Towns and cities up and down the country are facing significant pressures both from the economic downturn and from out-of-town retail and internet competition. Yet, customers consistently say that they prefer to use town centres if they are well managed and appealing.

The current climate, therefore, gives Ipswich an opportunity to ‘raise its game’, improve its offer, promote itself better and win more consumers as a result.

Paul Clement, Executive Director of Ipswich Central says “We need to stick to the same themes of the BID which stakeholders demanded when they voted for us, but we now also need to be mindful of the dramatic changes that have taken place in the wider economy when planning individual actions. The new plans that we are announcing are in addition to our existing work and result from us having listened carefully to what businesses are now demanding. They deliberately combine short-term wins with a longer-term strategy for growth and success.”

Ipswich Central will work closely with Ipswich Borough Council in developing a new strategy for improvement in the town centre.

Ipswich Central has allocated a budget of £610,000 this year to be spent on the improvements proposed, in addition to the projects already initiated. The majority of this is provided by businesses, together with an additional grant from Ipswich Borough Council. A further £1.2 million will be available over the remaining two years of the BID.

Ipswich Central – future activities

In addition to promises already made, this year the BID will provide:

1.Car Parking at NCP’s Foundation Street car park to be £1 a day every Sunday.

2. Urbed, an urban change management company, jointly commissioned with Ipswich Borough Council to produce a Vision for a ‘new’ Ipswich town centre. This can then be used to help target missing retail names.

3.  An additional Street Ranger from July which will allow more Ranger presence in all areas of the town centre.

4. Improvements to the Christmas lights display.         

5.  Frequent criminal offenders will be monitored more efficiently by newly developed technology.                           

6. Another £20,000 of financial grants will be allocated for improvements to independent businesses.             

7.  Improved monitoring of town centre performance, including a new footfall counter to Westgate Street, with data to be shared with businesses.              

8.  New promotions to encourage employees in the town to use the town centre more for shopping and leisure. 

9.   Improved signage and maps to encourage better use of the whole town centre, including the Waterfront.

10. Street Rangers will be given the power to issue town centre-wide on-the-spot bans to frequent criminal offenders, using new PDA technology.

11.  Improved cleaning at the Waterfront, including removal of litter left floating in the water.

12. New information on frequent offenders made available at low-cost for independent businesses.

13.  Improved appearance for many vacant retail units.

 14.  Radiolink  security systems made accessible for evening economy businesses at low cost

15. New consumer and employee offer scheme, Ipswich Central Plus, to be launched.

16. Specific promotions for the evening economy.

17.   Tower Ramparts plaza   area to receive a make-over as a crucial entry point into the town centre.

18.  Higher profile marketing of the town centre to visitors, particularly over the Christmas trading period.

19. New transport group with a brief to better promote access, car parking and public transport provisions.

20.  Further lighting projects to improve the appearance of and safety within the town centre.

21. More town centre cleaning on busy Sunday trading days and after evening economy usage.

22.Improved town centre maintenance including painting, weed control, “morning after” cleans, and quick-response graffiti and fly-posting removal

23. Extended promotion of Ipswich as a child safe and family friendly town centre.

24. A campaign to prevent Tesco’s from developing a multi-level store at Grafton Way, on the fringe of the BID area.

25.  ………………….and yes, the Christmas Tree will return to the Cornhill, bigger and better than ever!