A CASH pot of £25,000 a year has been set aside to help give Colchester’s independent traders a boost.

The Our Colchester Business Improvement District (BID) has launched a project with architects HAT Projects to support businesses.

Streets and areas which are set to benefit include Queen Street, Eld Lane, Scheregate Steps, Trinity Street, Sir Isaacs Walk, Crouch Street, Priory Street and St Botolph’s Street.

BID has set aside £25,000 a year to benefit the independent sector and hopes to develop a recipe for success which can then be transported and used across the town centre.

HAT Projects and BID will launch a six-week programme of research and consultation with businesses and the public.

Once complete, a shopping list of ideas and initiatives to improve and enhance the area will be announced.

They will range from quick fixes to infrastructure changes.

Alice Charrington, owner of Tymperleys and a BID board member, said “I am excited to see where the independent project will take us.

“As an independent business, we, Tymperleys, have always understood that no man is an island. No one, single, business in a dirty street, in an uninspiring town, no matter how fabulous, can, on their own, attract enough customers to survive.

“Hence why we started Trinity Traders on Trinity Street, working together to keep our street clean, organise flowers, Christmas lights and cross-promote each other and publicise our street, one of the most historic in the town.

“The project is an amazing opportunity to put Colchester at the front and centre of the shop/eat local and independent movement,where we can offer and promote the whole package as a town centre, not just great shopping, but independent eating options and an environment unlike any other.”

Maldon and Burnham Standard:

  • Trinity Street could benefit

Once the six-week consultation is complete, a launch event will be held.

The BID hopes these plans can demonstrate Colchester town centre has the ability to compete with the best town centres across the country.

Sam Good, BID manager for Our Colchester, said: “This project demonstrates a true desire to take time to listen to the independent businesses and the members of the public who use the town to develop a recipe of place-making for the area.

“With a representative from each street along the route on our task and finish group including members from the South Lanes project, Trinity Street traders and Crouch Street traders, this allows them to be at the forefront of this work.”

The BID was set up 2018 and represents 491 businesses across the town centre.