Bedford Business Guide & Directory

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the long term revitalisation of
the historic Bedford High Street
area. It focused on ‘whole
building’ schemes, with work on
properties including; structural
repairs, restoration of traditional
shopfronts, reinstatement of
lost architectural details and
bringing upper floors back into
productive use.
bedfordhighstreet
Riverside Bedford Development
Located on the banks of
the River Great Ouse this
development offers new
opportunities for riverside dining
or relaxing, new jobs and a
major boost for visitor numbers.
Most of the tenancies on the site
have already been signed up to
a string of major entertainment,
hotel and restaurant operators.
Once completed the site will
also include a major new
public square and new
footbridge linking the site to
St Mary’s Gardens.
Bedford Borough’s Local
Investment Plan prioritises
investment to provide a
sustainable infrastructure that
promotes economic growth.
This investment is critical to
Bedford in providing a strong
business offer.
Recent projects in the
Borough include:
Accelerating Bedford –
Fairer and Faster Broadband
across Bedford
Local delivery of the national
broadband programme is now
seeing results on the ground
with the project’s many local
superfast cabinets now live.
An extension programme is
aiming to get broadband coverage
close to 100% of premises.
Bedford Bus Station
Bedford’s long awaited new
Bus Station opened at the
end of March 2015. The multi-
million pound project is one of
the largest ever undertaken in
Bedford, transforming the face
of transport services. The Bus
Station area has seen significant
improvements including the
award winning revamp of
Allhallows car park, new
Greyfriars surface car park,
environmental improvements
including new paving, seating
and tree planting as well as
enhanced shop fronts and better
disabled access.
Bedford Western Bypass
Work on the new road was
completed in April 2016 and
represents a major development
for Bedford, reducing the volume
of traffic travelling through the
town by completing a route that
links all the way from the A421
south of Bedford to the A6
heading north of the town.
Bedford High Street THI
Bedford High Street is seeing
the fruits of significant
investment from the Heritage
Lottery Fund (HLF), Bedford
Borough Council and Bedford
BID, towards the restoration of
properties on High Street, as
part of the HLF’s nationwide
Townscape Heritage Initiative
(‘THI’). The grant funding
amounted to a total of £1.95m
and generated private sector
contributions from landlords
and owners of the businesses,
bringing the total pot to approx
£5m. The main aim is to ensure