Ipswich might be thought of as a sleepy East Anglian backwater, but businesses in the town, upbeat about the future despite the recession, are determined to change all that.

Whereas comparable towns have been hit hard by their exposure to heavier industry, Ipswich’s more diverse economic make-up has allowed it to avoid the worst of the economic downturn. On top of that, the town is being transformed from a stodgy rural county town into a more dynamic destination for business.

Momentum has come from regeneration of its historic docks and waterfront, the opening of its first university and the appetite of local leaders to incubate modern businesses. However, the town – population 121,000 – is not immune to hard times. A large section of the town centre is neglected, short of investment and struggling to find a key flagship tenant. Other parts are littered with empty shop units and not all the new flats are full, with developers cutting prices aggressively to little effect.

Ipswich has avoided any huge job cuts, with its biggest businesses holding firm. However, like many towns across the country, jobs have gone at troubled retailers such as Adams, Woolworths and Zavvi. Insurance groups are among Ipswich’s largest employers, and it is home to important bases for Axa and Willis, as well as the headquarters of Suffolk Life, the local pensions specialist. Transport and logistics are key industries, with Felixstowe, one of Europe’s largest container ports, only a few miles up the Orwell estuary, businesses that want to set up a base in the area are drawn to Ipswich.

“We can’t ignore what’s going on in the economy but Ipswich is performing better than most,” reflects John Dugmore, chief executive of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. He says that the business group is busier than ever, with more positive than negative approaches, as local companies try to trade optimistically through the downturn, rather than batten down the hatches.

His sentiments are shared by James Hehir, chief executive of Ipswich Borough Council. He has been one of the driving forces behind trying to secure the town’s future economic prosperity by associating Ipswich with hi-tech groups.

The town has labelled itself IP City, a play on its post code and the technical term, and is keen to promote its technology credentials, sitting at one end of the so-called Cambridge to Ipswich hi-tech corridor, and home to BT’s principal research base.

Mr Hehir is confident that 30,000 jobs will be created in the area by 2030, many in technology-related industries. Central to attracting people and businesses into the area is the development of Ipswich’s new university, which is in the middle of its first academic year.

University Campus Suffolk, which is backed by the more established University of Essex and University of East Anglia, has been warmly welcomed by the business community and has been working directly with local businesses such as BT to develop specific qualifications.

Richard Lister, UCS’s planning and resources director, hopes the university can act as “a catalyst for change” and be more responsive to the needs of local enterprise. UCS is also a key part of the regeneration of the town’s docks. The waterfront area has undergone redevelopment, with new bars and restaurants springing up alongside residential developments.

Ipswich is also home to the UK’s largest grain port, responsible for shipping Suffolk’s agricultural exports. Alastair Macfarlane, the port manager, is at home with its commercial and leisure interests. He operates one of the dock’s two marinas and is planning to expand. Further development of the port, which employs 125 people and is responsible for almost 1,000 related jobs, is in the pipeline. Trade in timber has suffered over the past year as construction has slowed, but it has been a better year for agricultural products and the ferry services are also buoyant.

Another big employment driver will be the development of SnOasis, a huge indoor winter sports resort just outside the town, on which construction is expected to start this year. The project will employ 3,500 workers over the 30 months that it is expected to take to construct, and will create 1,850 full-time jobs on completion.

The developers expect SnOasis to contribute about £80 million to the local economy, with an anticipated 650,000 visitors a year, and are looking to source local contractors to supply food and other services. Godfrey Spanner, the man behind the development, believes the resort will put Ipswich on the European map. He is confident that the project will be completed in time to benefit from consumers starting to spend again after the downturn.

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