Upton-On-Severn Wants You To Know That They Are Open For Business

Having laboured under the reputation as being one of the most frequently flooded in Britain, Upton-on-Severn in Worcestershire is keen to tell anyone who will listen that things have changed for the better following the completion of a new £4.5m flood defence scheme.

West Worcestershire MP  Harriett Baldwin visited Upton-upon-Severn to have a look at some of the initiatives going on to boost the town’s economy as a result of  the far reaching programme to make flooding a thing of the past.

Upton-on-Severn is back in business

Worcestershire County Council is in the throes of spending some £400,000 to improve roads and pavements in the centre of the town.  A new tourist information centre has opened up alongside the heritage centre in the historic Pepperpot and the waterside Kings Head pub, which has been empty for almost six months, is set to reopen its doors before Easter.

Mrs Baldwin said she was particularly impressed by the efforts of traders and local officials to develop a new “brand image” for the town.  The branding, which has been developed with help from students at the University of Worcester,  has been available to residents and will be used in promotional material as well as by businesses and shopkeepers.  “This new Upton logo will go a long way to help present a fresh face for the town and I am sure it will look great in posters, merchandise and even paper bags,” Mrs Baldwin said.

News of the Kings Head re-opening has come as particular relief to people in Upton.  Town councillor Mike Ostick was so concerned it would still be empty at the start of Upton’s busy summer tourist season that he had written to its owner Enterprise Inns.  He said: “The Kings Head is in a very prominent position on our great new riverside walk and the last thing that we wanted was a big ‘to let’ sign right in the middle of it.”  Former landlord Grahame Bunn, who left last year to concentrate on his other town business, the Anchor Inn, said: “It will be very good to see the Kings Head open again.”

Something else that will lift the spirits of the local community is the realisation that we are now under two months away from the annual Upton Folk Festival which takes place from the 3rd to the 6th May. Couple this with the Jazz Festival at the end of June, and the Blues Festival in the middle of July, and you will see that Upton is setting its winter woes to one side and living life to the full.

http://www.upton.uk.net/

http://uptonbluesfestival.org.uk/

http://www.uptonjazz.co.uk/

http://www.uptonfolk.org/