Christmas in Leicester BID TV advert

Last Christmas has come and gone but we are still sharing and celebrating the Christmas in Leicester advert presented by Business Improvement District (BID) Leicester, produced by Rock Kitchen Harris.

Cold fresh air, lights, ice skating and mulled wine are things that remind us of Christmas and can be experienced in the City of Leicester. With a variety of cosy cafes, unique independent shops and huge shopping centres of Highcross, Haymarket and Fosse Park you are spoilt for choice during the busy Christmas period. This has all been captured in the Christmas advert presented by the BID.

BID Leicester is a Fantastic Organisation…

…they work on remoulding the City Centre to make it a better place for businesses, students and the public.

BID recently commissioned a TV advert promoting Christmas time in Leicester produced by Rock Kitchen Harris, a Leicester based creative known for working on projects for Vision Express, Taylor Wimpey, Topps Tiles, Has Bean.

Words from experienced producer Ian Bellamy

Ian Bellamy has grown to know the city very well having studied at Leicester University in the ‘90s and by working in the city since then. He noted the evolution and positive progress that has been made in Leicester in these past few decades which signals a bright future for the city.

“I’ve always had good experiences here and I’ve seen great progression over the last 25 years” added Ian.

He also noted how the layout of the city helped the shoot go smoothly and productively:

“The City is nicely compact so we did not waste much valuable time relocating from one venue to the other and it meant we could meet a number of key contacts at some of our shoot locations, as well as plan the shots required.”

Venues and Locations in the Advert

Venues and locations were happy to accommodate the production and aided the overall process, as explained by Ian: “ The shoot went very well and all venues were great, they were incredibly helpful and accommodating which makes our life so much easier.” The venues captured in the advert included 45 West Bottle Shop & Bar, Orton’s Brasserie restaurant, previously mentioned Highcross shopping centre. Iconic locations, such as The Clock Tower, Town Hall Square, St Martin’s Square, Humberstone Gate and The Lanes were also featured in the video.

Challenges

Filming can become a challenging process due to unexpected changes or various hiccups that come along the way. The shooting was done during the Covid-19 pandemic which brings challenges on its own. Not only that, the team planned on having a shot of the moment the Christmas lights were turned on but due to the timing, it did not pan out that way. However, with a quick tweak, it did not affect the final cut of the shoot.

Read BID’s article about the advert, which includes more comments about the production from BID Leicester Director, Simon Jenner.