City Conversations: Turning Conversation into Action

It’s hard to believe it’s already been two weeks since our City Conversations Conference. A huge thank you to everyone who joined us, shared their experience and challenged us to think differently about Norwich’s future.

We’ve taken time to digest the discussions from our round tables and wanted to share a snapshot of what we heard — from what’s already working to where we could make a bigger impact.

If you weren’t able to join us, we’d still love to hear your thoughts. Complete the survey below to ensure your voice is heard in our business plans.

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What are we already doing to deliver value?

VisitNorwich

• Raising Norwich’s profile: PR, media, influencer activity and partnerships are increasing awareness of Norwich as a destination, generating 160+ pieces of positive coverage annually.
• Creative campaigns: Old City, New Attitude and seasonal campaigns showcase Norwich’s heritage, creativity and contemporary character.
• Driving visits: Campaigns, promotions, free events and seasonal activity give people reasons to visit and return.
• Digital resources: The VisitNorwich website, social channels, business listings and city map are highly valued.

Invest Norwich

• WiN: Work in Norwich is valued for promoting the city, supporting talent attraction and providing useful business resources. Particularly the campaigns which have gained over 55million impressions to date.
• Sustainability: The Norwich Solar System supports environmental goals, local businesses and energy infrastructure with 300 businesses identified as potential sites.
• Sustainable travel: Beryl bike schemes provide useful options, particularly for those working non-traditional hours.
• Convening: Independent, cross-sector discussions enable organisations to take a city-wide perspective.

Experience Norwich

• Events drive footfall: 20,000+ people brought together each year through Norwich Summer Sessions, Christmas lights, Food Week, Wine Week, and Cocktail Week. Cultural events create reasons to visit.
• Free experiences: Trails and accessible activities encourage exploration without a cost barrier.
• City Hosts: Their visibility and engagement help create a welcome for over 55,000 visitors every year.
• Safety and place-making: 150+ businesses signed up to ALERT, murals, lighting, trails and urban realm improvements contribute to the city experience.

Where could we make a bigger impact?

VisitNorwich

There was an appetite for VisitNorwich to become an even more useful, insight-led guide to the city — helping more people discover what Norwich has to offer and encouraging them to stay longer and return more often.

• Reach more diverse audiences, including families, students, younger people and residents beyond the city centre.
• Become the go-to source for “What should I do today?”, with more curated itineraries and personalised experiences.
• Showcase more of Norwich’s culture, heritage, history and hidden experiences, bringing City of Stories, Old City, New Attitude and our “City of Firsts” to life.
• Increase physical and digital visitor information, including digital screens, QR experiences, accommodation partnerships and potentially an app or trails platform.
• Use stronger audience insight, sentiment monitoring and measurement to understand what works and demonstrate impact.

Invest Norwich

For Invest Norwich, the opportunity is to strengthen Norwich’s proposition as a place to live, work, invest and grow, while making existing activity better known and creating stronger connections between businesses, talent and the city.

• Make transport and connectivity a greater focus, alongside conference and accommodation infrastructure.
• Strengthen support for entrepreneurs, start-ups and business growth.
• Expand WIN’s role in talent, skills and career development, with stronger links to schools, colleges and universities.
• Continue to expand sustainability, active travel and digital infrastructure.

Experience Norwich

There was a clear opportunity to make Norwich easier to navigate, more inclusive and more vibrant — while unlocking more of the city’s spaces, stories and communities.

• Improve wayfinding, signposting, safety and arrival experiences.
• Broaden family, youth, community and inclusive activity to engage more communities in shaping the city experience.
• Bring underused spaces and assets to life, including the river, green spaces and vacant spaces.
• Develop more accessible trails, experiences and central visitor information.

Turning conversation into action

These discussions highlighted both the strength of what is already being delivered and the scale of opportunity ahead.

If you don’t feel that we’ve captured your feedback or there’s more you’d like to add please do complete the following survey:

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The feedback from our round tables, alongside the wider survey results, will help shape our Norwich BID business plans for the 2027–2032. We look forward to presenting our business plans back to you in the coming months.

Thank you again to everyone who contributed. Your insight will help us turn conversation into action and ensure our plans reflect the priorities, opportunities and ambitions of the businesses and organisations that make Norwich what it is.