Kings Heath keen to promote positive image
A business body in the South Birmingham suburb of Kings Heath has appointed a press officer to counteract the slew of negative coverage the area has received recently.
Kings Heath Centre Partnership has appointed Sindhu Patil to work with the partnership and liaise with the media to increase the profile of the area.
Ms Patil, a Kings Heath resident for six years, formerly worked for Armadillo PR and as voluntary press and PR assistant at Walsall Hospice.
Kings Heath Centre Partnership communications director Jon Jaffa said: “Appointing a press officer is just one part of our strategy to increase the profile of King’s Heath following some quite negative media coverage.”
Kings Heath has been the subject of some adverse reporting recently, both locally and nationally, on subjects as diverse as crime and economics.
The High Street has witnessed a mini violent crime wave since the start of the year, grabbing negative headlines with murder, armed robbery and shootings.
Late last month police officers were shot at as they pursued two masked men who had attempted an armed robbery of the Nationwide Building Society in Kings Heath.
The incident came just weeks after a man died as a result of head injuries sustained during a violent row following a night spent drinking at the Pear Tree pub on Kings Heath High street.
Aside from crime, the High Street has also suffered a barrage of negative publicity about its economic state, with both local and national print and broadcast media running stories about shop closures.
Ms Patil admitted the recent press coverage means her work would be a “challenge”.
She said: “One of my first tasks is to put out a release with some accurate figures about shop closures, which are far less than has been made out.”
“Recent coverage certainly has been alarmist and we are trying to counteract that by presenting some statistics showing that actually there are not as many shops closing as you think and that there are new shops coming to the area that have opened.
“Take the bespoke tailor that has just come to York Road for example – he would not have come to Kings Heath if he didn’t think there was a market for his products.”
The partnership is also lining up a series of initiatives to raise the profile of Kings Heath, including a “shop local” campaign and measures to highlight the wealth of independent shops located on the sideroads off the High Street itself.
Mr Jaffa said: “A ‘shop local’ campaign has begun that highlights to local people what King’s Heath High Street has to offer.
“We want people to realise that shopping locally is easier and greener than they think.”
