Business improvement gets backing

MAJOR improvements are set to be made to Ipswich town centre following the announcement today that businesses have backed the creation of East Anglia's first Business Improvement District in the town.

MAJOR improvements are set to be made to Ipswich town centre following the announcement today that businesses have backed the creation of East Anglia's first Business Improvement District in the town.

Two thirds of the businesses which took part in a vote over the past month supported the creation of the new district, which will see more than £3million pounds extra spent in the town centre over the next five years.

The £3.2million, to be provided by the businesses themselves, will be spent on introducing street rangers, marketing the town as a great place to work and shop, increasing safety and cleaning measures and other measures including providing additional lighting and planting.

Paul Clement, director of the Ipswich BID company, said: “This is a great result for Ipswich town centre.

“It shows that businesses of all sizes and across all sectors must have been persuaded by our ideas, all aimed at making Ipswich better for business, better for customers and better for staff.”

The result of the BID vote was announced after the count at Ipswich Borough Council's Civic Centre offices last night.

In Ipswich 344 votes were cast. The BID area takes in 1,000 businesses of which 700 were eligible to vote. Some 228 voted in favour, 66 per cent, and 116 voted against.

Those that voted in favour also represented a majority of business floor space in the town centre, which was another requirement of the BID process.