Ipswich Central launches Manifesto & Business Plan 2027-2032

Ipswich Central, the organisation charged with improving the vibrancy of Ipswich town centre, has launched its plan for the next five years.

The plan, shared with businesses on Monday 1 June, has three main pillars, each with elements of delivery that research has shown to really matter to town centre businesses and the people who live or work in or visit Ipswich.

Standards
Campaigns
Festivals

Lee Walker, who has been CEO of Ipswich Central for the past two years, said: “The next five years is about building on what has already been delivered and going further. We want to ensure Ipswich has a town centre that looks cared for, feels safer and gives people more reasons to come back time and time again. With our partners, we’ll deliver more uniformed presence on the ground, stronger campaigns, bigger festivals that attract a wider audience and provide better data so our actions can be measured.” 

Steve Flory, a key member of the Ipswich business community, chairs the Ipswich Central Board. He said: “My fellow board members bring a wealth of experience about what it is like to trade in Ipswich at the moment.  We are 100 per cent focused on ensuring Ipswich Central’s work makes the town feel like a place people choose to visit, work in and invest in. So much has already been achieved but there’s still more to do and this manifesto sets out a road map for how that upward trajectory will be maintained.”

Detail under each of the three pillars of the campaign include: 
 
Standards

• Safer streets – relentlessly tackling and excluding those who break the law with robust, uniformed officers from Ipswich Central and its partners
• Nationally leading levels of public art with new pieces being commissioned
• A greener town with an award-winning entry in the Britain in Bloom competition by 2030.
  Campaigns
• A year-round civic pride campaign – Uppa Towen – featuring everything from ensuring grot spots in the town centre are cleaned up to celebrating sporting success
• Food and drink campaigns that highlight Ipswich’s vibrant hospitality sector
• A very Suffolk Christmas with a real tree on the Cornhill and festivities fit for a county town
• Digital support – Ipswich Central already has the largest social media channels promoting the town; the investment in these will grow – allowing them to reach locals and potential visitors alike and to really put Ipswich on the map. 

Festivals 

In collaboration with partners, Ipswich Central will:

• Create the environment for the next Ed Sheeran to flourish with support for music festivals
• Ensure the City of Culture bid delivers a genuine legacy in the form of an annual Art and Culture Week
• Enable the Ipswich Book Festival to attract the kind of authors that will see it grow into the region’s biggest book festival
• Champion the establishment of one of the best regional craft beer festivals in the UK by 2030
• Provide the impetus for Ipswich to have the biggest regional street art festival in the country by 2030.

As a Business Improvement District, much of Ipswich Central’s work is funded by medium and larger businesses in the town centre. Over the next few weeks, those businesses, known as levy players, will be invited to say whether or not they want Ipswich Central to continue its work.
 
As Lee Walker explained: “We have achieved a lot. From deterring over £361,000 of shoplifting to supporting the arrest of 230 suspected criminals; from transforming Stoke Bridge Wharf to give a better first impression of Ipswich to running Sip’Swich and Forknight; the list is long. But there is still so much more to be done and this new delivery plan sets out exactly what we will do over the next five years – based on what people have told us is needed. We want to be very clear with levy payers about what we will achieve over the next five years to help them make their decision wisely.” 
 
He continued: “I was born in Ipswich, so was our chairman Steve Flory. For both of us, that commitment is personal. We have seen the town at its best, we know its strengths, and we also know the challenges it faces. Ipswich Central has to be practical, visible and useful. It has to bring more people into town, support safer streets, raise standards, promote businesses, back culture, create events, and make Ipswich feel like a place people choose to visit, work in and invest in. It has to help improve trading conditions, not simply talk about them. We are excited and ready for that challenge and I can’t wait to bring this plan to life.”

The full Ipswich Central Manifesto and Five-Year Business Plan can be found here: www.ipswichcentral.com/ballot-2026

Ipswich Central is the Business Improvement District for the town. Funded by levy payers, it is an independent, not for profit organisation dedicated to what matters for local businesses – more people in the town centre, safer streets, stronger trading. There are no shareholders, every penny is reinvested back into the town. The BID area covers an area stretching from Christchurch Park to Ipswich Waterfront (north to south) and Ipswich Rail station to Alexandra Park (west to east).