The next element of the BID inspired Celebrating Falmouth’s Businesses project will be on display at The Poly Arts centre later this month.

The project seeks to visually celebrate the diverse and vibrant business scene in Falmouth through film and imagery and was initiated 6 months ago as a proactive response to the negative national reports on the state of the UK high street.

A series of still images and videos of local Falmouth businesses will be on display for two weeks from the September 23 to October 7, the second such exhibition held in The Poly this year.

As Richard Wilcox, the Falmouth BID Manager explains: “The BID has undertaken a raft of supportive measures to support our vibrant and eclectic high street and its businesses. We’ve lobbied Government and been asked to consult on national High Street reports, undertaken free car parking and rolled out business training schemes amongst other things. But we also want to showcase and celebrate it. We have a rich and varied mix of retailers, passionate about what they do and the town they do it in and we want to tell that story. To that end, we’ve been working with Falmouth based photographer Hugh Hastings to capture that vibrant business spirit so as to spread the Falmouth business story far and wide. We’ve commissioned both still images and video which we will then use in different, innovative ways.”

The previous images were also used on designs applied to vacant units, another project that the BID has instigated as a short-term proactive measure to enhance and improve certain areas of the town. In addition, the BID oversees a national PR campaign that has a strong business to business strand which has resulted in around 70 town BID businesses being featured or mentioned in national magazines and newspapers.

Falmouth-based photographer Hugh Hastings has lived in the town for 18 years and has always enjoyed the diversity of the local shops: "Buying online or from vast supermarkets can only give you limited satisfaction, frankly there's so much more to life than saving a few quid. The shopping streets of Falmouth are one of the main reasons I chose to live here. The Falmouth shops and the people who work in them create a great atmosphere; they are the heart of the town in many ways. Working with the Falmouth BID to promote the great things we have here has been a real pleasure and I look forward to developing the project further in the coming months."

Key date Local exhibition of Celebrating Falmouth Businesses will run in The Poly, Falmouth from 23 Sept – 7 October 2013. The exhibition is FREE.