Here at Watford BID were gearing up for our first Watford Food & Drink Week taking place next week. From Monday until to Sunday October 1 we aim to highlight the fantastic variety of Watford's restaurants, bars, cafes, pubs and food retailers. Head to our website www.watfordforyou.org for a range of delicious food & drink discounts, special set menus and complimentary tastings across the town centre. Search #EatDrinkWatford on social media for all the latest news and offers.

The other big campaign launching this month is our Service Excellence Awards, you may have seen our launch covered in last week’s Watford Observer. Back for their second year, the awards celebrate outstanding customer service in Watford. We look forward to receiving nominations from businesses in the next few weeks. Last year more than 350 business were represented at a black tie event at Watford Colosseum. A great time was had by all, celebrating the success of our worthy winners. Search #WatfordBidAwards on social media to keep up to date with all the latest news.

We’ve also been hard at work focusing on various high street improvements from working with key stakeholders on how the town functions, looks and feels to creating bright, colourful hoardings for the former One Bell pub. Both projects help the town centre to look better as well as welcoming people to our town.

As the autumn and winter draws closer it’s a good time to reflect on what Watford BID has achieved in the summer months. We were delighted to host our second Watford Weekender in May and then went on to fill the town with flowers as we delivered our second year of stunning floral displays. We sponsored the ever popular Imagine festival in June and July, and used our Watford For You brand to promote a range of fantastic summer events, attracting residents and visitors alike into the town centre.

You can follow what’s happening at Watford BID by visiting www.watfordbid.co.uk or search @WatfordBID on social media. Visit www.watfordforyou.org.uk or search @WatfordForYou on social media for the latest news, offers and events in Watford.

l Maria Manion is chief executive of Watford BID