BUSINESSES in Luton’s Bury Park are working together to create an area to rival London’s famous Chinatown.
A multi-cultural group called Luton Bury Park Business Community (LBBC) is being launched at a high-profile meeting in Dunstable Road on Tuesday, March 13.
LBBC is chaired by Nadeem Plaza magnate Mohammed Nadeem who said: “Luton needs to get together regardless of the extremists and show clear leadership.
“It’s not about countering the arguments of the extremists, which only gives them publicity, it’s about showing the positives, about engaging with the wider community.”
Bury Park’s businesses, being mainly run by Asian entrepreneurs, have been hit hard when they have been forced to close when there have been marches or rumours of trouble.
“It is normal businesses that suffer,” said Nadeem. “People who want to make a living for their families.”
A part of the response is to market the area as being a place where people of all backgrounds can visit and find bargains. Nadeem likened the vision to London’s Chinatown, which is an ethnic area with wider appeal. He said street events could be held in what is becoming known as Luton’s “Eastern Mile”.
The group’s membership will be drawn from the length of Dunstable Road from Sainsbury’s to Leagrave Road and including businesses in side streets, including Luton Town Football Club. There are an estimated 300 businesses in the area.
LBBC also has a website and the business aims include the creation of a shoppers’ guide including all the companies in the area. Members of the not-for-profit LBBC would also get associate membership of Kimpton Road-based Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce.
But LBBC would also become a powerful voice for business in its own right with Luton Borough Council on issues affecting firms in the area.
One of the most pressing is traffic and parking. “It is really important to find solutions for businesses,” said Nadeem. “It is all well and good having pedestrian areas if people cannot get into the area and park to become pedestrians!”
The launch event, sponsored by Barclays Bank, at Crescent Hall, in Dunstable Road, is due to be attended by Labour peer, Baroness Howells, who is chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire as well as an author of an in-depth report on cohesion.
The group’s creation is also significant for Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce, which has historically been under-represented in Bury Park. Chamber director ViViane Vayssieres, who runs a PR company called Paule Rochelle, is also a LBBC vice-chair. She said: “Telford Way has been a brick wall between Bury Park and the rest of the town. We want to do all we can to break barriers down.”
The LBBC designated charity is Keech Hospice Care, celebrating its 21st anniversary.