Stevenage and Hitchin have been nominated for the Let's Celebrate Towns initiative, and is in with a chance to win £20,000 for the community.
The nationwide showcase is designed to celebrate the hundreds of towns across the country supporting businesses and communities.
Both Stevenage and Hitchin have been selected on the 30 town shortlist for the initiative, with judges representing business, industry and local town associations, set to meet to discuss the entries to decide upon eight overall winners.
Winning towns will receive up to £20,000 of direct investment into a local community project or initiative and receive a dedicated programme of support for local businesses.
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The initiative has been set up by Visa, in partnership with the British Retail Consortium, with BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson saying: "I am delighted to be partnering with Visa on this brilliant opportunity to celebrate the diversity of our towns and highlight what makes them great places to live and work.
"As a passionate advocate for retail, I’m excited by the prospect of identifying more stand-out examples of where towns are supporting businesses, and the people that help communities up and down the country to thrive.
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"By doing this, we can also uncover important insights to ensure best practice is shared more widely across towns to help boost our businesses and high streets."
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