What are Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)?
New legislation that came into effect in September 2004 enable BIDs to be set up in England and Wales.
BIDs allow businesses in a defined area and business sector(s) to vote on which additional services they want to invest in, to improve their trading environment.
The vote is open to tenants – if a majority, both by number and by rateable value, approve the proposal, all ratepayers will contribute through their business rates.
BIDs give local businesses the power to effect changes that will benefit them in their local community. Improvements may include extra safety/security, cleansing and environmental measures, improved promotion of the area, improved events, and greater advocacy on key issues, but the legislation does not put a limit on what products or services are provided.
Businesses have the opportunity to agree on the projects for which they are contributing and to vote in a ballot on the amount of money they are prepared to raise, enabling them to become involved in the administration of the schemes themselves.
BIDs are operated by not-for-profit partnership organisations, such as CV One. CV One is the leader in this field having been set up in 1998 as a BID-in-waiting and was one of just 22 national BID Pilots in a project being run by the Association of Town Centre Management (ATCM).
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