In response to the ‘Ventnor is open’ campaign, 2 Ventnor residents have launched a new website, Ventnor Local, to help promote the town’s shops, restaurants and businesses. Husband and wife team, Richard Taylor and Vikki Fox, have launched the not-for-profit online directory which is aimed at locals and visitors alike. It provides important information on local businesses in a clear, attractive and easy-to-use way. The project was conceived in Summer 2023 and the development started earlier this year. The plan was to go live with as complete a list of the businesses in the PO381 postcode area as possible. However, the website has been launched earlier than expected in the light of the ongoing situation in the South Wight town. Access from Shanklin has been severed due to December’s major landslide at Bonchurch and access via the other routes has been problematic at times too. Ventnor residents fear they could find themselves cut off. Richard and Vikki say that every Ventnor-based business will, in time, have the opportunity to have their own page showcasing what they do, their opening hours, social media and website links, and their contact details. Each listing will also include a small gallery of images and a Google map. Richard explains:
“We’re passionate about Ventnor, its businesses and community – we’ve been welcomed with open arms and we want to be able to give back to the town we call home. As a designer and IT consultant duo we are well placed to provide this website for our town. “We’re committed to keeping this essential level of information free forever for all the businesses. Clearly it will need some income to pay its costs, but we’ll need to see how it’s used before we can explore options. So Vikki and I will fund the website’s running costs ourselves for at least two years to ensure that it can grow and flourish.”
Vikki adds:
“We want this to be a go-to website, which locals and visitors to Ventnor can use to find all the fabulous shops, eateries and businesses that exist here. No searching on Google and finding ‘serves Ventnor’ businesses, just one website that lists everyone here, whether you’re a small home-based business or a prominent restaurant. “Although we have lived in Ventnor for a few years, in sowing the seeds for this project, we have discovered so many businesses that we were previously unaware of. This must be the case for other locals too, so I hope that our website will encourage more people to think local and spend their money within Ventnor. “If you have a PO381 business address, and are keen to be listed, please contact us via the Contact Form on the Ventnor Local site. You may already be on our to-do list, but we will add you as quickly as possible.”
If you have a PO381 business, shop, restaurant, group, sports club, and are keen to be listed, contact Ventnor Local via the contact form on the website. There is also an ‘Add my business’ link at the top.
Sadly Ventnor is finished, to drive to Ventnor thesedays is
not a nice thought.
IW Council could help by offering motorists FREE Parking in Ventor to
help struggling businesses and keep the roads clear from parked
vehicles along Wroxall to help the flow of traffic.
Should make the main car park free in Wroxall to keep the traffic moving.
Luckily, all the talk about car-dependency was taken seriously in UK and worst case, when we have troubles with car routes, we can all just take a train ;)))
Given the increase in the volume of traffic that has been diverted (and I don’t want to upset the people of Wroxall) but surely there should be no parking on that road. Most, if not all the houses have off-road parking
There is NO reason to close Leeson Road. After all the road from Compton to Freshwater is fully open and that is far nearer a crumbling cliff edge.
I think this is a good idea but the website is like something from the 1990s. Very dull and clunky. Maybe a web designer could help out and make it more dynamic, unless dull and clunky is how Ventnor wants to be perceived. But that is not my perception of Ventnor, which I love.
I’d love to visit if there was a train running. Get in Cowes, read a book, get out in Ventnor. That would be a lovely weekend.
But driving there seems just too annoying.
Sounds like a slow train if it would take all weekend from Cowes to Ventnor!