The leader of Chester’s Business Improvement District (BID) will attend a formal reception at the House of Commons to talk more about Business Improvement Districts and the positive impact of his team’s work in Chester city centre.
CH1ChesterBID Manager Carl Critchlow has been invited to London by Jake Berry MP, the UK’s Minister for High Streets and the Northern Powerhouse.
The event has been organised by the BID Foundation and aims to highlight the importance of BIDs in UK towns and cities, whilst also exploring how they can be even more influential in the future.
There will also be an opportunity to discuss some of the wider issues affecting the UK’s high streets, with Mr Critchlow keen to ensure topics such as business rates and future retail investment are on the agenda.
He said: “We are always working on behalf of our business members to champion Chester city centre and this special event at the House of Commons gives us a fantastic opportunity to do exactly that.
“We’ll have the chance to talk in more detail about all of the positive work we’ve done over the last five years, helping to drive improvements that boost footfall and encourage consumer spending.
“But we’ll also be there to raise some of the key issues that are impacting our city centre and others across the UK. That includes things such as business rates and investment in the high street, so I’m very much looking forward to representing our members in Chester.
“We’ll be one of a select number of UK BIDs at this event so it will also give us a great chance to understand more about some of the challenges and success stories other towns and cities are having right now.”
The Institute for Place Management is the professional body behind the BID Foundation, which was established as an industry body in January 2018 to support the future growth and development of BIDs in the UK.
High Streets Minister, Jake Berry MP, will host the House of Commons event and is an advocate for the significant impact BID’s can have, having previously said that “BIDs are a go-to vehicle through which you can reimagine your high street or town centre”.
Carl added: “Jake Berry is a supporter of BIDs and the aim of this event is to promote the benefits of BIDs to his parliamentary colleagues and to help them understand the key role they can play in helping to improve city centres and other defined areas. As part of this reception, we are calling on the government to ensure BIDs are integrated as key stakeholders in economic policy and programmes.
“There are now more than 300 BIDs in towns and cities across the UK – which has increased significantly since CH1ChesterBID was established – and that just reinforces how important it is to have independently run organisations that are working in the best interests of UK businesses collectively.
“We’re at a crucial point in the lifecycle of CH1ChesterBID as we’re currently in the middle of our renewal ballot for a second five-year term, but we’re hopeful that our almost 500-strong membership will give us a mandate to continue making things happen in Chester city centre.”
Businesses within the designated CH1ChesterBID catchment zone with a rateable value of more than £18,000 will be eligible to vote as part of the renewal ballot. In order to be successful, the BID vote has to achieve at least 51 per cent of the total rateable value and 51 per cent of the eligible businesses need to take part.
For more information on the work that CH1ChesterBID plans to achieve over the next five years, visit www.ch1chesterbid.co.uk