Rangers Appointed in St Peter’s Quarter
The St Peter’s Quarter business improvement district, which officially launched in September, has appointed a team of Rangers to work in the area.
The need for a Ranger team was identified by the businesses in the St Peter’s Quarter as being a key priority and was part of the Business Plan that they voted to approve last year.
The Ranger team works throughout the St Peter’s Quarter BID area which is the commercial core of the city between Westfield and the Cathedral Quarter stretching from the river in the east (including Riverlights) to Green Lane and Macklin Street in the west and the junction of Osmaston Rd and Bradshaw Way in the south.
Their primary role is to support the businesses with face to face contact, be the eyes and ears of the area and work closely with such organisations as Derbyshire Police and Derby City Council Street Pride team.
Darren Meakin, who already coordinates the Cathedral Quarter Rangers, has taken on additional responsibility for the SPQ team, joined by two new Rangers – Janet Field and Nikki Matthews.
Janet is well known in the area having owned a jewellery and fashion store in Green Lane for many years. Janet closed the shop last year with a view to embarking on the next stage of her working life.
“I am delighted to be working in the St Peter’s Quarter albeit in a totally different role than previously. I hope to play my part in reassuring businesses in the area that this is the start of the programme to get the area back on its feet and to make it the place in Derby to work, shop and live.”
She is joined by Nikki Matthews who has worked in retail, largely in the city centre, for more than 14 years.
Nikki said: “I am particularly enjoying the opportunities to meet people and help businesses with any issues that they have. This is an opportunity to see a different side of the area that you wouldn’t normally experience.”
Darren continued: “We recognise that there are issues that the businesses and members of the public face on a daily basis in the St Peter’s Quarter and we already have an excellent working relationship with the statutory authorities to get things sorted out quickly and efficiently.
“My experience in the Cathedral Quarter has ensured that we have been able to ‘hit the streets’ here running and the feedback from the general public and businesses alike has already been extremely positive.”
The new Ranger team is working closely with Derbyshire Police’s city centre team and starts every day with an early morning patrol of the area alongside a member of the police’s PCSO team.
Sergeant Nick Allgood who heads up the city centre team said: “We are delighted that the businesses have voted to make a Ranger presence in the St Peter’s Quarter a priority.
“These are obviously early days for the partnership working between the BID and the police in the St Peter’s Quarter but I am confident that the increased uniformed presence will positively contribute to public reassurance and will be a valuable service to the businesses in the area.
“Although crime and disorder is low in the St Peter’s Quarter, there are issues that need to be tackled and I hope that businesses will work closely with Dawn and the Rangers to feedback any information or concerns that they have.
“The early morning patrols have been well received by businesses and the public and, since they started, have already led to the arrest of a prolific street beggar who had a warrant out for his arrest.”
The primary aim of the St Peter’s Quarter is to develop the area as a destination by providing an alternative and complementary shopping, leisure and commercial area to Westfield and the Cathedral Quarter.
Activities over the five-year life of the BID will be focused under three project areas – promotion, improving the visitor experience and business growth and investment.
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