WESTON has won the title of best town for Business Environment in the Let's Celebrate Towns national awards.

The seaside town won the award during a ceremony held on Wednesday (March 13) at the House of Lords.

Run by Visa and supported by the British Retail Consortium, the Business Environment category of the awards aims to recognise towns that work hard to build vibrant business networks.

In total, eight towns were recognised, with two winners in each category. 

Each town will receive a £15k prize to put towards a community project that will benefit the town, as well as access to help and support for local businesses.

Councillor Mark Canniford, North Somerset Council’s executive member for spatial planning, placemaking and economy, said: “It’s fantastic news that Weston-super-Mare has won the national ‘Let’s Celebrate Towns’ award. 

“The fact that our town has been recognised out of the scores of places that applied across the country highlights the incredible work our local businesses, the council and community partners do to help realise our vision of building an environment for businesses to start-up, scale up and thrive.

“There’s a huge range of support on offer to local businesses – from the Business Support Unlocked programme, which offers free support to people looking to start their own businesses, or in the early stages of starting a company; to the Food Works SW, a nationally renowned food and drink innovation centre that offers technical support and product development opportunities. 

“We’re also committed to creating vibrant business networks, putting in significant investment so that we can develop new and modern workspaces, such as the popular We are Super co-working space. 

“We’ve got lots of ideas about how we might spend the £15k prize money to further benefit the town.

"We’re keen to hear from the local community and find out what projects mean the most to our residents, so watch this space.” 

Angela Hicks, chair of the Weston-super-Mare Placemaking Board, added: “I am delighted that Weston-super-Mare has won this award.

"We have so many local partners and residents working together, committed to collaborative leadership and delivering exciting projects and new opportunities, and it’s a joy to be part of such a supportive community. 

“Our collective strategy for the town sets out a 10-year programme of project delivery to enable Weston-super-Mare to become a healthier, greener and more prosperous place to live, work, invest and play.

"This award helps amplify and showcase what has been achieved so far.”