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Business
Improvement Districts Scotland (BIDS) - An update to the Scotregen 38 feature A publication has been launched this month which outlines the opportunity for a new business-led strategy to support economic development and regeneration in Scotland’s town centres. The Business Improvement Districts Scotland (BIDS) information brochure on town centres sets out how the private and public sectors can work together through the mechanism of a BID to deliver a range of improvements and services for businesses in town centres. Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have been a major success story across the world with some 1400 having been established to support regeneration, the asset management of town centres and grow local economies. BIDs based in town centres have helped to create more vibrant and viable town centres which are safer and offer a more attractive environment. This has, in turn, helped to bring in more businesses and reduce the number of commercial properties lying empty, creating more local jobs and attracting greater visitor numbers. In addition, BIDs have helped deliver strong and meaningful partnerships between the private and public sectors which have brought additional investment to support town centre strategies. Following legislation in 2004 there are now more than 50 BIDs in England with a further 19 in development. Eire passed its BID legislation in 2006 with Dublin leading on its first BID. In March 2006 six pilot projects were established by the Scottish Government and between 2006 and 2008, the Executive is providing around £1 million to support the development of this business strategy for Scotland. Bathgate and Falkirk are the two Scottish BID pilots representing town centres with the other pilots based in Clackmannanshire (business parks), Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness city centres. Ian Davison Porter, BIDS Scotland Project Director, emphasises that this strategy is also attracting interest from a number of other locations in Scotland which are considering establishing their own BID. He added: “BIDs are widely used to support and assist the regeneration, management and asset management of town centres. A BID is most effective where there is a single agreed vision embodied in a town centre strategy. The BID can deliver projects and services which contribute to the overall vision and ensure that local businesses are fully involved in the future development of their town centres.” Simon Quinn, Chief Executive for the Association of Town Centre Management, said: “If Scotland’s town centres are to remain competitive in the face of out of town development, they need to grasp this opportunity with both hands. The additional revenue resulting from businesses investing in their own centre is producing real dividends elsewhere. Done properly it can make a vital difference to a centre’s prospects.” Andy Kennedy Chair for the Association of Town Centre Management Scotland (ATCMS) added “Our town centres have been neglected for a number of years in terms of direct central government investment and ATCMS will be holding a parliamentary briefing for MSP’s in November to highlight the need for cross party action to improve our town centres.” “BIDs is a powerful strategy for helping us improve our town centres”. Sunil Varu, Town Centre Manager, Kirkcaldy pointed to the way ahead, “BIDs are a business strategy offering the town centre business community a more direct decision-making role on issues most important to them and a genuine responsibility for the future development of their town. The BID concept and other issues affecting our town centres will be at the centre of discussions at a major Conference on “Vital and Vibrant Town Centres” to be held in Dunfermline in November 2007. This Conference and the dynamic work of the Scottish pilot BIDs will bring a much sharper focus not only on the needs of our town centres but also on their importance to the Scottish economy”. The booklet Town Centres: Benefiting from Business Improvement Districts is available from Anna Gormley (contact details are below).
Contact: Anna Gormley |
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