Animal trail a roaring success as shoppers flock to Northampton town centre

A town centre trail of 15 toy brick models has been hailed a “massive success” – with more than 25,000 interactions recorded on the dedicated mobile phone app and hundreds of families completing the challenge.

The Animal Paradise trail, presented and built by BRICKLIVE, was commissioned by Northampton Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID) and sponsored by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC), and features models of a snow leopard, a bottlenose dolphin, a rockhopper penguin and an orangutan plus many others.

The models were constructed out of more than 520,000 toy bricks and took more than 2,300 hours to build.

Results from LoyalFree, the producers of the specialist trail app, have revealed that 6,761 ‘check-ins’ were made at model locations across the two-week period with 811 miles walked between the various retailers.

Mark Mullen, operations director at Northampton Town Centre BID, said: “We’re delighted to have brought the Animal Paradise brick trail to Northampton, which gave local families and shoppers the chance to get up close and enjoy these amazing models over Easter.

“We received such positive feedback from those who took part and retailers reported a surge in footfall throughout the campaign so it has been a massive success igniting imaginations and creating long-lasting memories.”

All those who completed the trail via the LoyalFree app were entered into a prize draw to win one of two £100 vouchers.

The winners were Dan Hurwood, who received vouchers to spend in The Entertainer, and Danielle Holmes, who chose to spend her vouchers in Primark.

Councillor Daniel Lister, WNC’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Town Centre Regeneration and growth, said: “We knew this event would be highly successful in terms of getting people actively engaged with Northampton town centre and exploring the many reasons to keep coming back.

“From existing residents to visitors far and wide, the animal trail has showcased what makes Northampton a great place to visit time and time again, plus educating us all on endangered species from around the world.

“We are dedicated to supporting our local businesses and attractions, so anything we can do at West Northamptonshire Council to increase physical footfall, champion our local community and boost our local economy, we will make it a priority.”

For more information visit https://www.discovernorthampton.co.uk