York Secures Purple Flag Status

Following a rigorous 12-hour overnight assessment, York BID is proud to announce York’s Purple Flag status has been renewed

Purple Flag is an award from the Association of Town and City Management (ATCM) that recognises destinations that demonstrate exceptional standards in their evening and late-night offerings. The prestigious designation means that York offers a vibrant, diverse, and – most importantly – safe experience for residents and visitors using the city from the early evening and into the night. The administration of Purple Flag recently passed to York BID, following City of York Council (CYC) first gaining the accreditation in 2021.

Purple Flag status ensures residents and visitors can enjoy safety, diversity, cleanliness, and vibrancy in their city. In York, a safe and welcoming nighttime environment is fostered through excellent partnership working from city leaders and front-line organisations – you may have seen BID Street Rangers on joint patrols with North Yorkshire Police (NYP), for example. York also boasts a variety of diverse food and drink options, as well as non-alcohol centred evening activities. Users of the city centre enjoy clean public spaces throughout the city, achieved through a coordinated approach from partners, such as York BID and CYC having a joint targeted cleaning approach to ensure accountability and efficiency. Finally, York boasts a vibrant atmosphere that provides a great nighttime experience for all, no matter what you’re looking for – investments in projects such as Colour & Light make York come alive at night.

In order the achieve Purple Flag renewal, the city was rigorously evaluated through a comprehensive set of standards across five key themes: wellbeing, movement, appeal, place, and policy. Wellbeing focuses on how welcoming, clean, and safe a destination is. Movement regards the ability to get around the city centre with ease, covering everything from car parking and public transport to pedestrian routes. Appeal is based on the vibrant mix of leisure and entertainment that York offers for a diversity of ages, groups, lifestyles, and cultures. Place concerns promoting a strong sense of local identity; making use of York’s excellent built heritage through projects such as Colour & Light. Finally, the policy theme requires clear strategies and a multi-sector partnership in place to promote York as a well-managed, safe, and inclusive nighttime environment – such as the cross-sector Purple Flag working group.

The ATCM assessors stated the key successes in York’s submission include the commitment of the BID team and their partners, the excellent CCTV system which provides comprehensive cover across the city, and the note-worthy volunteer River Rescue Team who offer valuable support to safety after dark.

City-wide partnership working is crucial to gaining Purple Flag status, with stakeholders across the evening and nighttime economy working together to improve the experience of residents and visitors alike. Purple Flag partners include York BID, CYC, NYP, Eboracum, Safer York Business Partnership, and York Rescue Boat, to name just a few. You can find the full list of Purple Flag partners here.

Carl Alsop, operations manager at York BID, said:

 “I’m so pleased that the city can once again boast having Purple Flag status. This status isn’t something the city have given themselves; it is an international accolade given by the Association of Town and City Management on the back of a thorough assessment from two independent qualified assessors - in this case from two different countries. There will, of course, be the negative comments from the same people about how they perceive York, but this accreditation confirms that, although isolated incidents may occur, we as a city have a strong and coordinated partnership response to deal with them both proactively and on the ground.”

Cllr. Claire Douglas, leader of City of York Council, said:

“This renewed accreditation cements York’s city centre as one of the UK’s best loved and top-rated destinations. It’s a fantastic accolade and confirms what we and our millions of visitors know as a safe, welcoming and beautiful place to visit day and night. Thank you to everyone who plays a part in creating and maintaining York’s fun, diverse and vibrant nighttime offer for everyone.”