BUSINESSES in Worcester have praised a campaign by the city’s Business Improvement District (BID) to encourage visitors into the city centre during the recent floods. The BID’s #open4business campaign was set up on Twitter in order to promote the fact that businesses, retailers and leisure operators were open and trading as normal after some media reports that Worcester was on lock-down due to the adverse conditions.

The campaign slogan has also been used in TV and media features over the past two weeks, has been adopted by several other agencies including Worcester City Council, and has also appeared in artwork for a photo campaign using local traders.

Yasmin Shouklaguy, owner of 23 Knots in High Street, said she thought the campaign had been incredibly positive and had spoken to a customer from Northampton who was visiting Worcester for the day after hearing that the city was open for business on the news.

She said: “Obviously Worcester has been quite quiet over the past few weeks, the floods have stopped a lot of people coming into the city that probably would have.

“I personally think it’s a really good idea. It’s a good way of promoting the whole city at once. Twitter and social media are all great. I don’t see how it can be any form of negative. The more things that go around like this, the better.”

Stacey Redman from SME Solicitors in Worcester said: “The #open4business campaign was a great showcase of what diverse businesses operate in Worcester.

“We’ve got everything from professional services such as ours to wonderful cafes and clothes shops. The last few weeks have been tough for businesses, especially the smaller ones. The campaign was perfect for showing how resilient the business community in Worcester really is.”

Adrian Field, BID Manager, said: “It’s great that so many of our local businesses have embraced the campaign because without their participation and support it would have been nowhere near as successful as it has been. We would like to thank everyone for taking part as well as shoppers and visitors for their continued support.”