Exmouth traders celebrate Pop-up Cash bonus

Exmouth’s Town Team and local MP Hugo Swire are celebrating after hearing that their bid for Town Team Partner status has been successful and £10k of funding has been awarded for setting up pop-up shops in Exmouth’s beleaguered town centre.

This follows the announcement by Local Growth Minister Mark Prisk that hundreds of towns across the country are being offered support that will help them revitalise their high streets. 

The Exmouth Town Team is a grouping of independent traders in town, plus the Chamber of Commerce, Residents and Traders Association, the Town Council and East Devon District Council. It was formed earlier this year to bid for government funding to make Exmouth a Portas Pilot Town, following TV celebrity Mary Portas’ report to the government on the state of the British High Street.

The Town Team plan to use the funding to establish 'incubator units' where budding entrepreneurs can establish 'pop-up shops' in some of the empty units in town, to give small businesses the chance to test their marketplace before committing themselves.

Hugo Swire welcomed the funding “I am delighted that Exmouth has been named a Town Team Partner and to have helped secure this funding. I hope that it will inspire new people to come forward with fresh ideas for our town. Exmouth deserves to have a vibrant choice of small shops rather than usual large retailers and I hope to be able to visit the “pop up shops” in the near future.”

Town Team Chairman Ade Brayley commented "While Exmouth already has a fabulous range of independent shops providing a contrast with Exeter's homogenised shopping offer, this new funding will enable us to enhance and extend the variety of shops while supporting local entrepreneurs."

The Town Team Partner funding scheme will link local Town Teams to their MP, plus access to a network of advisers managed by the Association of Town Centre Management to provide professional support.