Bedford's High Street £1.7m restoration welcomes new trade

Vincent Decamps opened Maison Le Vôtre, on Silver Street, Bedford in December and chose the location due to the buildings renovation

A £1.76m project to restore historical features on buildings in a market town has attracted new business.

Bedford Borough Council said six buildings have now been repaired along the High Street where new paving was unveiled in 2021.

The High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) Programme began four years ago.

Vincent Decamps, from Maison Le Vôtre, said he chose Bedford over St Albans as the place to open his patisserie and bakery because of the restorative work.

The outside of the Salvation Army charity shop on the High Street now has a heritage sign showing it was once a Drapers

He said the renovations to the High Street and Silver Street, where he is based, brought "uniformity" and marked a "new start for Bedford".

When looking for a location "the first goal was to go to St Albans", he said, and when he first looked around Bedford it was "a no, no".

"The only thing that attracted me to this position was the renovation of the building itself; if it was not restored I would have gone to St Albans, period, simple as that," he said.

The now empty Goldings shop, which closed in 2019, has been restored to showcase its past

He said he "took a massive risk" and the area was now welcoming customers "who haven't been in Bedford for two, three, four, five and six years".

• The town that's playing the renovation game

The restoration programme, which started in January 2020, was a joint project between the council and Historic England, in partnership with Bedford BID and SEMLEP, and had been "instrumental in preserving and enhancing the historic fabric of Bedford's town centre", the council said.

Two new businesses had moved into "units that have been long term vacant", the authority added.

Bedford High Street looked very different in the 1920s

A new display celebrating its completion and featuring photographs, artwork, and information about the evolution of the town's High Street has opened at The Higgins Bedford - and runs until 1 April.

Bedford's Evolving High Street exhibition "offers a fascinating journey through the decades, showcasing the transformation and vitality of our beloved High Street", the council said.

The outside of the Blue Monk restaurant was restored