Work to revitalise Wantage has received the national seal of approval after the town won a Great British High Street Award. The contest was run by the Future High Streets Forum who received more than 135 entries from across the UK. More than a third of town teams – local groups set up to support their high street – entered their street. Wantage has won the Town Centre Category in the awards, which recognises innovative town centres where projects bring more people and business to the area. 
With the number of vacant shops increasing, in 2013 the Vale of White Horse District Council appointed two market town co-ordinators, Mim Norvell and Iain Nicholson, to oversee a series of revitalisation schemes in Wantage to help bring the town centre back to life. Just 18 months later and projects such as...
- the MIX community space,
- pop-up shops run as the Flashop project,
- the ‘come and join us’ independent retailer campaign culminating in a town prospectus,
- free town centre wi-fi,
- projects that engaged young people in the town centre, including public art displays,
- and work to strengthen the markets, attract new traders and provide regular street performances on market days via ‘Wantage Presents….’’ have all helped to improve (or increase?) the town’s vitality.
The number of empty and available shops has dropped to just four units, and interest from businesses looking to come to the town is now at record levels. Last month award judges visited Wantage to look round the town prior to deciding the winners. In picking Wantage as the winner, they said they were ‘particularly impressed with the strength of local partnership working resulting in the complete transformation of the town centre’. Cllr Matthew Barber, Leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “We’re delighted that Wantage has won this Great British High Street Award. The recognition really highlights the work that everyone has put into revitalising the town centre and making Wantage a place to be proud of once again. Wantage has really set the bar for other market towns to follow with more people and businesses being attracted to the town all the time.” The Great British High Streets Awards is run by the Department for Community and Local Government’s Future High Streets Forum to look for new ways to boost high streets and ideas that can be shared with others that can help high streets evolve. Applications are assessed on innovation, collaboration and outcomes.
- Wantage is a local town centre in Oxfordshire. In 2012, there were 26 vacant shops in Wantage and 15 empty units on Mill Street. Mill St was particularly blighted as there were no shops trading - it was badly affected by a new supermarket development.
- The judges were impressed with the strength of local partnership working resulting in the complete transformation of the town centre. Initiatives which led to this transformation included the launch of a Buybox delivery locker allowing click and collect, pop up shop (with over 60 businesses getting to try out retailing), with five of these going on to take permanent shops in the town; a community shop - the MIX - to encourage people into the town and provide a focus for community groups; Wantage Presents... (live public performances in the Market Place every Saturday morning); community events in town; the Wantage & Grove loyalty card scheme which acted as the marketing platform for all town businesses; and arts displays in shops to drive footfall into businesses.
- The judges were also impressed with the approach taken to filling vacant shops whereby the Town Team conducted gap analysis to understand consumer preferences, thereby ensuring the sustainability of the businesses coming onto the high street.