The continued excellence of Mansfield as a great place for a night out has been officially recognised with the endorsement of a “light touch” assessment of the town by the Association of Town and City Management’s (ATCM) Purple Flag Accreditation Panel.

Mansfield was awarded Purple Flag status – which recognises excellence in the management of town centres at night – in September last year. A steering group headed by Mansfield Business Improvement District (BID) manager Sarah Nelson worked to improve and promote the town centre to secure the award.

Physical improvements were carried out, changes made to policing and projects introduced to increase safety and confidence.

To retain its Purple Flag status, the steering group has had to report back to the ATCM, demonstrating that improvements have continued and that the Purple Flag has been used to benefit the town.

Results highlighted in the report include the fact that town centre businesses gave overwhelming support to the Purple Flag celebration event, anti-social behaviour has continued to decrease, the number of new evening businesses in the town is double that of the previous year and the number of families coming into town in the evening has increased by 25%.

Sarah Nelson says: “We are delighted to maintain Purple Flag status and even more delighted by the positive changes that are continuing in the town.

“More people are coming into town, takings in night time economy venues are up and we are attracting more new businesses. We are beginning to shake off the outdated reputation of Mansfield being a place to avoid and becoming a place more and more people recognise as somewhere they can have an enjoyable night out.”

The steering group is about to start work on retaining Purple Flag status from September 2016, which will involve a full assessment including at least one night-time visit by ATCM inspectors.

Mansfield’s Purple Flag steering group involves representatives from Mansfield Association of Licensed Venues (MALV), Mansfield BID, Mansfield District Council, Mansfield Partnership Against Crime (MPAC) and the police. Other organisations which contribute to the town centre experience also play a role in the work.