Bury St Edmunds: Long-term growth will be helped by supporting new companies

That’s according to a report commissioned by St Edmundsbury Borough and Forest Heath District councils which looks at how the public sector could encourage economic growth.

The document’s early conclusion suggested luring companies away from Cambridge could help boost business in West Suffolk.

The full report repeats this and adds there is a need to work with the market to ensure places like Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Newmarket and others meet the demands of small and medium enterprises with appropriate business premises.

But in the long term Jonathan Cook, the document’s author, said ensuring there was support for new business start-ups would also be key.

Talking about the report, he said: “We’ve got some short term actions and then the medium to long term plans for the next generation of businesses.

“So that’s why we’ve suggested this action around a culture of enterprise.

“To some extent you need to bring in entrepreneurs from outside to show what people have achieved and what they’re doing now, that entrepreneurship is a realistic option and you can take advantage of that locally.

“You would hope to create an environment which is more attractive to people who live locally who in five years time have the provision to start a business in Bury St Edmunds or Haverhill.”

Councillor John Griffiths, leader of St Edmundsbury Borough Council, said: “We welcome the findings which will feed into our wider plans for economic growth across the whole of West Suffolk.

“Forest Heath has run a small grants scheme for the last three years specifically aimed at encouraging and developing start ups and businesses within their first year. That has been a great success and has been adopted by St Edmundsbury.

“We are keen to encourage entrepreneurs first to develop their business, and then to grow it here in West Suffolk, and we will be working hard to deliver new opportunities over the coming months and years.”