EcoCarriers Shop and Drop scheme launches in Bury St Edmunds

22 Nov 2023

Pedal-powered delivery crews are helping businesses in Bury St Edmunds give a greener level of service to their customers with a brand new option for shoppers.  

Award-winning EcoCarriers BSE has been offering a delivery service around Bury and the surrounding villages for around 18 months but has now expanded it to include Shop&Drop same day delivery from a number of businesses in town as well as traders on the Saturday market.

Shop&Drop, which currently has almost a dozen businesses participating in its initial trial, offers the delivery service to customers in Bury St Edmunds and the surrounding villages from as little as £2.  Shopping must be ready for collection by 2pm and will be delivered by bicycle or cargo-bike by 6pm.  The project has been supported by West Suffolk district and Suffolk County Councils as well as the Business Improvement District (BID) organisation Our Bury St Edmunds.

Director of EcoCarriers Libby Ranzetta who is one of the founders of the not-for-profit social enterprise is excited to be launching the service.  She said: “We started our initial delivery service for local businesses last year and Shop&Drop has been a natural extension to that.  The response has been fantastic with a number of different businesses getting involved from big brand names like Marks & Spencer to independents. Thanks to West Suffolk Council we are also able to have a stall on the Saturday market where shoppers can bring their purchases as they peruse the stalls or shops and we’ll deliver that afternoon.”

The initiative has been supported by Suffolk County Council’s Climate Emergency Partnership fund. The authority’s Deputy Cabinet Member for Transport Strategy, Councillor Alexander Nicoll, commented: “Shop&Drop has the potential to considerably reduce short-journey car use in and around Bury St Edmunds.  Now shoppers who would prefer to walk, cycle or catch a bus into town but don’t want to struggle home again with heavy shopping bags have the perfect sustainable solution.  We are pleased to support this green transport initiative as we work with partners towards our aspiration of making the county carbon-neutral by 2030.”

Shop&Drop can also deliver items ordered over the phone or online.  A single 35L crate of goods costs £2 for delivery within the town including Moreton Hall, Lark Grange and Marham Park or £4.50 to nearby villages including Great Barton, Horringer and Nowton.  

Chief Executive of Our Bury St Edmunds Mark Cordell said: “I am very pleased to see so many of our BID member businesses offering delivery in this way and hope that more and more shoppers will make use of it.  Anything that can reduce the number of shorter journeys by car will help our environment and in many cases the delivery charge will be less than the cost of parking alone.”

For more information about Shop&Drop visit EcoCarriers.

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