Business Improvement District

Traders in Weston town centre are being asked to come forward and have their say on improving business conditions.

Weston’s Town Centre Partnership has come up with an initiative known as The Business Improvement District (BID) which is a collective way for businesses to improve their trading environment through planning, influencing local decision makers and paying for additional services.

These services could include:

• Additional policing or wardens
• Improved collective marketing and events
• Improved street cleaning and litter collection
• Specialist business advice and preferred supplier schemes
• Night time economy promotion and safety initiatives

Weston businesses can download a questionnaire from the BID website which will enable them to list in order of priority what they see as the most important components for a successful business environment. The results from the survey will then be put together to form a business plan which will shape the Business Improvement District’s thinking for the next five years.

All businesses within the Business Improvement District area will then be asked to vote on the plan and, if successful, the plan will then be implemented. In order to win the vote, the BID will need to have achieved majority of “yes” votes and these also need to represent a majority of the rateable businesses who vote.

If the vote outcome is positive, the team will be legally bound to deliver the BID business plan, which will be paid for by all the businesses within the BID area. The amount businesses will have to pay will be based on their rateable value, with every business having to make an equal percentage contribution to the scheme.

The vote on the scheme will take place in February/March 2012 and, if successful, the additional services will start being delivered in May 2012.

Please see below a map of the Business Improvement District area.

The Weston BID team is asking all businesses within the BID area to support the scheme and to share their views by filling out the questionnaire.

You can find out more information and download the questionnaire on the Weston BID website at http://www.wsmtcp.co.uk/weston-bid.htm

You can also follow them on Twitter @WestonBID for the latest updates or visit the Weston BID Facebook page.