Council to back the BID for next five years
City centre businesses will benefit from almost £3 million cash and in-kind support from the Council on top of £5 million worth of investment if the Council backs the city centre BID.
Cabinet is being asked to renew its support for the ‘business improvement district’ and back the City Centre Company’s plan to attract thousands of new and returning customers to over 600 businesses.
Over the next five years, the Council will commit services and considerable in-kind support to a host of initiatives; from cleaning and safety improvements, to promoting the city centre as a major shopping destination and organising events to bring shoppers in their droves.
Councillor Mark Lowry, Cabinet Member for Finance and city centre champion said: “The city centre is massively important to us. It’s a key reason visitors come here and spend money. It employs 14 per cent of our working population and is something every resident has very strong views about.
“We want the city centre to thrive and have already committed £5 million to schemes that will bring more people in – the new 1st Stop in Cornwall Street, for instance, which has just opened and the new coach station which is currently being designed.”
The report outlines almost £3 million in cash or kind support including a capital investment package of £1 million to refurbish Plymouth City Market and Frankfort Gate.
And it highlights the new direction the City Centre Company will take over the next five years, if the city centre businesses vote in favour of the BID continuing.
The report to Cabinet also recommends the go-ahead is given for the ballot on the BID to take place in February and March.. Business improvement districts have a five-year term and a vote must be held among the business to ensure there is support for it to continue.
Extensive discussions have taken place with businesses to ensure the new term will deliver what the members want. Businesses identified the following priorities:
• a permanent and dedicated management structure
• marketing and PR
• major events
• cleaner city centre
• safer city centre
• inward investment and regeneration
• BID member benefits
Councillor Lowry said: “We are prepared to back the BID to the hilt. Time and again the City Centre Company have pulled the rabbit of the hat in testing economic times.
“For a small levy, businesses get enormous returns. People forget that before the BID existed, our Christmas lights were not much more than one solidary string of lights across a road – look at us now.”
Doug Fletcher, Chairman of the company said: “This report shows that the Council is prepared to back city centre businesses and do its utmost to ensure they thrive.
“It believes the city centre is so important it is prepared to invest considerable time, staff and know-how to support businesses and attracting people into the heart of Plymouth.”
A Business Improvement District is a private sector-led management organisation for a defined area, where business rate payers identify projects and services that will have a positive impact on their trading environment.
Businesses vote to invest collectively in delivering improvements which are extra to those already delivered by statutory bodies. All businesses contribute a BID levy based on the rateable value of their premises.
Plymouth City Centre Company is an independent, not-for-profit company which runs as a voluntary membership partnership with a board of directors representing the key business sectors in the BID area.
