Banbury BID ready to welcome people back to town centre for retail reopening day

Officials with the Banbury Business Improvement District (BID) will have a gazebo up in the market area in front of Castle Quay Shopping Centre to greet people as they come back to the town centre.

Yolanda Fletcher, the manager of BanburyBID, said: "We're welcoming people back with a free cup of coffee on us."

They will be passing out vouchers for a free coffee to passersby in the market area of the town centre from 10am to 3pm on Monday April 12. The coffee vouchers were purchased by Banbury BID from local businesses such as the Coffee Guys, Muffin Break (inside Castle Quay) and Rustic Bean.

Yolanda added: "It's driving footfall into those hospitality locations in town. In addition to that we want to talk to people about why they come to town."

Banbury BID officials will also be passing out 'goody bags' with the Banbury BID sunshine icon on them, which will include various 'goodies' inside them from local town centre businesses.

The BID group will also be adding some positivity to the town centre before Monday April 12 by putting up 50 signs displaying the group's icon-like symbol of the sunshine.

Nearly a dozen of the sunshine symbols have already been put up across the top of Church Lane in the town centre.

Yolanda added: "We want that sunshine to be synonymous to major events in the town centre.

Cherwell District Council has also recently placed a number of 5-foot tall hand sanitiser stations around the town centre in preparation for the reopening of retail.