CONSULTANTS have come up with a name for a multimillion performing arts and conference centre built as part of a major retail development in a Suffolk town.

Laurence Cawley

CONSULTANTS have come up with a name for a multimillion performing arts and conference centre built as part of a major retail development in a Suffolk town.

For years, the �17million building gradually rising from the ground opposite the new Debenhams building in the Arc has been called the “public venue”.

But St Edmundsbury Borough Council, which is funding the venue, has now been given a name for it by the authority's brand consultants Poulsen Selleck.

The name - The Apex - will now be put forward to the council's cabinet for consideration next week.

Sara Mildmay-White, chairman of the council's public venue working party, said she was pleased with the name and told how it had been chosen from about 1,000 other names put forward by members of the public, other councillors and organisations.

"Interest and excitement has been growing since the Arc opened as people have seen the quality of the new building and begun to understand just what this venue can bring to the area,” she said. “It will complement beautifully the other venues in town by bringing a whole new dimension to the arts and entertainment scene while its flexible features will also ensure it provides a superb base for business uses."

She said she hoped the name would appeal to both young and old and make the venue - for which the recruitment process for a director is currently underway - marketable outside of the town.

"Our thanks go to all the people who have helped us get this far - it's been a tremendous effort by all concerned and I hope councillors will agree this is a fantastic name for a venue that I am sure is set to become a cultural high point.

"We want audiences to come back time and time again to the Apex because a visit, no matter what the event, should be so memorable that people will want to repeat their experience. The same applies to those who will be using it for business purposes - the facilities will be top quality and flexible for a wide range of uses so we can attract a wide range of commercial hirers as well."

But Simon Harding, who had complained that the council had not left it to the public to decide the name, said he had searched the internet and found 600,000 references to conference facilities called “Apex”.

“I don't think I could have dreamt up a more overused and dull name if I had tried. It is probably a done deal but what relevance does it have to Bury.”

He said he still preferred the name “The Vats”, which was put forward by students at West Suffolk College, because of its reference to the brewing industry.

The new building will be opened next summer.