Sleaford Pre-BID Partners

East Midlands

Winner in Business and Economy Category and Regional Winner

BIDsWhat’s a BID?

Business Improvement Districts come from relatively new legislation:

The Business Improvement Districts (England) Regulations

2004

BIDs

What does a BID do?

It can do whatever the business community wants it to do, provided the businesses agree to find the resources to do it

BIDsKey factors

• Full discussion /consultation about the proposals across the community

• A democratic decision• If agreed by a majority, all members

contribute roughly in proportion to the size of their business, for a fixed term

• Business-led and business-controlled

SleafordThe Background

• Town partnership – ran out of funding and needed an exit strategy

• Town Manager’s post adopted by the Town Council for continuity

• Town Council and The Chamber set up a Pre-BID Working Group

Sleaford

• Successfully applied to Lincolnshire Enterprise for funding

• Engaged and consulted with local businesses

• Drew up a Draft Business Plan

• Joined East Midlands BIDs Academy run by ATCM and UKBIDs

Sleaford

More consultation

Compiled Final Business Plan

Ballot in July 2007

Sleaford

• Set up a new board, majority elected from amongst the businesses

• Appointed a BID Manager

• Sent out the levy bills….

Sleaford Achievements so far

• Security - BID van patrols started, overnight and at weekends, a shared resource with the Town Council’s Town Warden

• Car parking - commissioned a survey on car parking in the town, with Town Council and AMT, to lobby the car parking authority about off and on street car parking

Sleaford• Promotion - supporting the town’s

events, the Sustainable Sleaford project and Sleaford in Bloom

• And there’s more

to come over the

next 4 years!

Sleaford

To summarise• Legislation enabling BIDs in place in 2004• First Market Town in the East Midlands• First Yes Vote in the BIDs Academy• Second BID in the East Midlands, after Lincoln• Third ‘district-wide’ BID in UK• There are now around 75 BIDs in England and

Scotland, 5 in East Midlands• BIDs are spreading across the Country and

could happen in your community!