On a chilly Friday, Julie Marson MP visited Bishop’s Stortford town centre and chatted with some of our inspirational business owners and managers to understand the challenges they are facing and how our high street is faring, writes Bishop’s Stortford BID manager Gina Thomas.
We are very lucky, and it is thanks to many of these amazing business owners’ skills and management that they have survived the challenging Covid years and continue to weather the cost-of-living crisis storm.
As we walked through the town, it was great to be able to show Julie several new businesses that have opened up recently and how very few empty units we have.
Our first stop was Halo Beauty in Riverside Walk to meet owner Sharon Tegg. Having opened not long before Covid started, Sharon has faced some tough times with the various restrictions placed on her during that period and the limited services she could offer.
Sharon flew the flag for the hair and beauty industry and made Julie aware of what it’s been like and the challenges they are facing with increasing bills and costs.
However, despite all of this, Sharon continues to persevere and her salon is looking beautiful.
We then crossed the road to visit Oliver Colman, the new owner of South Street Pantry. Since Oliver took over in December, he has already put his stamp on the place and has lots more planned.
The flooring is looking fabulous and new lights are due any day now. The menu has been tweaked and he’s looking forward to getting the garden open for the summer soon.
Walking up South Street and Potter Street, we then reached Jackson Square, taking in the new openings along the way such as Firat, Tooth Club and Pret.
Michael Smith, centre manager of Jackson Square, updated Julie about the arrival of a great new store next year, TK Maxx, and the plans involved.
One of the roles of the BID is to be a voice for businesses, and being able to have this opportunity to connect our businesses with our MP is key. The BID is here to work with all our town centre businesses to showcase what is on offer.
After being voted back in for a second time, our new five-year term starts on April 1.
We have exciting plans to make Bishop’s Stortford an even better place to live, work, shop and socialise.
Our main focus is on marketing and promoting local shops and services; events and street entertainment; supporting town centre businesses with training and other initiatives; and ‘place making’ to improve the look and feel of the town, and capitalise on its history.
To find out more, visit discoverstortford.co.uk.
* Gina Thomas is manager of Bishop’s Stortford BID (Business Improvement District). A BID is a defined area within which businesses are required to pay a levy to fund projects within the district’s boundaries.
