Author: dominika.woloch@ourburystedmunds.com

A brand new astronomy trail called ‘Out of This World’ launches in Bury St Edmunds town centre on Saturday March 28 just in time for family fun during the Easter School Holidays.

The trail will run for nine weeks as residents and visitors are challenged to find space themed items across BID member businesses.

Brought to you by Our Bury St Edmunds Business Improvement District (BID) and supported by the Bury St Edmunds Astronomy Association, the FREE entry trail coincides with the Artemis II Moon Rocket Mission, scheduled to launch in spring, which will be the first crewed mission to the moon in over 50 years.

Participants will have a chance to win a variety of prizes including a year membership of The Apex courtesy of West Suffolk Council, Bury St Edmunds gift cards and space memorabilia.

Trail leaflets will be available to pick up at the St Edmundsbury Cathedral tourist information point, Moyse’s Hall Museum, The Apex, Bury St Edmunds Library and the participating businesses who will also display a poster. You can also download the trail leaflet from the Our Bury St Edmunds BID website.

To complete the trail and enter the competition participants need to pick up, or download, a trail leaflet and fill it in with the ten space related items they find in business windows or inside the premises in the town centre. The items include space stories books, astronaut figurines, newspaper front pages of the 1969 moon landing and images taken by members of the astronomy association.

Mike Kirkham, Business Support Manager for Our Bury St Edmunds BID and Chair of the Bury St Edmunds Astronomy Association, said: “I hope that this out of this world astronomy trail to coincide with the Artemis II launch will encourage people to visit our town centre businesses, and more people to learn about astronomy and discover the town centre.”

The trail leaflet features exciting astronomy facts and figures including about astronaut Tim Peake who visits The Apex in Bury St Edmunds on October 12 and 13 as part of his Astronauts: The Quest to Explore Space Tour.

Bury St Edmunds Astronomy Association will be at the Our Bury St Edmunds BID Bury St Edmunds Spring Fayre on 24 & 25 May for anyone interested in learning more about astronomy.

The Out of This World Astronomy Trail runs from Saturday 28 March to Sunday 31 May in Bury St Edmunds Town Centre. For more information and to download a trail leaflet visit https://www.ourburystedmunds.com/bury-st-edmunds-out-of-this-world-astronomy-trail/

Visitors, residents and businesses in Bury St Edmunds town centre will be celebrating both the Artemis II Moon Rocket Mission and football’s World Cup this year with two free activity trails.  In each of the trails, participants will have a chance to win a variety of prizes. 

The first trail will be astronomy themed to celebrate the Artemis II mission, currently scheduled to launch this spring.  Town centre businesses are invited to get involved with the trails by displaying a poster and an item (which will be supplied by the organisers) in their shop window, which participants then seek out and record on the official entry form for the competition.  The trails are being co-ordinated by Our Bury St Edmunds BID (Business Improvement District).

Chief Executive of Our Bury St Edmunds BID Mark Cordell said: “It’s incredible to think that we did our first trail in 2011 and they just go from strength to strength – last year we had the best take-up ever of businesses wanting to be part of our trails and I hope even more will sign up this year.

“With the interest in both the first crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years and the World Cup – where we are also commemorating the fact that it is the 60^th anniversary of that historic 1966 win – this is the perfect family activity.  It’s an opportunity to visit different parts of the town centre and can be done over a number of days.”  

Both trails will run over a number of weeks and each will also include one of the town centre’s major annual events.  The astronomy-themed trail supported by the Bury St Edmunds Astronomy Association will run from the end of March to the end of May. Visitors to the Our Bury St Edmunds Spring Fayre on May 24 and 25 will be able to visit astronomy workshops for further inspiration.  The World Cup trail will run through the school summer holidays including during the Our Bury St Edmunds Food & Drink Festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

There is still time for BID member businesses to register their interest in featuring on one or both of the trails and those interested in doing so should contact the Our Bury St Edmunds BID team in the usual way.

Shoppers in Bury St Edmunds have once again given an overwhelming vote of approval to the Our Bury St Edmunds BID-supported Town Centre Gift Card, which saw sales almost double during 2025.  During the year almost £50,000 was spent purchasing cards for gifts – and additionally the amount spent by those using their gift cards in local businesses was up by around 20% on the previous year.

November and December saw the highest amount spent on purchasing the cards – which is now accepted by 85 town centre businesses.  More than £30,000 – a 50% increase on 2024 – was spent buying Bury St Edmunds Gift Cards in the run up to Christmas, which, it’s anticipated, will give a boost to the local economy when recipients start spending it in early 2026.

The upsurge in gift card purchases has come as no surprise to Our Bury St Edmunds BID’s Business Support Manager Mike Kirkham.  He said: “The increasing popularity, both among purchasers and businesses that accept it, is down to a number of reasons. Customers love the variety of retail, food and drink, leisure and wellbeing options that it gives – including both independents and high street names.  We know that the desire to ‘Shop Local’ is important to many in Bury St Edmunds and this is a great way to do so, but best of all it’s really easy to purchase or use and backed by well-known and trusted brands as you would expect from Our Bury St Edmunds.

“In addition, the Bury St Edmunds Gift Card is part of the multi-award winning Town & City Gift Cards initiative powered by Miconex. Operating on the Mastercard network and managed securely through local stockists, the card provides customers with a safe, reliable way to support our businesses, whether purchasing online or in-person.”

As well as the increase in sales of the card ahead of Christmas, there was also a 40% increase in spending on the card in the same two months compared to last year with £10,000 ringing through town centre tills.

Mike Kikham added: “This is the first full year that we have also offered the option of a digital card which accounted for just over 10 per cent of the purchases – and I expect that to grow.  However, the most popular way to gift the card was by picking it up at one of the nine stockists in the town centre and loading the amount to give straight onto it.”

Bulk purchases of the gift card can also be made by businesses looking to reward staff or to tie in with their own projects and initiatives. Sales of the card in this way have also increased by 50% in the last year.  A full list of where to spend the card or how to purchase it can be found at www.ourburystedmunds.com.  

Bury St Edmunds Food and Drink Tours will continue in 2026 with new dates announced this week.

Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides teamed up with businesses in the town centre to launch a new Food & Drink Tour in Suffolk’s Foodie Capital last year. The Tour Guides worked with Our Bury St Edmunds BID and BID member businesses on the new tour on selected Thursday afternoons from 2pm to 4.30pm.

77 visitors enjoyed the new attraction during 2025 which includes a two and a half-hour food and drink themed tour of the town stopping off at six local businesses to try bite-sized samples of food and drink, hearing about the business and the local history of the building and location.

With positive feedback from locals and visitors alike including excellent reviews on TripAdvisor, tour dates for 2026 are now available to book.

John Saunders, Marketing Officer, said: ““For local residents, the tours have increased awareness of the wonderful independent businesses to enjoy in Bury, with many saying they had not visited some venues before and now intend to return. We believe this will drive meaningful repeat business.

“For visitors, it has raised awareness of Bury as Suffolk’s foodie capital and we know many visitors return independently to make purchases after first discovering them on a tour.”

The tour takes you through the heart of Bury St Edmunds, offering visitors a taste of the town and a chance to discover Bury’s food and drink history, for example Cook’s Row, the Abbot’s feasts, and how a maltster almost destroyed the town. Along the way, guests enjoy bite sized samples of delicious food and drink and meet the people behind the town’s independent businesses.

Mark Cordell, CEO of Our Bury St Edmunds Business Improvement District, said: “We are absolutely delighted with how the tours have developed under the Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides and with their continuation into 2026. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and the fact that visitors are returning to spend money with our independent businesses after taking part is a clear indicator of the tours’ success.”

The guides now work with 15 BID businesses on a rotating basis: Adnams, Beautiful Beers, Blend, Hopsters, Lotties, Marimba, Midgar Coffee, Nethergate Wines, No5 Angel Hill, Procopio’s Pantry, The Cheesehole, The Wine Cellar, Verve, Vespers, and Vino Gusto.
Tickets for the Bury St Edmunds Food and Drink Tour are £25. To book for 2026 visit the Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides website: www.burystedmundstourguides.org

2026 Bury St Edmunds Food and Drink Tours
22 January 
February 12 & 26
March 12 & 26
April 2, 16 & 30
May 21
June 4 & 18
July 2, 9, 16 & 23
August 6, 13, 20 & 27
September 10 & 17

Some of the wonderful reviews of the Food and Drink Tours:

“What a fantastic afternoon we had on our trip with John. History of the town was combined with meeting independent traders who were chatty & welcoming. Good mix of food and drink.

We managed to go back to 4 the next day. Exceeded our expectations.

Ps. Don’t eat too much prior to your visit.”

“The food tour was a fabulous experience. The local business owners we met were all very friendly and knowledgeable, it felt like we were given a real ‘insiders’ experience. Our guide was very personable and helped us all to gel as a group. We sampled some excellent food and will definitely be going back to the venues we visited. It was an invaluable overview of just some of the food venues Bury has to offer.”

“Our group had the most fantastic afternoon on the new Food and Drink Tour. It was so interesting, the food and drinks were delicious and so different. It was lovely to meet the owners and staff at the Bury St Edmunds independent businesses. Our guide Adrian was so knowledgeable about the town, giving us a great mix of history and anecdotes as we walked to each venue.

Thank you – we will all be recommending the tour to friends and family.”

Christmas shoppers in Bury St Edmunds have once again helped ensure the town enjoyed a busy end to the year.

Footfall in 2025, as calculated by the BID’s camera in Abbeygate Street, was just 0.2% less than last year. There were 4,607,125 activations of the camera and this slight decrease on 2024 compares favourably with market towns nationally and town centres in the East of England.

These figures were boosted during December, where every week, except the run up to Christmas Day, had more visitors to the town than in either of the previous two years. Plus, the numbers of international tourists during 2025 have boosted the town’s visiting shoppers. Over 100,000 visited from abroad during the year with the majority from the east coast of the USA.

Bury St Edmunds also continues to have very low vacant retail units at 5.2%, compared with the national average of 13%.

Just before Christmas, The Telegraph named Bury St Edmunds the fourth in its list of the best UK High Streets. It described the town as having “plenty of indie spirit” in relation to the numbers of independent businesses in the town centre.

Chief Executive of Our Bury St Edmunds BID, Mark Cordell said: “Footfall for 2025 was the same as 2024, which compares very favourably with the average for the UK and better than the average for East of England and all UK market towns. Bury St Edmunds also has the lowest number of vacant retail units that I have seen in 15 years.

“The national media would lead you to believe the High Street is in crisis but not here in Bury St Edmunds.

“It is true that businesses continue to face additional pressures and challenges, particularly with recent Government decisions which will again increase our businesses operational costs, but so far Bury St Edmunds continues to buck the national trend. We will continue to do all we can through the Our Bury St Edmund and Bury St Edmunds and Beyond tourism brands to ensure we encourage people to visit the town centre.”

The Our Bury St Edmunds footfall figures are calculated based on an entry point to the town on Abbeygate Street. They are compiled for the BID by MRI OnLocation. More information is available at www.ourburystedmunds.com.

Free ice-skating returned to Bury St Edmunds town centre today (December 23) thanks to funding from Bury St Edmunds Town Council.

The free to use synthetic skating rink in Charter Square at the arc Shopping Centre has been organised by Our Bury St Edmunds Business Improvement District (BID).  It will be open every day except Christmas Day until January 5th from 11am to 5pm. Christmas Eve 10am-4pm.

Chief Executive of Our Bury St Edmunds BID Mark Cordell said: “The synthetic ice rink we had here in 2023 was very popular, so we wanted to replicate this attraction this year. Thanks to the generosity of the Town Council we have been able to do so but with an even bigger rink this time which has a maximum capacity of 40 people.

“There have been many attractions in the town centre up to now, to encourage people to visit and the ice rink continues this trend into the New Year. As a consequence of the Town Council funding, use of the rink is free and there is no need to book just turn up and enjoy the facility!”

The rink is part of ‘Christmas In Bury St Edmunds’ which has seen a variety of events in the town centre from mid-November and through December arranged by a partnership of different organisations.

Bury St Edmunds Town Council is one of the Christmas in Bury St Edmunds partners and put £50,000 into town centre Christmas activities in 2025.

Bury St Edmunds Mayor Councillor Donna Higgins said: “Ice skating at Christmas just seems right. With this activity lasting through that awkward, “what now?” time before school starts again, this continues our determination to help our families at a time when there are so many demands on the family budget. My thanks to the arc Shopping Centre for donating the space and to the BID for doing the organising on our behalf.”

Manager of arc Shopping Centre Allan Hassell commented: “We’re delighted to host the ice rink again this year and can’t wait to see everyone enjoying this fantastic attraction over the Christmas and the New Year period!

“Huge thanks to the Town Council for funding the ice rink and the BID for arranging it with us. The ice rink will be free for all to use, and we would love it if visitors are able to donate to Still Good Food, which is arc’s Charity of the Year, as they do marvellous work for the local community all year round.”

For information about other Christmas activities in the town will be available at www.christmasinburystedmunds.com

Boxing Day has traditionally been a day for shopping so for many BID members it will be back to business as usual from today.  If you are in town don’t forget that our synthetic skating rink re-opens today at arc Shopping Centre until January 5^th.  Thanks to the support of Bury St Edmunds Town Council it’s completely free.  We hope it will be as popular as the free fairground rides in the Abbey Gardens were in the run up to Christmas – also thanks to support from the town and district councils. 

At this time of year, it’s especially important to make sure the town looks festive and welcoming during these shorter daylight hours.  Last month’s Our Bury St Edmunds Christmas Lights Event was the start of the additional activities to enhance a visit to the town centre.  As well as our lights and Christmas trees, the businesses here really work hard on their own decorations and shop windows, with many competing for the Our Bury St Edmunds shield for the best dressed Christmas window.  This year we saw one of the town’s established retailers, Javelin, take the title.  The winner is chosen by a public vote and Javelin have participated for many years with past wins and runner-up awards to their name.  Congratulations also to the two runners up who are newcomers to the competition – The Flower Hut and Bonded by Hair.

It’s been good to see the town centre remaining vibrant during 2025.  Our vacancy rate is around five per cent, which is the lowest I have known it.  And new businesses have continued to invest in Bury St Edmunds throughout the year.  Adnams has now moved into its new premises at the old Post Office development and Trespass is in Adnams’ former shop.  Taco Bell has been recruiting for its new restaurant near Cineworld.  Meanwhile we are also expecting annual footfall levels in the town centre to be similar to last year, which in the current climate is good news.

Of course, this year has also seen its challenges and last month’s budget with the increase in the minimum wage, will again bring increased operating costs to our member businesses.  The hospitality sector is – I’m sure – bracing itself for changes that will take effect from April including significant changes to business rates.  The industry group UK Hospitality has calculated that in real terms the average pub’s business rates will increase 15% after all the changes have been taken into account. The changes to business rates will also impact on other areas of the town centre.

Heading into 2026 the BID and partners will continue to support member businesses in areas such as free training, lobbying politicians, organising events to bring more people into the town and marketing Bury St Edmunds as a visitor destination for shopping, dining and cultural activities.

As we enter the final week of 2025 I wish you a happy and successful New Year. 

Customers at one of Bury St Edmunds’ longest-established independent fashion retailers have voted its shop window the best decorated for Christmas.  Javelin on Abbeygate Street has been declared the winner in the annual competition out of more than 40 shops, cafes and other businesses who took part. 

The winning display features an oversized bow and four Christmas trees all created with vintage textiles from bags, jumpers, scarves and even a sofa.  The store’s aim was to create a Christmas fashion theme layered in the same way as styling an outfit.  Trimmings and accessories added personality and fashion-led detail to each tree.  

Javelin has won the competition twice previously as well as being a runner up in the past. It will now hold the Our Bury St Edmunds Shield presented by the Business Improvement District (BID) organisation for the next 12 months.

Presenting the shield to the team at Javelin, Mark Cordell, Chief Executive at Our Bury St Edmunds BID, said: “The standard of window decoration this year was as high as ever and I congratulate Javelin for winning the most votes for their stunning display.  Congratulations also to our runners up, who were both taking part in the competition for the first time, Bonded by Hair who have a beautiful arch over their doorway as their centrepiece and The Flower Hut.

“The town centre looks fabulous at this time of year with our Christmas lights, the trees and all our shops and businesses having gone to so much effort with their displays.  With our free skating rink opening in arc shopping centre next week too, the town really couldn’t be more festive.”

Lucy Payne, Store Manager at Javelin, added: “Local interior design studio House of Bo and the Javelin team did an amazing job with this year’s window display, which means a lot to us as it was created using reworked items and materials with sustainability in mind. This display has been a true labour of love — and we hope it makes you smile and brings a little festive magic to your day!

“We’re really grateful to everyone who took the time to vote for us. We take this competition seriously, so it’s fantastic to see Javelin’s name on the shield once again.”

All those who voted in the competition had the chance to enter a draw with a prize of a hamper of local produce.  The winner was Jayne K.

Voting is underway in this year’s Our Bury St Edmunds Christmas Window Competition with the chance for all who vote to win a fabulous festive hamper. This year more than 40 town centre businesses are competing for the prestigious Our Bury St Edmunds Shield presented by the Business Improvement District (BID) organisation.

The free to enter competition is available on the Our Bury St Edmunds website where voting remains open until Sunday December 14. Some of the town centre’s regular participants such as Baileys2, Javelin and Loft & Spires are joined by newcomers including Sugartown Toys and The Flower Hut who are in the competition for the first time.

Mark Cordell, Chief Executive at Our Bury St Edmunds BID, said: ““There are some absolutely fabulous Christmas windows this year making the town centre look so festive. The businesses have been very creative and I’m glad I haven’t got the job of choosing which are the best ones! If visitors to the town centre have a favourite, then I do hope that they will register their vote by visiting our website. It’s wonderful to see the result of all the hard work from all these businesses, which hugely contributes to the overall Christmassy feeling in town, complimenting the two Christmas trees and street decorations that the BID organises.”

Last year the beauty and make up salon Edit Clinic in Risbygate Street took the title for a second year running. A full list of participants and further information on how to vote is available by visiting www.ourburystedmunds.com.