Author: Sue Warren

Doesn’t it look wonderfully Christmassy in the town centre now following the Our Bury St Edmunds Christmas Lights Event earlier in the month? It was good to see lots of people enjoying everything the afternoon and evening had to offer. Thank you to all who came along and supported the event and our wonderful stage performers too.

For the first time at the event, we had an Our Bury St Edmunds stall and it was great to chat to visitors enjoying all the entertainment and spread the word about our Town Centre Gift Card, which is always a good present at this time of year whether for a loved one or even the work Secret Santa as it’s flexible in the amount that you can give. It’s accepted by more than 70 town centre businesses too. You can find out more about how to purchase the card or the e-card version on our website.

A few days later it was St Edmund’s Day and it was good to see the flag flying from prominent buildings such as the Norman Tower. A number of our businesses also put up flags or bunting, which we have been happy to give to our member businesses free of charge in recent years. Marimba even brought out a special St Edmund chocolate truffle for the occasion.

And of course the celebrations don’t stop there. This time of year is one of the most important trading periods for many businesses. We know that the economic climate is still very challenging but our town centre remains vibrant. If you are looking to get together with friends or family or perhaps have a team night out with your colleagues then, as the foodie capital of Suffolk, you are spoilt for choice here. Our hospitality businesses offer so much variety whether you are looking for a mince pie and a seasonal hot drink, or the full turkey and Christmas pudding meal – plus everything in between – but all will appreciate you booking in advance to avoid disappointment.

If you are out and about in the town centre with a four-legged friend then I’m delighted that Bury St Edmunds has been officially recognised as the UK’s most dog friendly town. After a public vote, the winners of the DogFriendly Awards were announced last week.

Finally, it’s time to cast your vote in the annual Our Bury St Edmunds most festive window competition. The town centre businesses really do pull out all the stops with their windows and it’s so difficult to choose a favourite. But with your help we will find a winner who’ll get to display the shield for the next year. If you are a participating business make sure to tell all your customers to visit the Our Bury St Edmunds website and vote before December 13. Everyone who votes will be entered into a draw to win a festive hamper.

By Our Bury St Edmunds BID Business Support Manager Mike Kirkham.

Bury St Edmunds-based organisations are being encouraged to think local with their Christmas rewards and incentives as new employee research is unveiled showing strong local support.

Showing support for local businesses could be a secret weapon to boosting workplace motivation, according to new research backed by the Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card.

The research found that 94% of employees believe it is important that the organisation they work for supports local businesses. 97% said they would feel more engaged/motivated if their company showed they care about local and their community.

Driven by Our Bury St Edmunds BID, the Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card is part of the Town & City Gift Card initiative delivered by Miconex. Fintech Miconex undertook the research with over 4000 employees, organisations and consumers in August 2024.

The Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card can be spent with over 70 town centre businesses, giving employees choice, which was key for respondents in the survey. 89% of employees surveyed said having choice in their rewards and incentives was important to them.

When it comes to the reward staff would like to receive, gift cards maintained their popularity with employees, with 83% preferring to receive a £50 gift card (tax free) than £50 cash through payroll (taxed). 97% would like to receive a gift card from work that can be spent with local independent and national businesses.

The research also suggested other opportunities to boost staff motivation, such as seasonally based rewards and unexpected rewards. According to the research, winter is the worst time of year for staff motivation, with just 14% of people saying winter is when they feel most motivated, followed by summer (17%), autumn (25%) and spring (43%).

Asked whether an anticipated or unexpected reward was more motivating, 56% of respondents in the survey said an unexpected reward from their workplace would motivate them more. In addition, 50% of respondents said they don’t feel valued by their employer and 69% think their employer could improve their reward and incentive offering.

New technology introduced by the Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card in October 2024 allows organisations to send digital Town & City Gift Cards online to multiple recipients at once, either immediately or on a future date.

Business Support Manager for Our Bury St Edmunds BID Mike Kirkham said: “Support for local is at an all-time high with employees. They want to support local and if their company shows their support for local too, it makes them feel more positively about their firm, boosting motivation. Choosing the Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card for staff rewards this Christmas is an easy way for firms to make a tangible investment in their staff, and in their local community too, as all cards have to be spent right here in Bury St Edmunds. What’s more, as they offer unbeatable local choice, it aligns to what employees want from their workplace rewards.”

Colin Munro, managing director of Miconex said: “Boosting employee motivation is an ever present aim for organisations, so much so that 60% of organisations in our research said they expect this to be their main objective in 2025. The research presents a number of opportunities for Bury St Edmunds organisations to boost staff motivation by looking at their rewards and incentives differently, from the time of year they are offered to rewards that help employees to feel appreciated and valued, and rewards that demonstrate the organisation’s commitment to supporting local. Organisations could also use the Trivial Tax Benefit to offer unexpected, and potentially more motivating, rewards.”

To purchase corporate gift cards visit https://corporate.townandcitygiftcards.com/.

Who would have thought that the arrival of a small bear in a duffle coat and holding a marmalade sandwich would have created so much excitement in Bury St Edmunds? It’s been a real joy to see people of all ages sitting on the bench with Paddington at arc Shopping Centre and taking selfies. If you haven’t seen him yet, he is part of the Paddington Visits nationwide trail ahead of Paddington in Peru opening in cinemas next month.

Also next month we will be looking ahead to the festive season as the Our Bury St Edmunds Christmas Lights Event takes place from 3pm on Thursday November 14.
If you plan to be in town that evening, you’ll find lots of stalls with gifts, festive food or supporting local good causes and a range of entertainment on stage throughout the afternoon and evening, as well as street entertainment. It’s a great chance to do some Christmas shopping and, as with all our major events, it is absolutely free admission. And as our town centre shops and businesses start to decorate their windows for Christmas, watch out for details of how to vote for your favourite later in the month when we hold our annual Best Festive Window competition, which is always hotly contested.

We celebrated with a number of our member businesses recently at the Bury Free Press Business Awards. Our Bury St Edmunds BID sponsors the Customer Service Award and many congratulations go to The Wine Cellar who were the winners this year. Other member businesses to be shortlisted for awards on the night included The Evidence Rooms, Shuffle Board Café and Starlings. Starlings also have a very exciting weekend coming up, as on the morning of Sunday November 3 they will have the Premier League Trophy on display in partnership with Panini. Be sure to get there early if you want to take a photo.

It’s good to see new businesses opening in the town centre. We’ve welcomed Oliver Bonas to arc Shopping Centre and at the beginning of November Lisa Angel will open on Abbeygate Street. However a sad loss to Abbeygate Street has been the closure of Gastrono-me. Mike and Gemma who owned the business have been very supportive of the BID and I’ve known them for around 12 years. It is always sad when such a well-established independent business closes but it is a salient reminder of the challenges of running a business at the moment particularly with the post-Covid and cost of living issues facing everyone. Bury St Edmunds is not immune to these challenges and I hope that any announcements in the Budget next week don’t make things more difficult for our members and their customers. With a Government priority of economic growth, making decisions that reduce the amount of disposable income available is not going to help.

September’s been a busy month for the Business Improvement District (BID) team. We held our AGM at the Guildhall and it was good to have the chance to meet and chat with representatives of member businesses and to look forward to working with them over the next five years. This was the first AGM since our ballot to continue operating until 2030 and we appreciate that businesspeople gave up their time to attend and talk to us about their views on the trading environment in our town centre.

We’ve also had some exciting news about ‘Paddington Visits’ a national trail of Paddington statues – one of which will be situated in Bury St Edmunds. More details about this very soon.

One of the big success stories for the local economy recently has been the Our Bury St Edmunds Town Centre Gift Card. We launched this four years ago and it’s really been embraced by businesses and customers alike. The card can only be spent at those shops, restaurants and others – currently more than 70 – in our town centre that accept it, thus locking spending into our businesses. Next week we’ll announce more news about the Gift Card which we hope will encourage even more shoppers to use it and indeed more BID member businesses to sign up to accepting it.

If you run a business – even if you are out of town and thus not eligible to accept the card – and like to reward staff or clients at Christmas, the Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card is a great way to do so. Please contact me in the BID office if you’d like to know more about this opportunity – or indeed if you are a BID member and would like to accept it – www.ourburystedmunds.com.

It seems to be awards season at the moment. Bury St Edmunds is once again in the running to be crowned the most Dog Friendly Town or City in the annual Dog Friendly Awards. These are decided by a public vote with the winners being announced in November. As well as the town centre itself, a number of our BID members are nominated in their own sector categories such as restaurants and cafes or shops. If you have time to spend a few minutes on the site voting for the town or perhaps your near neighbour businesses I’m sure it will be appreciated.

And on the subject of awards, you may well have been reading about the Bury Free Press West Suffolk Business Awards, which we have always been delighted to be involved with as sponsors of the Customer Service Award. Last year Ellisons Solicitors were the winners in this category and I look forward to meeting the finalists for 2024 at the awards night in a couple of weeks’ time.

Our Bury St Edmunds BID is pleased to invite our BID members to its upcoming Annual General Meeting which will take place on the evening of Tuesday 10th September 2024, at Bury St Edmunds Guildhall.

The official business starts at 6.30pm, however from 5.45pm there will be an opportunity for you to meet the BID team, the Board and other BID members.

The AGM is free to attend. Light refreshments will be provided. Please confirm your attendance by emailing Mark.Cordell@ourburystedmunds.com and please let us know of any dietary requirements.

To comply with Company law we have created an official notice for the meeting which outlines the agenda and how you can nominate a proxy to vote for you at the AGM, should you so wish.

Official AGM Notice 2024.

The ballot result to renew the Business Improvement District (BID) until 2030 was announced earlier this month and although I hope our member businesses are already aware of the outcome, I’d like to again thank everyone who took the trouble to vote. We had the highest number of businesses voting this time than in any of our previous ballots with over 78% voting yes. This means of course that it is business as usual for the next five years and Our Bury St Edmunds BID will continue to deliver support to improve the trading environment in the town centre.

Our ballot result was announced just hours after the general election count finished in Bury St Edmunds and I’d like to thank our former MP Jo Churchill for her service to the town and her support of our businesses – especially the independents. I look forward to working with our new MP Peter Prinsley for the benefit of our town centre.

Every year in July Our Bury St Edmunds BID celebrates our independent businesses on July 4 – Independents’ Day – and the few days around it. So I am naturally delighted to see that we are also welcoming some new independent businesses to the town at the moment too. The first of the commercial units in The Old Post Office will be a new café, Amici, opening before the end of the year. We’ve also welcomed a number of others including Pommodoro Italian restaurant at the bottom of Abbeygate Street overlooking Angel Hill. Phase Eight which has been on Abbeygate Street for many years has moved to larger premises as one of a number of new openings at arc Shopping Centre. Its former shop is already under offer.

The changing environment and new businesses emphasises the vibrancy of the town centre. Units become available for a number of reasons and in Bury we have seen some well known names announce their owners’ retirement recently including Sneezums, who we have worked with since the early days of the BID and know how much the shop is loved by its customers.

We are now only a month away from the Our Bury St Edmunds Food & Drink Festival over the August bank holiday weekend. This is one of our flagship events and celebrates the town as Suffolk’s foodie capital. This year we will be showcasing a number of local chefs on stage with cooking demonstrations and welcoming back Michelin-starred TV chef Galton Blackiston who has been hugely popular in our theatre kitchen at previous festivals.

Finally I, and all the team at Our Bury St Edmunds BID, would like to express our thanks and good wishes Bury Free Press Deputy Editor Graham Turner who’s recently stepped down. His support over the lifetime of the BID for many different initiatives that we have collaborated with the paper on has always been very much appreciated.

By Mark Cordell, CEO, Our Bury St Edmunds BID.

Suffolk’s foodie capital will welcome back the ever-popular Michelin-starred chef Galton Blackiston to the Our Bury St Edmunds Food & Drink Festival over the August Bank Holiday. Galton, whose TV credits include Yes Chef, Saturday Kitchen and Great British Menu among many others, champions seasonal produce from the region. This year he celebrated his Norfolk hotel and restaurant Morston Hall retaining its Michelin star for a 25th year.

Galton will take to the stage in the Stoves Cookery Theatre at the free admission event on Bank Holiday Monday (August 26) with three demonstrations. In between his cookery displays will be others from local businesses. On Sunday (August 25) the kitchen will play host to chefs from across Bury St Edmunds town centre. Establishments including Rustico, 1921, Maison Bleue and The Bay Tree will all take part.

The two day event will feature a range of stalls selling food from around the world. New to the festival this year are stalls selling Hungarian street food and Caribbean sauces. The award-winning English Whisky Company will also be at the festival for the first time. In addition, food lovers can enjoy a farmers’ market on Angel Hill and dozens of stalls in the town centre selling a range of cuisines for all tastes and everything those who love cooking could desire.

The Our Bury St Edmunds Food & Drink Festival is organised by the Business Improvement District (BID) organisation for the town. Our Bury St Edmunds BID Chief Executive Mark Cordell said: “Galton Blackiston has been one of our most popular celebrity chefs at the Food & Drink Festival over the years and we are delighted to welcome him back to Bury St Edmunds. It’s testament to the quality of food and drink businesses in the town centre that so many of them are also playing a part at the Festival. While we can’t put every one of them on the stage, throughout the weekend there is a good number taking a stall to immerse themselves in everything the two days have to offer.”

Another popular attraction over the bank holiday will be the much-loved virtual reality games which will be at arc shopping centre together with a racing car simulator and face painting. Children can also enjoy fairground rides (small charge) and free street entertainment across both days.

Full details about the event, which runs from 10am to 5pm on Sunday 25 and Monday 26 August, can be found at: www.ourburystedmunds.com/foodanddrinkfestival

Bury St Edmunds Shop&Drop will be extending its pedal-powered service to the town’s Wednesday Market.

Shop&Drop, operated by EcoCarriers BSE, currently offers a same day delivery from a number of businesses in town as well as from traders on the Saturday market and now it will introduce the Wednesday market. Just call Shop&Drop before 2pm for same day delivery.

A single 35L crate of goods costs £2 for delivery within the town including Moreton Hall, Lark Grange and Marham Park or £4.50 to nearby villages including Great Barton, Horringer and Nowton. It will be delivered by bicycle or cargo-bike by 6pm. The customer pays the rider on delivery (card or cash).

Shop&Drop, which currently has almost a dozen businesses participating in its initial trial, has been supported by West Suffolk Council and Suffolk County Council as well as Our Bury St Edmunds BID.

On Wednesday 26th June Shop & Drop members will be at Marks and Spencer (just one of the retailers on the scheme) on the Buttermarket to tell customers about the service.

Director of Eco Carriers Libby said: “The service is proving successful, with over 150 deliveries made since we started, and we wanted to offer it to people who use the market on Wednesday’s too. Our cargo bikes can carry more than you’d expect, and for £2 we’ll deliver your shopping home to anywhere in Bury, leaving you unencumbered for a stroll round town or a café stop.”

To book a Shop&Drop pick up and delivery call 01284 413441, 07902 477833 or email hello@ecocarriersbse.co.uk for more information.

 

The wonderful hospitality sector that we have here in Bury St Edmunds has been very much in the spotlight this month with a visit from the Chief Executive of UK Hospitality Kate Nicholls. Accompanied by our MP Jo Churchill we were able to show a snapshot of our pubs, restaurants, hotels and the Greene King brewery to showcase why Bury is the foodie capital of Suffolk. It was therefore very pleasing to see Kate’s post on X with high praise after her visit to Lark and followed days later with warm words about the town and BIDs generally, when she gave evidence about town centres to a House of Lords committee.

As well as talking about hospitality, Jo Churchill also celebrated English Tourism Week with a visit to the Guildhall where she met tour guides and representatives of attractions associated with the Masters of The Air campaign which has been running alongside the Apple TV series. We’re also keeping our fingers crossed that the town’s tour guides will be successful in the English Tourism awards, which will be announced soon and thank you if you voted for them. Given that tourism is worth more than £50million to our local economy in and around Bury St Edmunds and supports over 1,000 jobs it was great to discuss these important employment sectors with Jo.

It’s been a big month for Bury St Edmunds with Primark opening in the former Debenhams building at arc shopping centre. When we’ve carried out town centre surveys in previous years, a lot of the answers to questions about what people would like to see here have mentioned Primark. And early evidence suggests that is the case. The first weekend that Primark was open, car park use in the town was up almost 20% on the previous year and we know that car park use was higher than usual on the second weekend too.

Giving people reasons to visit Bury St Edmunds is something we at the BID work hard at. During the Easter holidays we’ll be running a Dinosaur Egg Trail for all the family with a children’s competition in which they could win a lovely hamper of toys and goodies. I’m very grateful to the Bury Free Press which is supporting and promoting the trail and also to the large number of businesses who’ve signed up to be part of it. This trail has seen one of the highest levels of engagement from businesses in the years that we have been putting them on.

When the trail finishes we have a special Dino Adventure free event on April 10 in the heart of the market that day. There will be baby dinosaurs and other characters to meet and a family craft area. I hope you and your business have a good Easter weekend, whether you’re looking to be busy with customers or taking a well- earned break.

By Mark Cordell, CEO, Our Bury St Edmunds BID.