The manager of one of Bury St Edmunds’ major department stores is the new chairman of the town’s Business Improvement District (BID) organisation and has pledged to boost the retail sector of the town.

Garry Easter, who has been manager of Marks & Spencer in the town since April 2016, begun his tenure as Our Bury St Edmunds chairman this month and has taken over from Mark Daly, from Greene & Greene Solicitors, who has stepped down after three years in the role ... but remains a board member.

Mr Easter became a director of the BID in November 2016 and has played an active part as a board member in that time. He was unanimously chosen as chairman by his fellow directors and will lead the organisation as it prepares to ballot members next year for a third term.

With a strong background in retail he joined Marks & Spencer in 2007 from Sainsbury’s.

Before moving to the Bury St Edmunds store he had managed branches across the region in Ipswich, Colchester, Peterborough and Cambridge. He has also worked in other areas of the business including facilities, finance and operations.

Mr Easter said: “I joined the board of Our Bury St Edmunds under Mark Daly’s leadership and I have every intention of continuing the good work he has done for our town. Retail is a critical area of business in Bury at the moment as we are at a point of significant change. Our wonderful independent businesses are what makes this town unique but the high street names also have an important role to play and all of us working together within the BID is key to the town’s success.

“We are also working to promote our food and drink businesses together with those offering services which you cannot access online, to make Bury St Edmunds a must visit destination. Having worked in a number of towns and cities in East Anglia, I can say in all honesty that Bury St Edmunds really is special in terms of how friendly and vibrant the town is.”

Mark Cordell, chief executive of Our Bury St Edmunds, added: “I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Mark Daly who provided sound advice and guidance enabling the BID to build upon the success of its first term and thank him for the hard work he has put in over the last three years. Garry has put forward several ideas about how we can make Bury St Edmunds town centre an even more popular destination than it already is and I am looking forward to working with him on these.”