BID funds extra blast of street cleaning
Nearly 1m sq ft of pavement in the retail core of Manchester city centre has been jet-washed using funding from CityCo and the Heart of Manchester Business Improvement District.
The £40,000 clean-up used 10,000 litres of water to remove 790,000 pieces, or one tonne, of chewing gum and other dirt from Market Street, Deansgate, King Street, St Ann's Square, High Street and Portland Street as well as side streets such as Police Street, Spring Gardens and Tib Street Square.
The cleansing work was carried out by specialist contractor Ramora at the start of a 12-month contract that begin in June this year. The work is in addition to the city council's street cleaning programme.
Jane Sharrocks, general manager of Selfridges Exchange Square and chairman of Heart of Manchester BID, said: "It's important to make the retail environment as attractive as possible for people who want to come to Manchester to shop. This street cleaning investment has a direct impact on retail sales and helps give the local economy a boost. Retailers like us are really seeing the benefits of clean streets."
Anne Latham, store manager at House of Fraser in Deansgate, said: "Jet-washing the paving outside the store makes a huge difference for us. With our prominent location we always strive to improve the appearance of the store as it is an iconic building and a premium department store, we also put a great deal of effort into our creative window displays as this gives our customers and visitors to Manchester a great first impression."
Heart of Manchester BID is financed by a levy on business rates worth £1m a year for five years. CityCo is funded by Manchester City Council.