An introduction to BIDs

1

• An introduction to BIDs
• Penny Alexander
• British BIDs
• 13th February 2008

2
What is a BID?

• A flexible funding mechanism to improve and
  manage a clearly defined commercial area
• Based on a mandatory levy on all defined
  ratepayers following a majority vote
• Established for up to five years for a
  prescribed
• set of services

3
Origins of BIDs

• Originated in North America in the 1960s
• Numerous sizes and types of BIDs operating in
  
• Canada, the United States and South Africa
• About 1,000 BIDs around the world
• Introduced to the UK in 2004

4
BID Legislation

• 2003 Legislation (England Wales)
• 2004 Regulations (England)
• 2005 First BID start (England)
• 2005 Regulations (Wales)
• 2006 Irish Legislation
• 2007 First renewal ballot (England)
• 2007 Scottish Legislation

5
Evolution of BIDs

• Started on the basis of a clean and safe ethos
• Many tend to develop into marketing and
  promotional activity
• Some evolve to take on major environmental
  enhancement schemes and economic
  development/inward investment activity

6
The situation so far

• 73 ballots 60 YES 13 NO
• 5 re-ballots
• 1 cross-borough
• 2 renewal
• 57 formal BIDs
• Town Centre 36
• Leisure 3
• Commercial 1
• Mixed 2
• Industrial 14
• Citywide 1

7
BID area statistics

• Range of turnout 24 to 79
• Range of in favour by number 39 to 100
• Range of by RV 24 to 100
• Range of total number of hereditaments 25 to
  2,500
• Range of BID levy income 40,000 to 2,400,000
• Total BID levy income committed 79.7 million

8
Before a BID is considered

• Clear business need
• Private sector interest
• Business partnership or equivalent
• Support from local authority/stakeholders
• Clear objectives
• Budget for development

9
Characteristics of successfully operating BIDs

• Delivery of projects and services
• Innovation and flexibility
• Leveraging additional funding
• Strong partnership working
• Good communications and business engagement

10
Success factors

• Levy collection rates
• The majority of BIDs report collection rates over
  98
• Additional funding
• Reported between 4,500 and 1.95 million of
  additional funding
• Innovative projects
• Albion Health screening
• Paddington Area-wide recycling
• Holborn Carbon reduction project
• Winsford DNA to tackle theft

11
Areas of caution

• Business-led not a public policy vehicle
• Safeguarding baselines is crucial to ensure BIDs
  genuinely add value
• Set-up remains labour intensive and costly and
  may prove prohibitive in some areas if public
  funding is not forthcoming

12
Issues for the future

• Business Rate Supplement
• Provision to enable charging from 2010
• Likely impact on BIDs variable outside London
  (very high in London)
• Levy collection charges
• Range from 0 (11 BIDs) to 30,000 (average
  18,000)
• Opportunities to fund through LABGi

13
The growth rate of BIDs

• Developing BIDs
• Database of over 80 possible BID sites
• Possible ballots over the next 2 years up to 30
• Renewal ballots planned
• 2 in 2008
• 2 in 2009
• 11 in 2010
• 13 in 2011
• 25 in 2012
• 4 in 2013

14
More information

• www.britishbids.info
• Penny Alexander
• pennyalexander_at_partnershipsolutions.org