send dead man's family a letter demanding payment of a penny

The Sun

time32 minutes ago

  • The Sun

British Gas send dead man's family a letter demanding payment of a penny

BRITISH Gas sent a dead man's family a letter demanding payment of a penny. Christopher Storer, 65, was found dead in his one-bed flat in March. 4 4 4 His relatives notified the firm and were assured his account had been closed. His sister Margaret, 63, set up a ' redirect ' on her brother's post and was sent the bill for the final penny. She said: 'I opened the letter and I was absolutely furious. "I was staring at it for 15 minutes. 'I couldn't believe what I was reading. "It made me bloody angry and upset.' Margaret, of Hinckley, Leics, added: 'It's ridiculous. "I feel like I haven't had time to mourn my brother because of having to deal with this. 'They make hundreds of millions in profit. "Where is their compassion in chasing a dead man's family for one more penny? How to cut energy costs and get help with FOUR key household bills "How low can anyone go? They knew he was dead. "It felt like a sick joke at his expense.' Margaret said she had complained and was offered £20 compensation. British Gas was asked to comment. When a customer dies, relatives should notify British Gas so they can be removed from its database. But there have been multiple examples of the company, owned by Centrica, continuing to send bills. 4

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store