ADRIAN Pritchard was in a meeting when he got the idea Colchester needed a dedicated team of ambassadors.

Colchester Council’s chief executive was talking with Government civil servants when he realised they didn’t understand Colchester as well as they should.

He said: “It was a few years ago and they didn’t know we had a population of 180,000, a coastline or that we had a vibrant urban centre.

“They didn’t have a clue and that worried me.”

Fast forward until 2017 and Colchester Ambassadors was launched in a fanfare at the House of Commons.

Business people from across the borough came together to offer up their time to promote the town to anyone and everyone.

It was hoped the group would spread their influence and knowledge of the town so that when all-important funding bids came up, Colchester would be considered.

It is a strategy which is already showing early success, despite the group not being in existence for a full year yet.

Earlier this year Colchester won £3.5m of funding for a carbon-saving initiative of the Government’s which will see the development of a sustainable district heating system in north Colchester.

Mr Pritchard said: “We are seeing success with obtaining more funding bids from the Government.

“Is this just down to Colchester Ambassadors? No. But I think it has helped us focus Colchester’s profile.”

Nothing much has been heard of the group though since February, when local government secretary Sajid Javid praised the ambassadors for the launch.

And Mr Pritchard is quick to admit people may not have heard much about the group since then.

Instead, he said, they are busy working behind the scenes.

He said: “It got off to a great start and we have a great collection of people who joined.

“But what I did say to people is I’m not asking for half a day of their time every week or every month. These people have their own businesses to run.

“Instead, they went away and started to look at our objectives and what we would like to promote and come up with ways of doing that.

“They are coming up with ideas, and they might not be events, but they might be ways of showing what Colchester has to offer to businesses looking to relocate here or people looking to relocate to Colchester with work.

“I know it has gone quiet since the launch. But we do have a meeting in September when we will be collating those ideas and agreeing on which ones we will be looking at.”

It isn’t the ambassadors’ only role though.

Since the beginning, ambassadors have been quietly meeting with influential people who are visiting Colchester for events or other reasons.

Instead of doing it publicly though and shouting about it, they have been having informal conversations to shout about Colchester and all its positives.

Mr Pritchard said: “Haven Gateway had a great meeting about dualling the A120 ay the House of Commons earlier this year and we had some ambassadors invited along.

“They could then speak to those people there more about Colchester, to really get the benefits of the town across.

“And this is something we will be continuing to do long term.”

While the group is looking forward to discussing its new ideas for moving forward next month, it is also considering the possibility of holding an annual Colchester event.

It would then seek to remind people about the benefits of Colchester by inviting influential people to attend and see it for themselves.

Mr Pritchard added: “The idea would be to hold it every 12 months just to remind everyone publicly we are still here.

“But just because we have gone a bit quiet since February doesn’t mean we aren’t working.”