Recorded interview with Chris Mortimer, Founder of Out of Time Records, discussing Ipswich town centre with Haphazard’s John McKiernan, part of IPSWICH blog post.
Listen here (6min15sec)
Discussion
I met Chris Mortimer, founder of Out Of Time Records while visiting Ipswich on the first full day of Haphazard Business tour around England. In this short recording above, Chris discusses the changes he has observed in Ipswich over the past 30 years and his concerns for younger people wishing to start a business in the town.
The number of empty shops in Ipswich is a real challenge. He cannot see things improving anytime soon with start-up costs of between £30,000-70,000 making it “almost impossible” to open a new business in a town like Ipswich. Chris puts forward a number of possible solutions, including the council buying the now defunct “huge” BhS store and converting it into start-up spaces for young people with retail focused business concepts.
Chris speaks in glowing terms of DanceEast, which” brings people from across the country” and La Tour Cycle Cafe. The Pulse Festival and Spill Festival, (October/November) “with real off-the-wall pop up theatre and music” are clearly the calendar highlight events.
Also see Ipswich blog post for more.
John M
Image: Chris Mortimer Out of Time Records | John McKiernan
Haphazard Business 
This persons passion for music clearly comes across even though the interview sticks to the practicalities and doesn’t meander around the obvious music genre’s or trappings of the music industry , I am aware of stories like this one where towns are being “robbed” of diversity – ironically because an initial “choice” has been made by the constituents of various electorates, inflexible choices that lock-out further choices, An example would be an out-of-town centre business with free parking which then grips a stranglehold on smaller in-town businesses that cannot fairly compete. Parts of communities and small conurbations could be far better served if town-planning and the townscape generality was more closely linked to the disproportionate impact and scale of larger businesses, how they impact on future choices once they’ve been established.