Malmesbury Town Team has continued to deliver significant community benefits as a Community Interest Company. Its partnership approach with Malmesbury Town Council in the management and supply of activities supporting the promotion of Malmesbury as a place to visit and spend time is continuing to develop to good effect. These include the operation of the ‘Discover Malmesbury’ and ‘Explore Malmesbury’ brands, and the publication of a new Malmesbury Official Visitor Guide and Map distributed to 12,000 people through 70 outlets. The print version of the Town Team’s new What’s On seasonal brochure, called The List, is directly mailed to 7,200 addresses in the local area, with a further 1000 being distributed via other means, and an online version published on the Discover Malmesbury website. As part of the Town Team’s new marketing and communications strategy, we have delivered of a range of social media activities and partnership work with Visit Wiltshire and the Great West Way. Our advocacy led to The Sunday Times declaring Malmesbury to be the Best Place to Live in the South West 2026, closely followed by the Daily Express awarding a similar accolade. Malmesbury Town Team undertakes actions which promote Malmesbury and the surrounding areas as an attractive visitor destination. It encourages local residents and visitors to spend more time and money with local businesses, thereby improving their resilience and increasing employment opportunities and the vitality of the local economy. It will work to improve the quality of community life by enabling, promoting and delivering events and activities that animate the town, engage visitors and residents, and increase the sustainability and well-being of the local community. In June 2026 we commissioned Flying Geese Consultancy to undertake visitor research in order for us to benchmark the town’s performance against similar size market towns in the region. The research aims to understand the dynamics of the visitor economy in Malmesbury. The research insights will enable the Town Team to develop marketing strategies which adapt to changing visitor needs and demands, to improve the visitor experience and offer, and ultimately to increase revenue. Malmesbury Town Team also works closely with Malmesbury Town Council and other partners to develop new and enhanced cultural, social and environmental amenities which improve the quality of community life. A new development this year has been supporting the inaugural Malmesbury River Festival in May/June and the Malmesbury Magical History Tour event in July 2026. The Business Network convened by the Town Team meets every two months has brought the retail, service and hospitality businesses together, and provided impetus for the production of The Guide, a publication celebrating the independent retail and hospitality offer in the Malmesbury area, available free in print and electronic form. Consultation with local business representatives informs the Town Team’s future activities. The annual grant by the Town Council was renewed in April 2025, along with additional support from the Wiltshire Towns High Street Activity fund, a Wiltshire Council funding stream managed by the Town Council. In parallel, the Town Team has maintained its valued sponsorship by the Old Bell Hotel.

With support from Malmesbury Town Council, the Town Team convened a range of local civic, cultural and heritage stakeholders to frame a bid for UK Town of Culture 2028. Although Malmesbury was not shortlisted, the stakeholders undertook a further workshop and resolved to deliver the key elements of the programme outlined in the bid, within available resources and, where possible, through alternative fundraising. The Town Team itself comprises a range of stakeholders including business, marketing, heritage and local authority representatives, and this wider group meets monthly to discuss current and future plans and to monitor progress against activities and outcomes in our business plan.

No remuneration was received

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration