Simon Creed

Simon says it’s time to be proud of our town and village centres

Cometh the hour, cometh Bromsgrove District Council’s new centres manager.

Simon Creed is on a mission to make the town centre and retail areas of Aston Fields, Catshill, Rubery, Alvechurch, Barnt Green, Hagley and Wythall more vital and vibrant as they emerge from the chaos caused by Covid.

As part of his role, Simon will engage with local businesses and provide them with a voice. He will also lead on promotional activities and organise events, a natural fit for Simon, who has a background in arts and entertainment.

Completely Bromsgrove asked Simon why he had decided to apply for the role.

“Prior to March 23 I was head of operations at Artrix in Bromsgrove but once the lockdown came the venue went from having a pretty healthy daily cash flow to zero. We made the hard, but I think, right call to go into insolvency.

“It was a pretty tough time as I was self employed but fell through the cracks when it came to funding and my wife Suzi, who is an actor and director, saw her work dry up too.

“When I saw this role come up four years ago I thought it wasn’t for me but this time around I realised that I had a lot of transferrable skills, resources and contacts that would be useful.

“I’ve lived in Bromsgrove for ten years and want to give something back. Even though Covid has had a huge impact and the world has changed with more people using Amazon and eBay, going into a town centre is an experience and the good local cafes that have opened such as Morso in Barnt Green and Bayleys in Bromsgrove, help to entice people to the High Street.”

Simon is also keen for retail businesses to take advantage of the online platform Shop Appy, which will soon be rolled out across Bromsgrove and Rubery.

“People who don’t want to go out can browse local stores from the comfort of their own home. You can ‘visit’ as many shops as you like and the stores will handle the transaction and organisational side.”

Born and raised in Cardiff, Simon studied cultural and media studies at the University of South Wales at Newport before landing a job as a technician at an arts centre in St Donat’s.

“I was there for just over two years and learned so much about lighting, sound and live production. It gave me a real buzz.”

When the funding for Simon’s role ran out, he moved to Alton Towers as a venue technician, staying in Staffordshire for three years and meeting Suzi, a dancer in the theme park’s live shows.

The couple worked on a cruise liner for a few months before settling in the Midlands when Simon worked at the newly refurbished Birmingham Hippodrome for ten years and Midlands Arts Centre.

Completely Bromsgrove wishes Simon well in his new role and rest assured we’ll be keeping readers up to date with all the initiatives and events planned in your area over future months.

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