A word from Maria Manion, Chief Executive at Cambridge BID:
Last week we held our Annual AGM, and my first as Chief Executive. Held at the Clayton Hotel, the event was attended by over 90 people all interested in hearing about the latest developments in Cambridge. Traditionally, AGMs are a reflection of the previous year, but when an event is well into the summer it is also the perfect time to look forward.
2022/23 was an amazing year for Cambridge BID and the team. In addition to securing a third term they also delivered a huge range of projects across the city, you just have to look at the 2022/23 Annual Report to see how effective the team were at delivering against the Business Plan for our levy payers.
As well as giving people the opportunity to celebrate our last year we used the AGM this year to hear about the exciting developments proposed across the city. We have to acknowledge that Cambridge is changing and hearing about some of the proposals first hand was a great way of putting these developments into the context of the city and understand how they would work with the existing historic fabric of the city.
We know that retail is changing, at the AGM we heard from Martin MacWhinnie about the developments at the Grand Arcade and from John O’Shea about the proposed redevelopment of The Grafton, bringing in life sciences and combining with leisure and retail, as well as improving the environment around The Grafton.
We also heard from Richard van Lente and Nick Voss from Railpen about The Beehive Centre, Botanic Place, Devonshire Gardens and Newmarket Road… key to these proposals is ensuring residents, young people and businesses are engaged in the development process. Each of the developments considered how they would work with the existing communities and yet be part of Cambridge’s future.
After the presentations the questions flowed, and it was great to see so many people and businesses engaged in the evening.
Keeping businesses updated about developments is important, looking forward to the future we will be hosting further business networking events across the city ensuring our businesses stay in touch with city activities.
It was a great evening and all credit must go the team and speakers for delivering such an informative event.
Below are a few photos from the night:
