Though the Operation Sparkle project to clean up the City Centre is championed by the Stoke-on-Trent City Centre BID, its success thus far in delivering improvements to the area is testament to the work of stakeholders including Stoke-on-Trent City Council and businesses located within the area.

The overarching aim is to ensure the City Centre maintains a quality environment that will attract shoppers and visitors, increasing footfall and dwell time when lockdown restrictions are lifted, and this is to be achieved through the delivery of a number of tasks, from small-scale tasks like litter-picking, to larger-scale projects such as new street art pieces.

As part of this, from 22 March work is being undertaken by Stoke-on-Trent City Council to clean the area in Upper Market Square next to the entrances of Hanley Indoor Market and The Potteries Centre.

Entirely funded by the Stoke-on-Trent City Council, the completion of this deep clean will result in a much more inviting area which is ideal for the high volumes of traffic that utilises it, to enter both the market and The Potteries Centre.

Jonathan Bellamy, Stoke-on-Trent City Centre BID Chairman, says:

“We are delighted that Stoke-on-Trent City Council has got so involved with Operation Sparkle, not only supporting by delivering tasks to improve the City Centre, but also funding many of them too.

"The community approach to this ongoing project, working with a number of key partners, will ensure far-reaching and lasting benefits that translate to a quality experience for all visiting our City Centre, allowing us to build back better for a post-COVID world.

"The work to transform the area next to Hanley Indoor Market this week is a great precursor to the other projects that they will be delivering and funding as part of Operation Sparkle, like planting flowers in Bethesda Gardens, repairing and renovating the Blue Clock and more.”

Cllr Carl Edwards, Cabinet Member for Housing and Environment and member of the BID board, said:

“Operation Sparkle is about the community – whether businesses, individuals, the BID and organisations like the council coming together to improve their area. This is about taking pride in our city and taking shared and collective ownership for improvements in the centre. There has never been a more important time for involvement in initiatives such as these as we move towards recovery and look to encourage more people back to the City Centre.”

Richard Buxton, Stoke-on-Trent City Centre BID Manager is pleased with the progress made by Operation Sparkle so far, and highlighted the work of some of our other partners:

“In addition to the instrumental help from Stoke-on-Trent City Council in helping us improve our City Centre, we are also thankful to our other key partners like: PM training, who are in the process of completing four new remodelled seating areas; We Are Culla, who will shortly begin a series of art works to brighten the streets; Tesco Extra, who are clearing their perimeter in anticipation of wildflowers that the BID will be planting; and of course our businesses within the BID area who are working hard to spruce up their units, whether it’s cleaning their facades, installing new signage or undergoing deep cleans.

“Our Street Ambassadors are taking on daily litter picks and you’ll shortly see some new BID installations to the high street to make binning your litter just a little more fun, including Ballot Bins for cigarette butts and Gumball bins for chewing gum.”

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