Love Your Market Town Conference

We shared best practice, celebrated success, and helped shape the next phase of high street regeneration. We have had insightful presentations and lively panel debates! We have seen evidence of stronger partnerships between local government, businesses and stakeholders. And inspiring approaches to help revitalise market towns and high streets.

Our market towns are not just places on a map, they are vibrant communities we are deeply proud of. Supporting our high streets isn’t just about commerce, it’s about sustaining the heart of our communities. Together, we can create places that attract visitors, foster pride, and drive economic growth. The evidence from the day was clear and confirmed that.

Cllr Fabian Eagle, Cabinet Member for Economic Growth at Norfolk County Council is a strong advocate and supporter of investing in market towns. “Market towns have been part of my life for as long as I can remember, and that connection continues as a member of the Market Towns Committee in Swaffham. I know first hand the pride people feel in these places but I also know the pressures that come with keeping them vibrant, welcoming and economically resilient.

“What matters to me, and to the Council, is that our market towns and businesses have support that is practical, visible and easy to access. That’s what today is about: being clear about where we are focusing our energy, what support is available, and how we can work together to make a real difference on the ground.”

Big thank you to compere Mike Rigby from Eastern Promise who is brilliant at engaging everyone and making the whole day an even better experience.

Having speaker and e-commerce accelerator Nathan Lomax from Quickfire Digital was incredibly valuable as he gave insights into the digital world and customer experience as well as how to win on the high street in 2026. Thank you, Nathan for being part of High Streets Matter!

Industry expert and keynote speaker Chris Wade, Director People and Places Partnership Ltd shared his experience (as posted on LinkedIn)

‘The room was filled with people who care about their towns and it has been a real pleasure to host and be part of it, and making a real difference to our towns. Norfolk is now officially on my “ones to watch” list for the way growth, placemaking and community empowerment are being combined there.

I thoroughly enjoyed giving and listening to presentations at the Norfolk Love Your Market Towns Conference yesterday. There was a genuine buzz in the room with tales of collaboration and informal partnership working between councils at all levels, community groups and commercial interests. The amounts of funding on offer have been modest in comparison to those that have been available through national programmes elsewhere, though the focus was on how the support led to collaborations, capacity and confidence building.

‘And here’s a taste of why work to reshape Norfolk’s market and coastal towns being led by Norfolk County Council and New Anglia Growth Hub is now on my ‘ones to watch’ list. Plus they are a friendly bunch! Keep up the good work.‘

“Thank you for the invite and for sharing all the fabulous work that is taking place to help our high streets and beyond! Always very rewarding to see some of FSB UK policy recommendations from our High Streets report put into action. Norfolk County Council is certainly a trail blazer!” Candy Richardson, Regional Business and Stakeholder Manager at FSB East Anglia

“Thank you all for hosting such an insightful conference, so many thoughts to take away. Excited to see what happens next for Norfolk’s market towns.” Gabi Crittenden, Community Engagement Officer at Wymondham Town Council

“Great vibrant day with positive energy thank you,” said Gez Chatel, owner of Thomas Pain Hotel and exhibition.

VIDEO – Enjoy hearing from shop owners about their experience taking part in the Retail Excellence Programme and the Thomas Paine trail partnership that received a Love Your Market Town grant.

Launch of Hospitality Matters

During the conference, we also launched our support scheme to help pubs, bars, cafés, restaurants and other businesses in the county’s hospitality sector. This practical, people-centered support programme for independent retailers, follows the success of our High Streets Matter initiative and is part of a £1m funding package announced by the authority.

Businesses in the sector are invited to take part in a training course and could be eligible for a business improvement grant of up to £1,000. Workshops will be delivered in-person and online and will cover everything from marketing and booking to menu engineering and seasonal staffing. The courses run from May to June for the first cohort and September to October for the second.

A follow up High Growth Programme will be offered to 24 businesses to accelerate success and help grow the next retail and hospitality superstars, with a further business growth grant of up to £2,500.

To find out about the free support available, please email nhsm@norfolk.gov.uk.

More information about High Streets Matter is available here.

If you are looking to grow your retail business, we can support your business with training, funding options and top tips to keep your shop vibrant.

Find out more about workshops in your area and contact the Growth Hub team via the online form to get business support.

To keep in touch with Norfolk’s High Streets Matter news, events and funding, sign up to New Anglia Growth Hub’s newsletter (choose Norfolk as area).

Simply sign up here!

‘I found this programme very beneficial in many ways, taking the time out of my day-to-day to open my mind to where we could improve our business, what things aren’t working in our business and how we can invest in new ways to make our business grow.
‘I’ve been introduced to many great businesses that could help us in areas we struggle in and also hearing other small businesses’ struggles similar to ours and how they have/ plan to overcome this. From this course, we have decided what we need to do next to invest in our business to help it grow and achieve more sales.’

Fay Bunn, Noor Company5 stars (Retail Excellence Programme)

‘Completed Love Your High Street training which has been extremely valuable, thank you for such a comprehensive course.’

Little Movers5 stars (Retail Excellence Programme)

‘We attended the Retail Excellence Programme and it has been the most valuable and insightful course I’ve ever done. Alex and all of the speakers were incredibly knowledgeable, and generous with their time and advice. We’ve already received more online shop sales since we’ve started to implement what we’ve learnt. We massively recommend it to all businesses in Norfolk!’

The Wayward Adventurers Guild5 stars (Retail Excellence Programme)