Suffolk’s High Streets Matter

If you are looking to grow your retail or hospitality business or want to attract more visitors to your high street, we can support you through the next Retail Excellence or Hospitality Matters Programmes. Read more about each in our leaflet.

Retail Excellence & Hospitality Matters Programme Leaflet

Email shsm@newangliagrowthhub.co.uk to find out more and register your interest below. Tick ‘Retail Excellence‘ under ‘Reason for Enquiry‘ (please add ‘Hospitality Support’ in the ‘Tell us more information about your enquiry’ comment box).

Register Your Interest For 2026

Enjoy watching shop owners and a market town team tell about their experiences and successes taking part in the Retail Excellence Programme and Love Your Market Town funding.

Throughout the year, you can also attend other specialist workshops for Suffolk businesses, and discover our Retail Toolkit which is full of top tips to keep your shop vibrant. For funding opportunities and follow-on business support, contact the Growth Hub team here.

To keep in touch with High Streets Matter news, events and funding, sign up to the newsletter.

Through Norfolk’s High Streets Matter initiative, businesses and groups have had coaching, new retail knowledge, industry experts’ insights, grants and a massive dose of encouragement and enthusiasm from the team. More than 100 retailers and high street stakeholders took part in the Retail Excellence Programme which included strategic planning, financial literacy, marketing and community impact. Everyone has seen improvements in their business and those who made major progress with their action plans are seeing increases in sales and customer engagement. We are excited to deliver this programme now in Suffolk too through funding from Suffolk County Council!

The programme received 5-star ratings from participants on Google Reviews.

‘My best takeaways from the High Streets Matter course was the more practical sessions. (Adviser) Alex ran a session about visual merchandising and as a result of that I had a complete change around of the furniture in my shop and it has been well worth it. ‘The grant was something I spent on some expert marketing. As a result of that I have been able to change my reliance on social media and have a plan for when to post and what to post.’

Claire Howard, Claire Howard Jewellery5 stars (Retail Excellence Programme)

‘I cannot praise the High Streets Matter programme enough. The support given, and the content delivered over the sessions, has been so valuable for my business. Even just making connections with other local independent businesses and sharing insights between us, helped me to feel more supported and engaged in the communities where we trade. ‘The course and content really helped me to see what we wanted for our business and set us on a path to start to achieve it. Every aspect of the course was informative, inspiring and I loved being a part of it!’

Laura Thomas, The Craft Bakery5 stars (Retail Excellence Programme)

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

Harry Eves, Little Movers5 stars (Retail Excellence Programme)