Month: May 2024

Businesses in Bury St Edmunds town centre will soon be able to vote on whether the Business Improvement District (BID) should continue to operate for the next five years.  Our Bury St Edmunds BID has provided additional services to support businesses in the town centre since it was first established in 2010.  It has continued to be elected in a ballot of member businesses at five year intervals ever since.

This week just over 400 premises will be notified that they will soon be receiving their ballot form.  The vote is a simple yes or no and if elected the BID will remain in place to deliver for town centre businesses until 2030.

Member businesses will continue to be eligible to access numerous free training courses for their staff in areas which include first aid, fire safety, food hygiene and digital marketing.  The BID’s delivery of all the town’s major outdoor events such as the popular free entry Spring Fayre, Food & Drink Festival and Christmas Lights event will continue, along with the marketing of the town to both locals and visitors nationally. The BID also provides a number of services to improve the trading environment of the town centre such as the town’s Christmas lights, a free graffiti removal service for members, sponsored floral decorations in the summer and other activities to bring people to the town. BID initiatives to keep spend local include the Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card, the Loyal Free App and the Virtual High Street.

Chief Executive of Our Bury St Edmunds BID Mark Cordell said: “We know that times have been tough recently for businesses and their customers and that is why we are committed to giving the best possible value for money as a BID service for them if the vote is successful. Part of our role is to source additional external funding for the town centre to benefit our member businesses and since 2020 we have generated around £400,000.

“Around half the businesses covered by the BID’s area are independents and more than 100 of those businesses will be paying £1 a day or less for their BID membership.”

If the town centre votes to retain the BID it will run for a further five years from April 2025.  Businesses will pay a levy based on their rateable value, which this time increases by 0.15%, the lowest amount it has ever gone up by.

Mr Cordell added: “A number of businesses will have lower rateable values now since the last evaluation, which means the amount they will pay to the BID in the next five year term will be less than they have paid for this one.”

Businesses eligible to vote in the BID ballot are being sent further information by Our Bury St Edmunds BID this week.  The ballot will open on June 7 and run until July 4.

An initiative launched in Bury St Edmunds 11 years ago is celebrating providing almost a million free parking spaces for visitors to the town centre. ‘Free from 3’ operates in the town’s short stay and on-street car parks on Tuesday afternoons, making a total of 1,635 parking spaces available at no cost during the promotion.

‘Free from 3’ was an idea put forward to the then St Edmundsbury Borough Council (now West Suffolk Council) by the Business Improvement District (BID) organisation Our Bury St Edmunds BID in January 2013 as the local authority considered its budget for the year ahead.  The council had been reviewing its car parking charges at the time and had commissioned a report which looked at various options.

Chief Executive of Our Bury St Edmunds BID, Mark Cordell, said: “Car parking is something that almost everyone using the town centre has an opinion on and in 2013, as it was under review, I engaged with councillors and officers to make the views of businesses known.  I am delighted that West Suffolk Council has now continued to support the ‘Free from 3’ initiative for more than a decade and we know that it makes a significant difference to businesses in the town – especially those where customers need to make appointments to visit.

“I hear from a number of established BID businesses that since its launch, Tuesday afternoon has gone from a quiet trading time to one where people will seek appointments knowing that they won’t have to pay to park.  Free parking is, of course, always welcome but especially when the cost of living has risen sharply.”

The initiative was formally launched at the start of the council’s financial year in April 2013.  The Abbeygate Cinema is one of the many businesses in the town to have benefitted since it was introduced.  General Manager Gareth Boggis commented: “We offer a number of screenings on Tuesday afternoons and evenings because the free parking is a bonus for our audience members.  Some like to take in a film first at around 5pm and then enjoy a meal in town. Others like to know that they have time to get here for a 7pm screening because they haven’t had to wait until the usual night time tariff begins.”

Councillor David Taylor who is West Suffolk’s Cabinet member for Operations said:

“We know that availability of long and short stay, as well as flexible pay on exit parking, all managed through tariffs, is important for the town centre and the local economy and our car parks have been busy with lots of people visiting the town centre throughout the week.

“Free from 3 was introduced to encourage visitors on what was originally a quieter afternoon in the week.

“West Suffolk Council continues to work strongly with partners including Our Bury St Edmunds to support the sustainable growth of our town centres and it’s great to hear the feedback around the success of this initiative.”

Details about car parks, street parking and tariffs can be found on the Council’s website at www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/parking.  Our Bury St Edmunds continues to work closely with partner agencies, including local authorities, to maximise opportunities for businesses in the town centre.  For more information visit www.ourburystedmunds.com.