Update from the EO

Hello to all of our wonderful businesses,

Suddenly... it’s Christmas! I know many of you have found the city quite quiet the last couple of weeks, but I was in town on Saturday, Madi had the Launceston Central entertainment in the mall and it looked like the Lighting of the Christmas Tree event and Black Friday sales have triggered everyone into action as every shop I went it was packed!

Goodbye...

As some of you will have now heard I am sad to say I am leaving Launceston Central at the end of next week.

I have been with the organisation nearly 7 years,, starting originally with Cityprom as Member Engagement Manager and then stepping into the Executive Officer role and seeing the organisation go through COVID, an external review, a new funding agreement, a new constitution and board, a rebrand and new website, and built the most amazing team along the way.

I want to say a huge thank you to ALL the businesses in the city. It has been a privilege and delight to get to know you. To build trusted relationships and to work behind the scenes telling the stories of the shops, restaurants, cafes and services. From the long standing retail shops that are the backbone of Launceston retail who have built their success on building strong customer focused communities to the ever changing landscape of new shops, changes in trends of shopping and eating and drinking, I have remained constantly in awe of the entrepreneurial spirit and dedication and hard work of Tasmanian’s who set up their own bricks and mortar establishments.

Some highlights have been the two murals we worked on over 5 years resulting in council having a proactive policy and procedure for street art, the work we did with the Upper St John shops in coming up with their own precinct identity and brands, the hand written descriptions of our city businesses, creating a genuine locals guide to the city. The creation of our new branding, leading into the Place Brand assets created by City of Launceston, the awards we have won and national recognition that Launceston has for having an active and effective independent body for their city centre. The Lounge as the most amazing and well received by the public of all demographics last year and we were so proud to have it recognised as a finalist in an international place-making competition this year. NORTH festival and how it has grown year on year is another major highlight, and watching it start to have state-wide and national appeal as it grows year on year.

I will be remaining on the national board for Mainstreets Australia so will have an ongoing role in promoting local shopping and city centres. I am also going to remain involved in the new committee for the NORTH festival, taking it forward to become it’s own independent festival so it can remain another key event in the calendar for our Creative City of Gastronomy. I will be working for a marketing business located in the city centre, so remain invested in it’s success and feel extremely confident that I am able to leave the organisation knowing that the quality and quantity of work they do for the city will remain effective.

You may not know, but over the last 5 years our public subscriber list continues to grow, our social media accounts are on a constant trajectory of new followers and strong engagement and we closely measure the economic benefit, increase in positive sentiment and public interest in our city centre as well as increases in footfall that our campaigns and activities bring. Using data we ensure we make decisions that bring more people to the city for longer, more of the time.

We have a strong and engaged board of Director’s to whom I thank profusely for their support, particularly Monica Plunkett who has been the Chair for almost a decade and continues to devote time, energy and passion, and I thank the City Champions who do a great job for you all giving us feedback and guidance.

Launceston Central gets approached from other areas within Australia for advice and knowledge and this reputation has been built by the amazing team I have worked with over the last few years.

A huge thank you to the temporary and casual staff that have helped us with content creation, but I would particularly like to highlight our dedicated and passionate permanent staff who we are so lucky to have working for our city. Jade Pirker who adds so much value as she measures, analyses, reports, writes and organises us all every week and ensures our written content is of the highest calibre. Brea Kirkely, your social media and graphic designer here, who continues to hit huge goals and build the cities reputation online every day and does an amazing job telling all your stories and sharing your news to our ever growing audience. To Lindsey Brown, currently on maternity leave, but without whom we had not have the quality and focus that our marketing strategy has, and finally to Madi Biggelaar.

Madi will be taking over as Interim EO until for the coming months. As most of you know, she works tirelessly to make sure this city is a thriving, busy and vibrant place, and single handily gets messages to you all by delivering flyers, speaking to you and driving amazing initiatives and running outstanding events. The city is better off for her energy and I encourage you all to support and communicate positively and continue to give kind, constructive feedback to the team so they can keep working to bring people into the city.

This team genuinely loves the local business community here and believes in Launceston as an outstanding retail, hospitality, service and small business centre. Please support them by sharing your ideas, news and engaging with our marketing and events so we can help promote your business effectively.

I hope Christmas and 2025 are prosperous and positive and I will miss working with you all.

Amanda McEvoy

Executive Officer

Launceston Central