The It’s in Nottingham Summer Sofa, organised by the Nottingham Business Improvement District (BID), is now halfway through its journey around Nottingham city centre and is proving to be a big hit with businesses who have noticed lots more people converging on the area wherever it is located.
On average, one person a minute has taken time to stop at the sofa whilst it has been on its journey around the city, enabling them to discover all the areas of the city centre and the businesses located there as well as to take advantage of various offers and treats associated with the area.
This week the Summer Sofa can be found at Chapel Bar where it will remain for a week and businesses from the surrounding area got together with those based on Derby Road to discuss the plans for the Summer Sofa for this coming weekend. The Nottingham BID has organised for Robin Hood to take people on free guided tours from Chapel Bar up Derby Road to Canning Circus to help them discover the great businesses up there and, en route, a little of the history of the area too. The free tours will take place at 10am, 11am and 12 noon.
To coincide with this Derby Road is organising a Purple Dot Day with many businesses offering special offers, discounts and activities for people to enjoy. These include 20% discount on the Buckingham Afternoon Tea at the Footman’s Rest and on accessories at Brown Dog Interiors; 10% off selected ranges at Focus Gallery, Framework & Lime Gallery, Hung Up Gallery, Le Chien at Moi and all purple items at The Worm that Turned plus a children’s drawing competition at Focus and a free glass of wine at the Hand and Heart when purchasing a main meal. All the businesses taking part will display a purple dot.
The Summer Sofa is designed to draw attention to the different areas of the city that combine to make Nottingham such a great place to shop, eat and go out in and wherever the Summer Sofa is, people can sit on it and take part in the weekly sofa selfie competition to win a £50 shopping voucher along with offers and give-aways associated with the location. These are announced at 10am on various days throughout the week via It’s in Nottingham’s social media channels – @itsinnottingham. Clues of the daily giveaways are also available at http://www.itsinnottingham.com/independents
“We think the Summer Sofa is a great idea, helping people to discover the great businesses on Derby Road, most of which are independents and therefore can’t be found elsewhere,” said Geoff Williams, chairman of the Derby Road Steering Group. “Initiatives like this also demonstrate that we are only a short walk from Chapel Bar and Old Market Square. Nottingham is quite a compact city with so much to offer in a small geographic area.”
“The Summer Sofa is proving to be a great success, attracting lots of attention from people wherever it is,” said Nicola Tidy, a director of the Nottingham BID. “After Chapel Bar it will move to Trinity Square then the Lace Market followed by King Street.”
