Truro is a great place to do business whether you work in a shop, a restaurant, a theatre or an office. Truro already has many of the ingredients to make it successful –
- A fantastic mix of independent businesses trading next to the big names. To be successful, Truro needs both. This mix is unusual - Truro is not a clone of other towns.
- It’s an intriguing City with a eclectic offer to include shops, art galleries, the Hall for Cornwall, Royal Cornwall Museum, Plaza Cinema, three nightclubs, a comedy club, bowling alley, restaurants and a good selection of pubs offering regular live music.
- It has some great architecture including the finest Georgian street west of Bath, a superb gothic Cathedral and some amazing alleyways called opes which we believe you will find in no other city.
- It has repeatedly won awards for its cleanliness
- It’s a compact City – you will find all of the above within a five minute walk of the Cathedral.
Truro, as a prosperous and lively city, is the commercial capital of Cornwall. And yet, Truro can do better.
We need a BID because…
- Truro is a great city but not enough people know that. We want to shout about Truro’s assets; with a BID, we can take action.
- Competition from other towns and cities in the South West could threaten Truro’s ability to retain and attract new custom.
- Every year, Truro struggles to fund an adequate Christmas lighting display with few businesses willing to put their hands in their pockets.
- Events bring in more visitors, but to organise effectively, they take resources we don’t currently have - time, people and money.
- Truro can do more to make it an attractive place to visit and to capture passing trade, particularly tourists, and not just when it rains.
- Truro’s signage is inadequate and inconsistent and does little to promote businesses located away from the primary shopping areas.
- Some areas of the city are not particularly welcoming and after dark, don’t feel safe for visitors or employees.
- Whilst there are many agencies working for Truro in various capacities, there isn’t a town centre management organisation with a manager and a budget to represent private sector businesses and deliver action on the ground.
- Truro is set to grow – it has been designated as a ‘growth points’ area by the government with 5,000 new homes to be built over the next 20 years. A BID can work with businesses now to respond to the opportunities and challenges this will bring in the future.