HEREFORD BID is working hard to make Hereford the city of choice as a destination with a focus on leisure-based shopping.

The Hereford BID Business Awards 2017 want to recognise the hard work the members of the BID do to make Hereford a better place.

There are 12 categories and we want the almost 500 BID members to nominate themselves.

Operations and marketing manager, Mike Truelove, spoke about the BID's aims for the future of the city.

He said: "With the council currently spearheading the development of the Hereford Area Plan (HAP), a lot of thought is going into this at the moment, and we’re consulting with them and our members on how the city should be shaped.

"Nationwide there is little doubt that we will need massively less retail space in the future, and the city centres that thrive will be those that are proactive about recognising this and facilitating a change from needs-based retail, to leisure-based shopping and entertainment.

"The great news is that Hereford has made huge progress with this already, and the HAP provides a great opportunity to move with the cultural change."

The new Hereford university, NMiTE, will also provide a welcome addition to the city, with the plan for the university to take on some parts of the city that are no longer needed for primary retail space.

Mr Truelove added: "Overall Hereford is doing really well. The shop vacancy rate is below the national average and falling. We can safely say that our city centre is in a better place now that it was a decade ago (which not many others can), and with careful planning we look set to be even better place in the future."

To enter click here

The deadline for nominations is July 31.