Peterborough’s biggest party!

…CCTV. It’s partly this broad range of responsibilities that allows them to manage the big events so effectively, keeping in balance the needs of the public, the city’s traders and businesses and less visible concerns, such as safety.

While the Christmas celebrations, Italian Festival or Perkins Great Eastern run make a big, public statement – and they would hardly work if they didn’t – few of us will even be aware of most of Commercial Services’ efforts on our behalf.

As City Centre Co-ordinator Graham Mountford puts it: ‘There are two key things that residents require from the city: it should be clean, and it should be safe. No one really notices these things when they’re working, but if they go wrong, that’s when it becomes an issue.’ We may never register the way large numbers of people are safely managed at the busiest times, nor the CCTV which allows us to enjoy the city centre’s nightlife with confidence and a sense of security. We take these things for granted. And, in many respects, that’s exactly what we should be able to do.

The tree is a 40+ foot Sitka Spruce, harvested from Kielder Forest, Northumberland and supplied by Elveden Farms, who also provide the huge trees outside St Paul’s Cathedral and Parliament

When it comes to serving the public and keeping them safe, Justin Beaumont’s own credentials are impressive. Before joining PCC he spent 30 years at Cambridgeshire Constabulary, taking charge of the Force Control room and ‘operational matters’, as well as being a trained negotiator. Hopefully some of those skills won’t be required this Christmas, but they certainly stand him in pretty good stead.

Like everything else about the celebrations, the tree is big – a 40+ foot Sitka Spruce, harvested from Kielder Forest, Northumberland and supplied by Elveden Farms, who also provide the huge trees outside St Paul’s Cathedral and Parliament. The timing of its arrival is precise, for reasons not immediately obvious. ‘The tree arrives at 6am on 12 November,’ says Justin. ‘It always arrives after 11 November, because it’s thought inappropriate to have decorations up over Remembrance Day.’ It’s another of those things that Commercial Operations have to think about which, perhaps, never crosses the minds of the rest of us.

By this point, of course, installation of the lights is well underway. The big switch-on event itself, in mid-November, draws as many as 5,000 people to Cathedral Square. Each year there is stage entertainment featuring local talent from around 2 pm, with the climax of the show in the early evening when the Mayor once again appears – this time with Father Christmas and an as-yet unnamed celebrity (last year it was X factor star Chico, and in 2011 a young hopeful…