'Retailers need to be encouraged' - business boss

Steve Flory takes over from Terry Baxter who has been chair for the past 10 years at Ipswich Central

New retailers need to be encouraged into a town centre, according to the new chair of a business group.

Steve Flory will take over from Terry Baxter as the chair of Ipswich Central in the new year.

A new report into footfall in the town centre recently showed the number of people visiting had dropped since last year - which Mr Flory and Ipswich Borough Council dispute.

The businessman said he hoped improvements could be made for future generations in Ipswich.

"It's never going to be the same as it was in 1975 because town shopping and the whole experience has changed," he told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"But it doesn't mean that it can't find a new way and other places have found it, we need to do the same thing.

"We need some practical steps and some sensible steps to get people to want to come back into the town and things for them to come in for."

Scores of shops in Ipswich town centre are closed and boarded up

Mr Flory, who was born and bred in Ipswich and is the managing director of Hudson Group, said he decided to go for role at Ipswich Central to "get a bit of life and pride" back into the town.

He said he understood the difficulties businesses faced and was keen to find ways to help them improve.

A report the council disputes says 679,077 people visited Ipswich this year compared to 949,995 the year before

"We've got a Premiership football team and Ed Sheeran and that's fantastic, but we need to encourage some stores to come and the only reason you're going to encourage stores to come is if they think they're going to sell things," he continued.

"I've seen over the years where shops have opened and they've ended up clearance stores because people don't shop in them because they don't come to town.

"It's a vicious circle and we have to break that.

"Thirty thousand people go to the football on Saturday afternoon, you've got to try and get some of those to stop in town, have a drink and have a wander through the town to generate that footfall."