20 August 2010

Dream launch for VisitEngland’s newest national quality scheme

The landmark 20-metre Dream sculpture in St.Helens has been selected by VisitEngland to launch its prestigious new national Place of Interest Quality Assurance Scheme (PIQAS).

PIQAS has been developed by VisitEngland to enhance quality and spread best practice within the Tourism sector. The service offers a consumer focused quality assessment, helping to identify strengths and highlight development areas for England’s attractions and places of interest.

Dream, created by internationally renowned artist Jaume Plensa and which starred in Channel 4’s prime time Big Art TV series in 2009, is one of the UK’s most significant recent public artworks and has become the first attraction in the Northwest to gain this new VisitEngland accreditation. 

This national profile and regional first are a fitting reflection of Dream’s ever-growing prominence since its launch in May 2009, having been developed with the close involvement of former miners on a former colliery site, overlooking the M62 motorway where it is passed by millions of vehicles a year.

PIQAS marks another accolade to the spectacular artwork’s growing haul of awards and commendations, which include the 2009 Marsh Sculpture Prize, and a 2010 Civic Trust Award, plus the Special Award for Community Engagement.

Representatives from VisitEngland, the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), The Mersey Partnership, St.Helens Council, the Forestry Commission and the St.Helens Tourism and Leisure Business Network gathered at the Dream site in Sutton Manor to unveil the PIQAS scheme on Friday 20th August.

James Berresford, Chief Executive, VisitEngland, stated: “We are delighted to launch PIQAS at Dream in view of its regional, national and international significance.  

PIQAS is a valuable management and marketing tool for all places of interest and smaller attractions. This new VisitEngland assessment scheme provides places of interest across the country with a recognised stamp of approval whether they are volunteer-run, charity organisations, unmanned sites or natural features in the landscape.

We hope this launch encourages places of interest across the country to sign up to the scheme and showcase their attractions to visitors worldwide.”

Nick Brooks-Sykes, Director of Tourism at the NWDA, commented: “PIQAS is an excellent programme, providing a professional assessment of attractions and operations from a visitor’s perspective to assist ongoing development.

“As a new gateway feature for the Liverpool City Region and the Northwest as a whole, Dream is an ideal place to launch and promote this new scheme. I hope many other Northwest attractions will follow suit to embrace the new scheme and engage in continuous improvement and quality accreditation.”

Councillor Barrie Grunewald, Cabinet Member for Culture, Communications and Town Centre at St.Helens Council added: “We are delighted that England’s national tourism agency VisitEngland has selected Dream in to host the launch of its newest quality assurance scheme, given the artwork’s important role in boosting tourism as a vital part of the economic development of St.Helens.

“This reinforces Dream’s significance as a forward-looking symbol of the positive transformation of St.Helens and the wider region, while highlighting the recognition the sculpture is gaining nationally and internationally for its artistic, technical, regeneration and tourism merits.”

For all press enquiries, please contact Chris Cahill on 01744 676 166 or e-mail chriscahill@sthelens.gov.uk

PIQAS and Visit England for more info see www.enjoyengland.com

• PIQAS has been developed by Visit England to enhance quality and spread best practice within the Tourism sector. The service offers a consumer focused quality assessment, helping to identify strengths and highlight development areas.

• PIQAS is a valuable management and marketing tool for all places of interest and smaller attraction operators. The service meets the needs of places of interest and smaller attractions whether volunteer run, charity organisations, unmanned sites or natural features in the landscape.
 
• Benefits include a biennial site visit to assess all aspects of the visitor experience from pre-visit information; website, promotional material right through to the visit itself taking into account signage, interpretation, parking and ease of movement around the site.  A written report is then provided which includes the key observations and recommendations provided by an industry experience assessor.

• Visit England is the strategic leadership body representing the public and private sector stakeholders of English Tourism.  It works in partnership with VisitBritain, the Regional Development Agencies and local authorities, and the private sector, creating a national tourism strategy, optimising marketing investment, and developing the visitor experience across England.

• Visit England’s role is to be the custodian of the England tourism strategy and the authority for tourism in England.

Dream - for more info. see www.dreamsthelens.com 

• Dream was commissioned and delivered by St.Helens Council in conjunction with Channel 4’s Big Art Project, an ambitious public art initiative supported by Arts Council England, the national development agency for the arts, and The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity.

• Curated by Liverpool Biennial, Dream was also generously funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency, the Merseyside Objective 1 ERDF Programme, Forestry Commission, the Northwest Coalfield Communities Regeneration Programme, and the St.Helens Local Enterprise Growth Initiative.

• A group of ex-miners from the former Sutton Manor Colliery where Dream is sited played a direct and integral role in the commissioning and development of the artwork, which was unveiled on 31 May 2009.

St.Helens-for more info. see www.investinsthelens.com & www.visitsthelens.com

• St.Helens’ prime connectivity, catchment and low cost base at the heart of the Northwest's motorway network, midway between Liverpool and Manchester and their respective airports, are key factors in its dramatic transformation as a regional location of choice for businesses, residents and visitors alike.

• Since April 2006 the St.Helens Local Enterprise Growth Initiative has helped start up more than 1,350 new businesses, create over 2,880 jobs new into employment, and generate £42million worth of new business for local firms.

• 2010 Virgin Money research deemed St.Helens the most car-friendly location in the whole of the UK.

• A 2008 national survey named St.Helens as the “happiest” place to live on Merseyside, 2nd happiest in the Northwest, and 14th in Britain.

• St.Helens is over 55% rural and the designated lead for the Liverpool City Region on rural economic development (see www.merseyreap.co.uk).

• St.Helens Council was awarded dual Beacon Council status in 2009 for “Delivering Economic Prosperity through Partnership” and “Building Homes for the Future”.

• St.Helens Council’s Economic Development Team manages and delivers key elements of the "City Growth Strategy" (see www.sthelenscgs.com) – the private sector led business plan for the economic development of “St.Helens plc” comprising 90 projects with a combined value of £1.8billion.

Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA)

The Northwest Regional Development Agency works to deliver economic success in England’s Northwest by building the competitiveness of businesses, people and places. The Agency is the strategic lead for tourism in the Northwest and works with the region’s five tourist boards to support and grow our £13 billion visitor economy. For further information visit www.nwda.co.uk