Another successful CEO Breakfast took place at Burgess Hall in April, this time shining a light on the visitor economy and the opportunities it brings for our district.

Patrick Lyons opened by highlighting the significant opportunities ahead for local businesses as Universal Studios prepares to open nearby, and Charlotte Goy followed with an insightful look at the visitor economy and its importance in driving economic growth across Huntingdonshire and the wider region.

The session closed with a joint session from Richard Slade, co-founder of Neotists CIC, and Paul Sweeney, who set out the case for Huntingdon and St Neots becoming Town of Culture 2028.

Richard opened by putting the bid in context. The City of Culture 2029 longlist has just been announced, with the prize now worth £10 million, and in the same announcement over 230 towns registered interest in the new Town of Culture competition, Huntingdon and St Neots among them. Town of Culture applies the same principle to towns as City of Culture does to cities: culture as a catalyst for investment, skills, tourism and identity, with a prize proportionate to the scale of the place bidding for it.

For St Neots, that story is bound up with growth. As one of the fastest-growing towns in the UK, with developments under way that could double the population within a decade, culture is not decoration but infrastructure: the shared stories, spaces and experiences that hold a community together while it is being reinvented. The bid, led by Neotists CIC, is built on four strands covering neighbourhood events, a flagship festival, a young creatives programme, and a focus on inclusion and belonging, backed by St Neots Town Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, the Youth Council, over 30 partner organisations and patron Dame Evelyn Glennie.

Paul then set out Huntingdon’s case. Under the banner Made in Huntingdon, the bid draws on the town’s history, from Oliver Cromwell to Samuel Pepys, alongside live projects already under way, including a major expansion of the Cromwell Museum and a feasibility study for a boutique cinema on the high street.

Both speakers were clear that, while St Neots and Huntingdon are competing for the same title, the two bids have already strengthened cross-sector relationships across tourism, hospitality, retail, arts, heritage and local government, work that is now being embedded into the region’s Local Visitor Economy Partnership. Win or lose, that collaboration benefits the whole district.

Thank you to the organisers and the full line-up of speakers, and to everyone who came along to Burgess Hall to hear it.