Bedford Borough Council have indicated they no longer have faith in Bedford’s Business Improvement District (BedfordBID) after announcing they intend to vote against their renewal in the forthcoming ballot in October.
In what seems like a damning indictment of the services provided by BedfordBID, the council says they’re withdrawing support due to BedfordBID’s lack of ambition for the town centre and for not doing enough to support independent businesses.
The council has also called into question the effectiveness and robustness of BedfordBID’s governance arrangements and said there are concerns about the ‘ability of BedfordBID to deliver services that will make a real difference to the town centre’s vitality and sustainability’.
BedfordBID is in place to promote Bedford Town Centre under their Love Bedford brand and is funded by a levy on businesses within their zone if the rateable value of their property is above a certain amount.
They are charged with providing services to all businesses within their zone, whether they pay a levy or not, including increasing footfall by encouraging people to shop in the town centre.
Other services under their remit include crime prevention, networking events for businesses, training, and cost-saving initiatives.
So far they have served four terms, having been set up in 2005 as one of 12 pilot BIDs created by the government at the time. Every five years, each BID must ask businesses within their area if they want them to continue under a BID system.
The next ballot for BedfordBID takes place in October, which has led to them releasing their renewal proposal up to 2030.
However, the council has criticised their plans for a fifth term and is recommending that councillors agree at the next Council Executive meeting on 11 September to withdraw their support for BedordBID.
In the agenda for that meeting, the council says the BID proposals ‘lack ambition for revitalising the town centre and simply propose to deliver more of the same’.
“Scrap it”
Last year, the newly elected Conservative Mayor of Bedford said that he was told “daily” by town centre businesses to “scrap the BID”.
Speaking to the Bedford Independent about his first few months in office, Mayor Tom Wotton said no one at BedfordBID, including its CEO Christina Rowe and Board Chair Sam Laycock, had made any attempt to meet with him.
Read: Bedford Mayor told “on a daily basis” to scrap Bedford BID
That was despite one of the main points of the Mayor’s manifesto being a plan to revitalise and invigorate the town centre.
“People have strong opinions about [Bedford BID]. I get a lot of siren voices, virtually everybody, telling me to scrap them and get rid of it. I’ve only had one person tell me what a good job they did,” said the mayor.
Multiple businesses have also complained to this paper about the support received by BedfordBID, and that many of the events and ideas set up to promote Bedford Town Centre are not organised by BedfordBID.
Read: Bedford BID accused of attempting to take credit for volunteer-led event
In a statement last night, Cllr Andrea Spice (Conservative/Wixams and Wilstead) the Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Planning and Prosperity reiterated some of these complaints, saying the council feels the proposal for Bedford BID’s fifth term is not good enough.
The plans, dubbed BID5, “do not offer our town centre what we expect it to and so we are voting accordingly”, she said.
However, Cllr Spice has encouraged all levy payers with voting rights to take part in the forthcoming ballot.
“However you feel about the proposed BID5, whether in support or not, you must use your vote as your voice. I have spent over a year as Portfolio Holder listening to many business owners and to those who live in or visit the town.
“In the last BID election for Bedford only 175 businesses voted out of approximately 400 and we want to see more businesses having their say.
“Businesses within the BID zone and with a minimum business rateable value need to make a financial commitment to the BID for four years and so must be confident that it will provide what they wish in their town.”
Read: Bedford BID secures fourth term
At the Council’s Executive meeting next Wednesday, Cllr Andrea Spice will ask the Executive to back her proposal not to support the current BID5.
“If the BID5 is unsuccessful, we will work with local businesses and organisations to ensure we achieve our vision and deliver a more vibrant, safer and cleaner town centre,” she said.
BedfordBID has been approached for comment.
