Bury St Edmunds launches ‘virtual high street’

It means shoppers can now browse and buy around the clock from shops and services in and around the town, as well as view offers and ‘shopper experiences’.

Bury and Sudbury based Queue Technology, developed the platform, which is now used in 15 towns across the country, including Suffolk, Greater Manchester and South Staffordshire.

The Bury Virtual High Street was launched at Midgar Coffee house in St Johns Street – one of the first places to sign up to the scheme, along with 30 others, before it was even launched.

It’s free for businesses to sign up and gives shops and services an easy way to promote themselves online, sell goods, place offers and offer real world experiences at their ‘bricks and mortar’ high-street shops.

Queue Technology founder, Ellis Heighes, said: “Launching in Bury is a huge accomplishment for us. It’s the town I grew up in, where I went to school, and where we also have an office.”

“To see our platform being used to support the local businesses is brilliant and the uptake has been great, too.”

“Over 30 businesses joined before launch and we’re getting new sign ups daily. The feedback from businesses has been really positive.”

“We’ve developed a range of new features to support businesses which have gone down really well.”

Mark Cordell, chief executive of Our Bury St Edmunds, said: “This is another free service we are offering our businesses to raise awareness about them and create opportunities for income generation in a challenging economic climate.”

“The website allows businesses to build a site on the platform to sell products 24/7 as well as linking their own sites and social channels to it.”

“Market traders of the town are also being encouraged to establish a presence on the virtual high street.”

To take a look, visit virtualhighstreet.uk/bury-st-edmunds