Supporting businesses and retailers

Recent years have been tough for business but Colchester's diverse business scene has proven itself to be impressively resilient. The task now is to create the right spaces and conditions for businesses to survive and thrive, for new enterprises to take off and for Colchester to keep its skilled people working locally.

Read on to find out more about what's happening ...

Colchester Market

Colchester's historic Charter Market relocated back to its former home in the High Street in April 2015.  With smart new branded stalls, a dedicated manager, waste collection and marketing campaign, the market is proving to be a great opportunity for test trading by young businesses as well as a popular base for old favourites.

The Creative Business Centre will make St. Botolph's a magnet for start-up creative businesses; from workshops to digital media and everything in between .  It will preserve a historically important building in the town centre while transforming its use for modern, creative businesses.

Williams and Griffin  Colchester's much loved, high-end department store is undertaking a £30 million refurbishment, promising to bring a really exciting shopping environment to Colchester.  The expanded store will be bright, airy with more natural daylight built around a central atrium with up and down escalators to all floors, an exciting rooftop restaurant, a brand new cafe overlooking the High Street, along with a far wider choice of brands, across Fashion, Accessories, Beauty, Menswear, Home and Furnishings.  The new interiors are being developed by HMKM, the leading London retail design agency responsible for some of the recent store upgrades at Harrods and Selfridges.  There'll be a visual narrative running through the interiors that seeks to capture the spirit and energy of Colchester, past and present.  Keep up-to-date with the redevelopment news at www.williegee.com

Free WiFi has been available 24/7, throughout the town centre since December 2014.  Led by Colchester Borough Council in partnership with Argiva, the network provides family-friendly 4G internet access and its proving very popular with more than 1,800 users a day.

Special shopping: Colchester is know for its great mix of shops in historic streets and lanes.  Ideas are in their infancy but the Council has commission a  Local Distinctiveness Audit (LDA) for Colchester's Walls/Lanes' Project [6Mb] and hopes to work with business organisations to make more of Colchester's smaller specialist shopping streets.  The LDA looks at ways in which streetscapes throughout the historic town could be improved to make it even more interesting and welcoming place for visitors, residents and shoppers alike.