Plymouth won two out of six categories at the Association of Town Centre Management Awards, beating off strong competition from cities including London, Liverpool and Manchester.

The Plymouth Summer Festival won best centre initiative and Plymouth City Centre Company Chairman Duncan Currall was named ATCM Champion of the Year 2007/08 in recognition of his work in leading the organisation set up to delivery Plymouth's innovative Business Improvement District (BID).

The Plymouth Summer Festival was praised for the benefits realised in bringing together under one banner the many events taking place in the city over the summer, the added value achieved through this and the success in levering in both public and private sector support.

The ACTM audience was told that: "This initiative represented a step change in marketing not only for the City Centre Company, but for Plymouth".

Duncan Currall received his award for his contribution of time and management skills hav ing chaired the Plymouth City Centre Company since it was set up in 2003, personally raising £1.5 million for the project.

The audience at the awards event held at the Riverbank Plaza Hotel, in London, were told "Duncan's outstanding leadership has made Plymouth City Centre Company a dynamic force for positive change, bringing together a disparate retail community and raising aspirations to get Plymouth City Centre moving upwards again".

After picking up his Award Duncan praised the work of the City Centre Company team and thanked partners including Plymouth City Council, the Chamber of Commerce, Devon and Cornwall Police and city centre retailers for their support in helping the BID deliver a cleaner, safter and more vibrant retail centre for Plymouth.

He added "The awards are recognise the success of the City Centre Company on a national basis.

"It's further good news for the city of Plymouth.  The activities of the company are aimed at encouraging a vibrant city centre, which is vital for the future of this great city."

David Draffan, Managing Director of Plymouth City Centre Company, said: "It's fantastic.  For Plymouth to win two of the six awards is unprecedented.  We were up against the likes of Manchester, Liverpool and Oxford Street."

He also praised the Board of the Summer Festival and promised there would be an array of exciting events for 2008.

Mr. Draffan said: "The events calendar for this year's summer festival is full of exciting events for the people of Plymouth.  It's going to be bigger and better than ever."

The programme for the 2008 summer festival will be revealed over the next few weeks.