Suffolk Chamber of Commerce statement on city status for Ipswich

“As a point of principle, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce believes that the economic and social prosperity of the county’s urban centres and their rural hinterlands are intimately linked: they rise or fall together. We will always challenge talk that when one gains, the other loses. Businesses in Ipswich have customers and staff drawn from beyond the borough’s boundaries, just as companies elsewhere in the county have important dependencies and links to Ipswich. The latter’s rich culture and heritage certainly mirrors that of the county as whole and indeed they are parts of the same, shared narrative.

“That is why, we believe that a prosperous, confident and well-connected Ipswich will boost Suffolk as a whole. We back a city status bid that embraces an evidenced and inclusive approach, bringing together all communities in support. We hope that an Ipswich city would attract better levels of inward investment, higher paid jobs, more domestic and overseas students and a greater tourist footfall.

“It is vital that the wider business community is part of this initiative, not least because it will allow us to both highlight and better explain the systemic investment that Suffolk deserves and is crying out for’, including much better road and rail infrastructure in and around Ipswich and our campaign to ensure that the whole county is ahead of the crowd and so an early adopter of 5G-based technologies.

“In short, a well-conducted and successful city status bid will place Ipswich and Suffolk as a whole in the best possible light to grow sustainably over the longer-term.”