Charley Forsyth: Research Reports; RT LO1.1 and LO2.1 and LO3.1 and LO3.2

Learning Objective 1+2+3

Research Report.

1.1 Apply research methods and procedures in a media production context to gather well focused and useful materials.

2.1 Apply correct procedures for collection of accurate data.

3.1 Use an agreed format to present the outcomes of the research clearly to an audience.

3.2 Reference material and quotations accurately in a bibliography and credit list.

This study looks at the town of Romford, London and will show the diversity that this town has to offer as well as showing what the public think on the area now and how it has grown into a town that is both a market place and a place to socialise. Romford is the Jekyll and Hyde of London, a town with two very different personalities.

Located in Northeast, London, Romford is a large suburban town that is headed by the London Borough of Havering. Romford was a historical market town that unfortunately dissolved in 1892. However this town has good road links and when the railway station was built back in 1839 Romford soon be can to develop and shifted from agriculture to a light industry town and more recently moved into retail and commercial shopping. In the 20^th Century the growth of suburban London meant that Romford expanded and the population increased dramatically becoming a municipal borough in 1937 and become a part of Greater London in 1965. It is now ‘one of the largest commercial, retail, entertainment and leisure districts outside of central London’ [Wikipedia, 2013, Online] and has developed a ‘night time economy’ [Wikipedia, 2013, Online].

Romford market has been trading for over ‘760 years’ [Havering.gov, 2013, Online] and has become a huge part of shaping this town. In 1247 the market originated as a sheep market. ‘Under the Royal Charter of the Liberty of Havering, granted by King Henry III no other market is permitted to set up within a day’s sheep drive (six and two-thirds miles) of Romford’ [Wikipedia, 2013, Online]. The market was used as part of The Prodigy’s music video Voodoo People and was also in a film starring Chris Kamara.

Romford compared (2001 Census)
Statistic	Romford Town^[37]	Brooklands^[38]	Havering^[37]	London^[37]	England^[37]
Ethnic group
White	12,247	11,987	213,421	5,103,203	44,679,361
Asian	388	374	4,088	866,693	2,248,289
Black	234	389	3,139	782,849	1,132,508
Mixed	200	161	2,298	226,111	643,373
Chinese/Other	131	113	1,302	193,235	435,300
Population
Total	13,200	13,024	224,248	7,172,091	49,138,831
Density(/hectare)	46.05	31.00	19.97	45.62	3.77
Households	5,829	5,361	91,722	3,015,997	20,451,427

[Wikipedia, 2013, Online]

This table shows that Havering has 213,421 white people and Romford has around 17% of the figure living within its area postcode. Romford has the majority of its residents being white and the minority being Chinese/Other with that figure standing at 131 people in comparison to 12,247 white people living in Romford however this census was taken back in 2001 therefore now in 2013, these figures maybe very different to what they were then.

Romford is known for its retail experiences that it has on offer with The Brewery being built ‘on the site of the former Star Brewery, and it opened in 2001’ [Wikipedia, 2013, Online]. It is one of the three main shopping facilities in Romford, alongside The Liberty and The Mercury. A 25% stake in the shopping centre was recently sold to ‘Prudential Property Investment Managers for £44.25m’. [Wikipedia, 2013, Online]. It contains everything from a cinema to a supermarket to restaurants and a fitness centre it is also home to ‘Europe’s largest play area’ [The Brewery, 2013, Online]. The Liberty is another on the three main shopping centres that are situated in Romford and was ‘first built in 1968 on land known as ‘Liberty’.’ [The Liberty, 2013, Online] and in 2001 a £54m redevelopment project was put into the shopping centre to bring it into the 21^st century to become what we see today.

Nightlife, Romford contains a number of around 15 pubs, clubs and bars. Yates is a ‘vibrant lunchtime trade, an easy venue to chill, relax, meet, eat and drink’ [Late night Essex, 2013, Online] but then it switches, much like the town that is situated, ‘Yates turns into one of the best venues in the area...Jagerbombs and pints for only £1’ [Late night Essex, 2013, Online] it is venues like this that attract the students to the area with the cheap drinks and a vibrant atmosphere. Missoula in Romford is another place that is considered ‘one of the places to go on a night out in Essex’ [Late night Essex, 2013, Online] with a cocktail special every Friday. Kosho is another bar that is has a chilled atmosphere during the day and yet comes alive at night. Voodoo is a new addition to the line up that is on offer in Romford. The following sums up the nightlife that is on offer in Romford; ‘There is a developed night time economy, greater than in any other metropolitan centre in Greater London, with 8,360 square metres (90,000 sq ft) of cinemas, theatres and concert hall space; 9,530 square metres (102,600 sq ft) of bars and pubs; 5,510 square metres (59,300 sq ft) of cafes and restaurants; and 2,680 square metres (28,800 sq ft) of fast food and take away venues. The night time economy is almost as significant as the day economy with around 12,000 visit to Romford during the day and 11,000 visit to pubs, clubs and bars at night.’ [Wikipedia, 2013, Online].

What is Romford like during the day, describe a day in Romford.

This question got a lot of response some positive and some negative. T he positive from the question was people said that ‘A day in Romford is calm and relaxing’ with people saying that Romford is ‘the place to shop’ as they described Romford as the only place that they would come to shop for all occasions, be it for birthday presents or an outfit for a wedding Romford is said to have it all. However I did get the odd member of the public that described Romford as a bit ‘old fashioned’ and that felt they Romford needed ‘improving’ it was as though they felt that even though this area has undergone major development that still this hasn’t brought much to the area.

What are the people in Romford like?

The people of in the market place were strongly described as ‘friendly’, ‘hardworking Londoners’ it was clear that the people that I interviewed felt that the market had an inviting atmosphere and this was mainly down to the people that work on the stalls, however they said that some that work in the market were described as ‘unwelcoming’ as they felt that they wasn’t really interested in the area but they was only a minority of the people many felt that they people in Romford were nice friendly people they would do anything for anyone.

Sell Romford to me.

When I asked people to sell Romford to me I was frequently getting references to the market place and how that is the ‘heart of Romford’ the people that I spoke to on the street made it seem that if it wasn’t for the market then Romford would be just like anywhere else this is what makes this town unique. ‘There is something for everyone’ this is what I got from the respondents of this question as Romford has the shops, the market, cinema etc. Everything you need all under one roof.

Sample of 25 students aged between 17-21.

Would you recommend Romford as a place to go out of a night time? Yes/No

Yes- 15

No- 10

Would you go out in Romford for a night out? Yes/No

Yes-17

No-8

From looking at the results that I received from these two questions I noticed that people would go out in Romford on a night out and yet some people wouldn’t recommend the area to others as a place to go and when I asked them why they would recommend it as a night yet go there themselves the response I got was ‘it’s easy to get to from where I live so I go there if it was far then I wouldn’t travel or make anyone else travel just for a night in Romford’. This for me was a surprising answer as my secondary research suggests that Romford’s nightlife is a big part of their economy with around 11,000 people visiting Romford in the night, I just presumed that this meant that the nightlife was good yet some feel that it isn’t as great as it’s made out to be.

Describe a night out in Romford.

People described a night out in Romford as ‘interesting’ as they said that some of the people that come to Romford for a night out aren’t they nice of people or they ‘dress like slags’ and they felt that girls shouldn’t dress that way in public and this is one the reasons some people felt that Romford isn’t as glamorous as some make it out to be. However it was said that ‘it’s a cheap night out that isn’t far from home’. These findings had me think that maybe Romford isn’t the reason it wouldn’t be recommended as a good night out it might be the people they go out there and the way they represent the area of Romford in the night time meaning that the dynamic of the people they are out in Romford drastically changes from the day to the night.

Sample of 25 adults aged between 28-52.

Would you come Romford as a day out shopping? Yes/No

Yes- 22

No-3

Would you recommend Romford as a good place to come shopping? Yes/No

Yes- 19

No- 6

Again I found that people would come to Romford yet those same people wouldn’t recommend the area to others and where I questioned them on this I found that this was their local shopping facility and that they said the weather places a huge part on why they wouldn’t recommend the shopping facilities as some of it is outside they said ‘why come to somewhere that’s outside when you can go somewhere that’s warm and inside’.

Describe a day in Romford.

The people that I interviewed for this question described a day in Romford as ‘relaxing’ they made suggestions that the area had a calm atmosphere that the people were welcoming, with odd exception, and they said that the area of Romford was full of vibrant people and that you would be able to find everything that you wanted.

From conducting this research and complying it into this report I have learnt that Romford has many layers, some of which the people of that area don’t want to share with the worlds however there are many that they would be more than happy to share and it is clear to say that this town has a very colourful personality. The people that live within this area postcode are on the whole considered as rather friendly, warm and welcoming people which is a positive as and the end of the day it’s the people that make the area the area doesn’t make the people. Also it is clear that Romford changed over the years and is only beginning to blossom into its full potential and soon Romford will be in the height of its glory.

Word Count: 1,827

Bibliography.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romford Online, Accessed 26/06/2013

http://www.havering.gov.uk/Pages/FAQ.aspx?lgsl=782&l1=100002&l2=200066#How_long_has_the_market_been_trading_ Online, Accessed 26/06/2013

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romford_Market Online, Accessed 26/06/2013

http://www.theliberty.co.uk/about.aspx Online, Accessed 02/07/2013

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brewery_(shopping_centre) Online, Accessed 02/07/2013

http://thebreweryromford.com/ Online, Accessed 02/07/2013

http://www.latenightessex.com/nightlife Online, Accessed 02/07/2013

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romford#Culture Online, Accessed 02/07/2013

Primary Research Instruments.

Structured Interview.