Bury Free Press BID Column July 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.
