Town Centre Management has been an integral part of British towns since the early 1980’s. It is seen as a possible inclusion organisation to bring together people with their expertise and a direct interest in their surroundings and towns prosperity. Today there are approx 285 town centre partnerships in one for or another throughout the major towns of the UK.

Bury formed its own Town Centre Management (TCM) about 10 years ago – one of the first towns in East Anglia to do so. Then, a Town Centre Manager was employed solely by the Borough Council, on a part time basis (he was also employed by the Council as Economic Development Officer.

Town Centre Management within Bury St Edmunds has now moved forward with a new profile to match their growing involvement with major town centre issues. We are now an independent group, funded by its Members, key sponsors and Core Funders. A dedicated Town Centre Manager has been in place, Steve Peters, since October 2006, and an interim Board set up whilst a direct plan, strategy and constitution were being drawn up, prior to going out to the town for membership.

With the Cattle Market, the largest development Bury has seen for 100 years, now underway, Bury St Edmunds and its residents are experiencing optimism and fear, speculation and expectation. Care needs to be taken to integrate the excitement of the new with the many great things that Bury has to offer at the moment. A new Town Centre Management group needs to focus on, and review changes in, new market players, national market forces and shifts, competition and the overall objective of keeping Bury St Edmunds an attractive, vibrant and prosperous place to live.

The new structure of the TCM Group is three-tiered. It is a company limited by guarantee, and has set up a new constitution. More will be explained about what TCM does and how you can join the Group elsewhere within this website.