Market trader turns to verse in his quest for votes

THAME Market Trader, Chris Hurdman, who has reached the final in the Retail Market Traders category of the Great British High Street Competition 2016, has turned to poetry to encourage as many people as possible to vote for him.

Chris Hurdman, Secretary of the Thame Market Traders Co-operative

Chris’s nomination actually left him ‘gob-smacked‘ as he expressed it – not the usual reaction of a man known for his cheerful, witty banter with market goers! You can see Thame’s very own verse-smith in action in this Youtube video. Thame’s Deputy Mayor, Nichola Dixon, First Thursday Music Club’s Jon Littler and Thame Players Theatre’s Tony Long, have also been captured on video with their take on Thame – though none in verse like Chris – and there’s more to come as we lead up to Deadline Day.

Chris Hurdman getting into the final made it a double for Thame, our high street itself now officially in the top three Small Market Towns in Great Britain. From now until November 18, it’s all about the voting. To vote for Thame, Small Market Town, go to: http://thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk/finalist-small-market-town and for Chris Hurdman, Retail Market Champion, go to: http://thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk/finalist-retail-market-champion.

Voting is free and closes on Friday 18 November. You can vote once per day, every day up until that date so, if you need a reminder, how about every morning or maybe in the evening, after you’ve cleaned your teeth, ‘Vote for Thame’!

50% of the score for each entry will come from public votes and the other half from a team of judges who will be visiting Thame sometime in early November, an opportunity to impress them with our community spirit, our vibrant town centre, our partnership working and all the good things that between us all we have made happen to keep our town centre ‘open for business’ and somewhere worth visiting.

You can read all about the Great British High Street 2016, the purpose of the competition, meet the sponsors and find out who else has been nominated, by visiting the website: thegreatbritishhighstreet.co.uk. MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL – Spread the word among your relatives, friends, work colleagues, customers – everyone you meet who appreciates our very special spot in Oxfordshire, and get them to VOTE – VOTE – VOTE !