Purple Flag is a new accreditation scheme that recognises excellence in the management of town and city centres at night. The Purple Flag website tells me that ‘Entertainment areas that achieve the standard will be those that offer a better night out to visitors. Purple Flag aims to raise standards and improve the quality of our towns and cities at night’.
I have no doubt its claims are true, the criteria are comprehensive and I support its objectives. But do cities need a purple flag to prove it? Who will this appeal to, where will it be promoted and will it influence consumer decision-making?The website also says that ‘Just as Blue Flag is an indicator of a good beach, Purple Flag is set to be the indicator of where to go for a good night out’. Blue flag beaches meet criteria around water quality, environmental management, safety & services and environmental education & information. Criteria that are not necessarily immediately obvious or easy to find out about. So a Blue Flag is a good short-cut to that knowledge. It is not that difficult to find out whether Birmingham
or Bath are interesting, lively and safe places to be after dark.
It leaves me wondering whether purple flags are more about peer review than consumer benefit. That is worthwhile but not the same. We have a marketplace saturated with accreditation marks and I wonder whether we need yet another to confuse the already cynical consumer. But I’m open to persuasion, so let me know your views.