Hexham Business Improvement District. Frequently Asked Questions

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1 Hexham Business Improvement District Frequently Asked Questions What is a BID? A Business Improvement District or BID is a defined area within which the local businesses community work together and invest collectively in new projects and services that they have prioritised to address opportunities and problems that affect their businesses, staff and clients. Who is promoting the Hexham BID? The development of the BID emerged from initial discussions within the business community in 2014 about how local companies could come together to improve the town overall and particularly its commercial prospects. There were visits to other BIDs to find out how successful they had been and then Hexham was successful in securing Government funding to help to develop a BID proposal itself. The Hexham BID is being developed on behalf of all businesses in the town by a steering group which includes representatives of the local business community, Hexham Business Forum, Hexham Community Partnership, Hexham Town Council, and Northumberland County Council. The steering group is working with delivery partners Revive & Thrive Ltd who have been appointed to organise and deliver the development, consultation and ballot process needed to establish a BID. Revive & Thrive is a regeneration company specialising in high street regeneration, innovation and renewal. How can a BID help Hexham? BIDs help towns to deliver direct activity which supports businesses and provides an organisation that can provide a strong voice for businesses to advocate for changes in services that affect them. BIDs act as a democratically elected voice for the whole business community within a defined area.. Issues such as car parking, planning, licensing, crime, town marketing, traffic and accessibility can then be addressed strategically by the BID by working closely with relevant partners and stakeholders. The diminishing capacity for public sector authorities to be able to invest in on-the-ground projects coupled with the real and growing threat of out-of-town and online shopping as well as the continued pressure to bring new visitors to the town are all genuine threats to the on-going success and prosperity of many towns including Hexham as is the threat of declining footfall leading to rising numbers of vacant and underused properties. With an uncertain picture for the High Street and for the economy in general in the near future, the business community now has an opportunity to take matters into its own hands and drive the positive changes that will make a real and lasting difference to the town. Across the country, where around 200 BIDs are already in operation, locally targeted and sufficiently resourced actions are delivering positive impacts. The opportunity now exists for the business community in the Hexham area to bring about improvements to benefit their area. There are a number of successful BIDs already operating in the North of England including in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Sunderland, Durham City and Penrith.

2 Where will the BID operate? The attached plan shows the proposed extent of the District. It contains approximately 600 eligible businesses and is intended to support both town centre and industrial companies based in and around the town who both operate commercially and whose staff and their families in many cases use the town. What will the BID deliver? The BID will deliver the changes and improvements that you and the other businesses in the district identify as priorities. Consultations to date have identified scope for additional investment in a range of initiatives including: 1. Marketing and Promotion - To market and promote Hexham as a centre for retail, leisure and tourism, including better use of digital and mobile technologies, and extending cultural activities, festivals and events. To include comprehensive and coordinated marketing, promotion and events campaigns for the town and support for the development of a Hexham Loyalty scheme. 2. Town Pride - To take pride in Hexham by building on its fantastic heritage and creating a more attractive town for workers residents and visitors. This would be delivered through improvement works designed to raise standards of appearance, accessibility, cleanliness and security throughout the town and will include action aimed at improving signage and linkages within the town. 3. Business Investment - To invest in people and businesses to enable Hexham to build upon its reputation for high quality services and goods. To deliver high quality customer services and an effective network across the town. This will include a series of initiatives to achieve business excellence, better business networking and deliver cost savings for individual businesses linking into the Hexham Business Forum and Tynedale Business Network. Work will be undertaken to build upon the two newly created Enterprise Hubs operating in the town and the benefits that could be accrued in attracting and supporting new and existing businesses. 4. Vibrant Markets To invest in and build upon the Hexham Markets as an excellent way of bringing people into the town, and enabling new traders to test out their idea before committing to permanent facilities. This may include the purchase of new stalls and equipment and is linked to the Business Investment and Marketing and Promotion themes. The BID will only deliver additional projects and services. The BID will not duplicate or replace services provided by public bodies but will, in particular, work with Northumberland County Council, Hexham Town Council, Northumbria Police and other relevant service providers to ensure their continued delivery of high quality services. These will be baselined and monitored by the BID. How will my business benefit? The BID is an investment by the business community to preserve and enhance Hexham. Every penny raised will be accounted for and spent on helping the BID to deliver those projects that the businesses will have voted to support. Clear commitments will be made and targets set to deliver on your priorities for the district. Importantly the BID is a partnership and a resource that will be led and delivered by the business community of Hexham.

3 How will the BID work? A formal proposal will be prepared to set out exactly how it is intended that the BID should be taken forward. This will include the business case, proposed additional projects and services, management and delivery structure and the budget and financing proposals. Only when businesses have voted in a ballot and a majority is achieved by number and rateable value will the BID be implemented. It can then operate for a period of five years before a further renewal ballot becomes necessary. The BID will operate through a business led not for profit company, responsible for the delivery of the BID proposals and directly accountable to its business membership. How will the additional investment be funded? The BID will be fair and transparent. As businesses within the district will benefit from the additional investment, each will contribute to the costs via an annual BID levy. The levy will be fixed as a very small percentage, perhaps 1 or 2%, of each business premise s rateable value (RV), with businesses that have an RV of less than 20,000 paying a minimum amount fixed at 200 per annum. The levy is mandatory on all businesses once the BID Proposal has been approved at the ballot. 100% of the funding is ring-fenced for reinvestment in the area. Based on a 1% levy with a minimum contribution of 200 the total levy income is expected to be around 200,000 per annum. In addition, the BID will seek voluntary contributions from other stakeholder businesses and organisations including property owners and developers. What happens next? Detailed proposals will be prepared over the next few months, in consultation with the business community of Hexham, and will be finalised by December These proposals will then be subject to the ballot, to be held in January 2016 and the BID could then commence in spring 2016 for a period of five years subject to a yes vote After five years the BID is then subject to a re-ballot to ask if it should continue for another five year term. What about Data Protection? Any information provided by local businesses will be held on a database on the Revive & Thrive network and this will be accessible by Revive & Thrive and the steering group responsible for delivering the BID for the purposes of developing the BID only, including communication and consultation.

4 Where can I find out more? For a business view on the Hexham Business Improvement District, contact one of the following members of the BID development steering group:- Julian Weightman, Bordercraft Group: julian@bordercraftgroup.co.uk Sandy Rutherford, Hexham Courant: sandy.rutherford@hexham-courant.co.uk Janine Armstrong, Ashley Matthews Jewellers: janine.ashley@gmail.com Tamsin Beevor, Forum Cinema: tamsin@hexhamcommunity.net Malcolm Eglin, Malcolm Eglin Antiques: malcolm@malcolmeglinantiques.com Cameron Scott, David Dixon Ltd: cameron@daviddixons.co.uk Mike Rowlson, Cogito Books: rowlson@hotmail.com If there any specific questions about the BID concept and how it works, please contact:- Matt Powell, Revive and Thrive: matthew@reviveandthrive.co.uk Tel A website is available for general information on BIDs and how they work

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