Welcome to the Hertford blog.

It’s certainly been quite a busy time for Hertford. Personally, for me last year, when I was standing opposite Post Office Walk waiting to watch the torch with thousands of other local people it was the first time for a while that I really felt Hertford was a great place to live and work.

Part of running this website is being in touch with local businesses and groups, and it’s sometimes quite depressing. There’s lots of sad stories out there locally that really make you question what community is about. So I wanted to focus on some of the great things that have happened in our glorious County Town. And you know what? Despite some bad news stories there’s a lot to be thankful to Hertford for.

Behind the scenes working on forums, newspapers, councils, community groups and businesses, there’s a wealth of local people really pushing all that makes Hertford the grand old town it really is. And most of the time it’s for no financial benefit, just the love of the town.

We’ve seen a group of Hertford Town Councillors who are all volunteers, organise a regular business meeting aimed at entrepreneurs getting the most from their business. The same town councillors are responsible for the events we enjoy throughout the year in Hertford too.

We’ve seen shopkeepers extend their cheer and service in the name of The Mercury’s cheerful trader award and Christmas Gala window displays.

We’ve seen huge empathy for tragic local stories, followed by overwhelming support in response to them, an example being the Mercury’s donor campaign last year.

We’ve seen our money go towards improving Hertford’s biggest eyesore (Gascoyne Way Multi-Storey), turning it into a less obtrusive landmark with bigger spaces (still not sure about the pink sides though!).

Sainsbury’s opening created lots of much needed jobs for our young and elderly residents, and provided some much needed competition to Tesco.

Hertford Theatre has added another ingredient to the already lively nightlife that Hertford enjoys, and with it the much needed Hertford cinema has opened and is showing films on a regular basis.

Restaurants have opened in abundance, offering some amazing choice of cuisine from around the world. Most of these are independently owned by passionate food lovers eager to show off their skills and knowledge.

Shops and other small businesses have been opened, providing a wealth of choice from LED Lighting to bird seed. These businesses are the driving force, the engine room of our local economy. Without them we would have a town centre that only opens after dark, we’d have huge industrial estates empty and filled with fly tipped waste. These businesses need using, not because they’re independent and somehow deserve a higher status than national chains. But because we will all benefit from using these businesses. We will benefit because our local economy will be richer and more vibrant. With a good local economy there’s so much more opportunity out there, more jobs, cleaner streets – a better sense of self worth all round. Hertford is far from becoming a ‘bad place to live’ but it can certainly be a better place to live. With a healthy local economy, our local opportunities extend beyond our wildest imaginations – so please try to buy and use local!!

There is of course plenty more to be proud of in our great little town and hopefully this blog has helped brighten the mood from seemingly endless stories of shop/business closures and crime rates.

Everything listed above is because of the people in Hertford. We lead our town forward, and our opinions and requests have a far greater impact than we may imagine. So continue to use resources such as Discover Hertford to voice your opinions, continue to use local businesses in the name of the local economy, continue to come into town for events and continue to attend local meetings. Get involved with your town and then reap the rewards!

Thanks for reading, Rob