CAROLINE Osman knows a thing or two about Southampton. And that is not a surprise. She grew up here and is the owner of W.J. French & Son shoe shop in Bedford Place, the eighth generation of her family to be a custodian of business, remarkably founded in the city in 1803.
She has been running the business since 2014 when her father retired and previously worked as a qualified chartered surveyor. This gives Caroline, who is also a vice chairman of GO! Southampton, something of unique perspective on the city’s past and future.
GO! Southampton, the city’s Business Improvement District (BID) was established in 2017 and is seeking a further five-year term from 2022-2027 to support the city-centre business community with an investment of £6.5m. The ballot takes place between 14 October and 11 November and some 637 businesses are eligible to vote.
GO! Southampton has four themes which they base their work around. They are:
- Stronger Business
- Culture, Events and Partnerships
- Better Marketing
- A Greater City Centre Experience.
Today we are profiling the fourth of these and Caroline’s work on the board of GO! Southampton is very much focussed on the city centre experience.
Caroline said: “I really think independent businesses help to create a community vibe and make it a nice place to live.
“Safety and cleanliness are the two biggest factors in delivering a great city centre experience for residents, workers and visitors.
“You have to get right back to the basics and we have a great team that cleans the city every weekday and we are going to expand that into evening and weekend services.
“Our rangers pick up lots of environmental issues too, they are really on it.”
Caroline chairs the BID’s Greater City Centre Experience theme group and as a business owner herself, knows just how crucial this aspect of GO! Southampton’s work is.
Her group also covers issues such as safety and the drug and alcohol problems of street attached individuals.
“What is really key is that you can’t solve all these things alone. You have to work with the council, the police, the street wardens and a range of organisations. It takes time to build up these relationships and we have done that well in Southampton. We really think we can continue to make a difference.”
Caroline said the nationally accredited Southampton Business Crime Partnership had become a hugely important central hub for crime intelligence in the city centre.
“Businesses have really benefitted from this initiative. We have also successfully lobbied for extra police officers.”
She praised the work of the rangers as “great ambassadors for the city.”
Caroline said Southampton has so much going for it in terms of shopping, parks, leisure and the huge potential of the waterfront.
Other key priorities were targeted security for a safer night-time economy, making the city centre more inclusive and accessible and investing in Christmas lights.
She added: “I feel if the BID isn’t voted in again, Southampton would be taking a real step backwards.
“We are working very successfully with all our partners and we are really building momentum towards creating a really vibrant city centre.
“If we weren’t here, who drives things forward. The second term of the BID would be when you really see progress with the strong partnerships established.”
KEY DATES:
- Postal ballot will take place from the 14 October to 11 November 2021
- Businesses in the city centre (BID area) should receive the ballot papers in the post by 14 October 2021
- Return your completed ballot papers by 11 November 2021 by 5pm
- Further details go to www.gosouthampton.co.uk/ballot2021
- Vote YES for GO! Southampton
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