As I sit here in the Tourist Information Centre, plenty of people come in every day to ask about the town.

They’ve been getting information on the many Letchworth Festival events, as well as the new Chilli Fiesta and Food and Drink Festival taking place next month.

There are plenty of exciting events happening in the town over the summer, but the most exciting part of Letchworth is the new shops that are popping up all the time.

I was honoured to cut the ribbon last week and welcome another new member of The Wynd community, The Cupcake Company!

They are independent, family-run bakery, specialising in freshly-baked, hand-crafted cupcakes and other delicious treats.

Their baking methods are traditional, but their creations and flavours are modern, sometimes quirky and definitely memorable.

In the coming weeks The Wynd will also welcome a new wedding accessory shop.

This – coupled with the arrival of new children’s hairdressers, clothing boutique and the recent opening of the new Watermill Bears and Love and Chairish furniture shop – will now see both independent shopping areas at 100-per-cent occupancy.

But it’s not just the Arcade and The Wynd that are seeing positive changes.

The Grapevine restaurant is busier than ever and the new Crafty Beer Shop is a great new place for a quiet quality pint.

It’s also important to note the changes and successes of some of our long standing businesses. David’s Book & Music Shop opened its new café and last week saw a huge number of people queuing up to buy special vinyl releases made exclusively for World Record Day.

The owner Paul Wallace said: “It was the busiest one yet, and we had three people waiting there 22 hours before we opened.

“They slept on chairs outside, and by 6am the queue was all the way up the High Street.”

It’s great to see well-established businesses thriving and very humbling to see new businesses taking a gamble at our town centre.

It’s a great time for shop owners to look at new opportunities and for visitors to the town to enjoy the new additions.

We are looking forward to seeing what’s round the next corner for the first garden city, and the Letchworth BID is working very hard to keep this positive momentum going.

For more information please visit loveletchworth.com or contact bid@loveletchworth.com.