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Feasibility Study Report 1Feasibility Study Report 1

B R A D F O R D B I DF E A S I B I L I T YS T U D Y

bradford_bid BradfordBIDbradfordbid.co.uk


Feasibility Study Report Feasibility Study Report2 3


Earlier this year, Heartflood were commissioned to undertake a feasibility study into the possibility of introducing a Business Improvement District (BID) into Bradford city centre. The study began in July 2017 and culminates in the release of this summary report in November 2017.

Responses were received from a comprehensive sample of 203 businesses, representing approximately 35% of those within a defined Bradford city centre area and covering the retail, leisure, office and service sectors. With 70% of those completing the survey in favour of a BID, we believe that there is an overwhelming demand across the entire commercial offer in the city centre to move towards the development of a BID.

From the responses, we therefore recommend that Bradford should move towards detailed consultation ,given that 70% of the sample are supportive of the proposals, we believe that there is more than sufficient demand for the City to move on to the next phase of BID development – namely detailed consultation and development of a draft business plan built around the following recommendations:

• A timetable to be adopted for businesses to vote on a BID for Bradford based on a detailed, fully costed business plan in September/October 2018, with a view to a five-year BID term starting in December 2018

• The proposed boundary of the BID to cover the whole of the City Centre, including the shopping centres (Kirkgate and Broadway)

• 1.25% is the most appropriate rate of levy to apply to the BID

• A reduction of 25% of the BID levy to be proposed for premises within managed centres which already pay a service charge - this is because the service charge they pay already includes some of the benefits that the BID intends to deliver

• An exemption level is to be set at £12,000 – meaning that those properties with a Rateable Value of less than £12,000 would not be liable to pay the BID levy, although they are situated within the BID boundary and will gain some benefits because of this.

203 Businesses surveyed

70%Businesses in favour of a BID

1.25%Proposed levy fee

£12,000 Exemption level

Dec ‘18BID launch date

DELIVER A STRATEGY TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF EMPTY SHOPS

MORE MAJOR EVENTS OR FESTIVALS

SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS

NEW SEASONAL EVENTS

IMPROVEMENTS TO PAVING, LANDSCAPING AND STREET FURNITURE

CITY CENTRE STREET ENTERTAINMENT

PROJECTS TO ENCOURAGE INVESTMENT

STREET CLEANSING & WASHING, INCLUDING CHEWING GUM REMOVAL

DAYTIME WARDENS/HOSTS/AMBASSADORS

STREET MARKETS

MARKETING AND PROMOTION TO PROJECT THE CITY TO A FAR WIDER AUDIENCE

IMPROVEMENTS TO PROBLEM AREAS, GRAFFITI OR FLY-TIPPING REMOVAL

GREATER LOBBYING, REPRESENTATION AND CHAMPIONING OF THE CITY

EVENING WARDENS/MARSHALS/PASTORS

EVENING ECONOMY PROJECTS, POSSIBLY TO GAIN NATIONAL ACCREDITATION

The principal projects determined by the results of the survey will focus on aspects of the following key issues

E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y

P O S S I B L E P R O J E C T S

Feasibility Study Report 5

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Rateable Value


B U S I N E S S I M P R O V E M E N T D I S T R I C T S

E X I S T I N G B I D S I N T H E A R E A

Since the introduction of Business Improvement District legislation in 2004, more than 280 Business Improvement Districts have been created across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. In Yorkshire the most significant is Leeds BID, although one has been created and is working well in Keighley. The majority of BIDs focus upon town and city centres, although they are not confined to these areas; several have been formed in out of town industrial or commercial areas.

BIDs operate by raising a small levy to pay for additional services to help boost the performance of participating businesses (usually a small percentage of National Non-Domestic or Business Rateable Values) with the actual levy percentage varying depending on the area in question and the cost of the activities defined in the Business Plan. In most towns and cities with a BID, businesses pay an annual levy of between 1% and 1.5% of the actual Rateable Value of their business premises.

Any BID business plan is subject to a vote of potential levy payers and the voting papers are sent to either the tenant of the business or to the landlord (in the case of vacant units) inside the defined boundary that forms the BID. This report identifies what we consider to be the most appropriate potential boundary for the Bradford City Centre BID.

For any BID to be successful, there needs to be a majority of positive votes from the total number of votes cast AND these positive votes must also form the majority of the total aggregated Rateable Values of all the votes cast.

It is always the intention of a BID to create projects and activities within a town or city over and above those which already happen. A BID is not, therefore, a mechanism to allow any public or private sector body to cease providing existing, established activities or divest the cost of providing them.

The maximum term covered by a BID business plan is five years and the continuation of any BID beyond this initial term is reliant on the generation of a new business plan and a renewal ballot of the businesses within the BID area.

BIDs generally involve the creation of a Company Limited by Guarantee, which limits the financial liability of any Company Director to £1. A Board of between 12-16 Company Directors is usually formed from BID levy paying organisations to create a representative and business-led group of Directors to oversee the financial, managerial and operational arrangements for the BID. The Chairman of the Board is invariably a local business person.

It is always the intention of a BID to create projects and activities within a town or city over and above those which already happen.

Halifax

Manchester

WakefieldWakefield

Leeds

YorkKeighley

OtleySkipton

30 milesEst.

2013

Levy Incone

£970,000

Est.

2014Est.

2015

Est.

2014

Levy Incone

£2,000,000

Est.

2015

Levy Incone

£790,000

Est.

2015

Est.

2017

Levy Incone

£282,000

Est.

2017

Levy Incone

£427,000

Levy Incone

£286,000

Levy Incone

£70,000Levy Incone

£162,000

6 Feasibility Study Report 7


Bradford is a major metropolitan urban centre, which sits strategically within the major motorway network that serves West Yorkshire, including the principal M62 link across the Pennines into Lancashire. It is well served by rail and has a major international airport within easy driving distance of the City Centre. The City Centre principally serves the day to day convenience needs of a relatively local catchment with little or no major appeal beyond this, although the recent Broadway and Sunbridge Wells developments have added a wide range of retail & leisure operators, widening the pull of the City Centre beyond its usual limited catchment population. The City Centre contains a range of ancillary services, including a number of banks, building societies, property agents, motor dealerships and professional services. There are also many churches, mosques and other places of worship, as well as a post office, University, health centres, cinemas and theatres, a library, a police station and a number of well-established facilities for a culturally diverse community.

Economy set to increase by

over the next ten years

5thlargest city in the UK

£9.5bneconomy

17,000businesses

& more FTSE 100 companies than any other north of England city

Bradford

(in terms of population) in England

(Source: 2011 census data)

4ththe youngest city in Europe

largest metropolitan district

25%

B R A D F O R D C I T Y C E N T R E O V E R V I E W

FA C T S A B O U T B R A D F O R D

T H E B U S I N E S S S U R V E Y

The core of Bradford city centre with our initial BID boundary contains 585 business rate payers with a defined total Rateable Value of £37,413,100. These premises range from small specialist independent companies to significant national multiple operators. Feedback was sought from a strong, representative sample of all sizes and types of businesses within our defined boundary as to their attitude towards a Business Improvement District. It is important to note that while a tentative boundary line has been drawn to include the bulk of the City Centre as commonly recognised, this boundary will be ‘tested’ to ensure it is the correct delineation of the BID area and ultimately it may well change to reflect the different responses we record from businesses about the BID.

The feedback was captured in the form of an online, structured questionnaire which was carefully designed to disseminate a number of key pieces of information from the business community.

The online survey ran from July to the end of October to give adequate time for local businesses to engage with it and give their considered opinions. It was supplemented by hard copies that were distributed to various businesses including members of the West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce. The survey was promoted during two open business meetings which were attended by over 30 businesses and ultimately the entire survey process yielded a total of 203 responses.

• 50% of respondents were from independent businesses, with 50 % being from multiple, franchise or other operators

• Business satisfaction about how well Bradford is currently performing was generally low, with the following levels of dissatisfaction being expressed about specific aspects of the City’s offer:

71% of businesses thought that their trading area should be included within the potential BID boundary

Perceived performance of aspects of the City Centre - “Do you think that Bradford City Centre achieves its potential as a…”

Percentage of responders who indicated that City Centre performance was negative or neutral compared with a positive take

Retail centre 92%

Professional services hub 93%

Place to dine out 91%

Place to spend leisure time 94%

Day visits 89%

Weekend break location 97%

585Businesses rate payers

£37.4 MillionTotal Rateable Value


The explanations given as to why businesses feel that Bradford under-performs were given as:

The main competitor locations were considered to be:

97%

91%

49%

42%

31%

21%

19%

8%

Leeds

Online retail

Bradford's out of town retail parks

Halifax

Huddersfield

Other areas of Yorkshire not listed here

Keighley

Wakefield

Shipley

Other areas of Bradford

11%

12%

8%

56% of respondents felt that Bradford would

benefit quite a lot or hugely from the additional spend a BID would bring, with 35% indicating that there would

be some benefit and just 9% considering that there

would be no benefit

New seasonal events, including more Christmas activitiesInsufficient promotion and marketing of the total city offer

Daytime wardens/hosts/ambassadors Too few customers

Improving the appearance of empty shopsThe image of Bradford locally and nationally

Projects to encourage investment into BradfordHigh levels or perceptions of crime

Marketing and promotion to project the City to a far wider audienceInsufficient range of shops

More major town centre events or festivalsQuality of the shopping environment around the shops

Street cleansing & street washing, to include chewing gum removalStreet begging

Improvements to problem areas, such as graffiti or fly-tipping removal The appearance of retail units

Security improvements, possibly to include more policingQuality of the leisure offer

Greater lobbying, representation and championing of the CityLack of places to eat or drink

• 70% were in favour of the BID concept being tested by ballot, 22% were undecided and 8% were against the idea of balloting

• When asked how much they would be prepared to pay as a levy, 58% agreed with 1% of Rateable Value, 25% nominated 1.25% and 17% proposed paying up to 1.5% of Rateable Value

• 71% of businesses surveyed felt that they should be included within the potential BID area, while 22% were undecided and 7% indicated that they should remain outside a BID boundary

• There was a clear mandate for all types of business to be included, with 74% of the survey respondents supporting this - only 21% indicated that they wanted retail & leisure only and just 5% felt that retail only was the best option

• Businesses are relatively confident about the future, with 35% predicting their turnover would rise over the next 6-12 months, 46% considering that it would remain static and just 19% who anticipate a reduction in turnover

Businesses prioritised how they felt BID income should be spent as follows:

78%

43%

56%

50%

41%

49%

38%

72%

42%

42%

Throughout the survey period, we monitored responses to ensure that they formed a representative sample of the business community within the area identified in terms of the size, type, sector and geographical spread of respondents. We are satisfied that the survey responses are a representative initial sample of the Bradford City Centre Business Community and, with 70 % in favour, the results show ample support for pursuing a BID.

49%

50%

52%

52%

59%

63%

67%

70%

71%

81%


M A I N B O U N D A R Y O P T I O N S F O R T H E B R A D F O R D B I D

Given that approximately 71% of respondents indicated that they considered a BID should occupy their area of the City Centre, the following geographical area is considered to be the prime plan for the proposed BID area.

We have based our income calculations for the estimated BID income on the above parameters and are confident that it offers sufficient common interest across the wider business community that the proposed projects would impact positively on all eligible voters.

Our recommended boundary would cover approximately 585 business listings and we recommend that further consideration be given to the inclusion of both the Little Germany area and the various phases of the Forster Square Retail Park. For the purposes of income calculation, we have included the Little Germany area and listed the Forster Square areas separately.

Sub

way

Subway

Subway

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TAXIS

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Bus Services including Airport Link.

TAXIS

Education Quarter Bradford College: All buildings. Bradford University:Main campus and all buildings, approximately 500m further along Great Horton Road.

Bridge Street

Sunbridge Road

Sunbridge Road

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dw

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tree

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Prin

ce

s Way

Broadw

ay

Water Lane

Grattan Road

Wig

an S

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Bap

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Pla

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Chain Street

T

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S

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on

Str

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James Street

Darley Street

Cheapside

Manor Row

Salem

Str

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Simes S

treet

Rawso

n Road

Dale Street

Ba

rry

Str

ee

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Paradis

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Dyso

n Str

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Rebecca Street

reet

Westgate

A658

Barkere

nd Road

Church Bank

Bo

lto

n R

oa

d

Bo

lton

Ro

ad

Low

er K

irkgate

Piccadilly

Bank Street

Godw

in S

treet

Drew

ton R

oad

Lu

mb

La

ne

Hallfield Road

Ho

ug

hto

n P

lace

Darfield Stre

et

Infirmary Street

Tyson

Street

A647

Leeds Road

Hal

l Ings

Qu

eb

ec

S treet

Morley Street

Great Horton Road

Great Horto

n Road

Grove Terrace

Carlton Street

Smith Street

Ne

lson

Stre

et

Chester Street

Tumblin

g Hil

l St

reet

Dra

ke S

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Ran

dal

l W

ell Street

Sharpe Street

Westgate

Mar

ket

Stre

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Ann Place

Sawrey Place

Clarem

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Longside L

ane

Melbourne Place

Ashg rove

Ashgrove

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Bro

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Blythe Stre

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M

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Jo

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Wat

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Wilton Street

Edmund Street

L

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Howard StreetB u rrow Street

C

an

al

Ro

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Va

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Va

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Priestley Street

Holdsworth Street

Mill S

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Le

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Str

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We

ll Stre

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Park G

ate

Curr

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Vicar Lan

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Field Street

Wa

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Ch

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Str

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Peckover Street

Sto

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Ge

org

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Ship

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Aired

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Chandos Street

Gu

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Stre

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Ca

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Wellingto

n Street

P

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Str

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Upper Park Gate

Scoresby Street

Otl

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Ro

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He

ap

La

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Butler Street

Nu

tta

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Hil

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Ro

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Green Street

Ne

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F iley Street

Gar

net

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St. Blaise W

ay

Snowden Str

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Hamm

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Joseph Street

Back Ashgrove Way

Wes

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Stre

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Ak

am

Ro

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City Road

Gracechurc

h Stre

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escent

Croft Street

Senior Way

Sa

ck

vil

le S

tre

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Thornton Road

Thornton Road

Piece H

all Yard

Kirkgate

Ivegate

Tyrr

el

Stre

et

Darley Street

Hustlergate Bank Street

Sunbridge Road

Raw

son Place

Qu

eensgate

Ban

k Street

Charles Street

Bro

adw

ay

Bac

k C

hap

el S

tre

et

Duke Street

No

rth Parade

Wakefield Road

Listerhills Road

Easby Road

Great Horto

n Road

Ne

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Stre

et

R ichmond R

oa

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Rich

mo

nd

Ro

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N

eal Street

Hey Street

Eldon Place

Jo

we

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Ru

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Ha

ll La

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Trafalger Street

Hamm

erton Street

Hin

d St

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Ba

ck

R

Lit

tle

Ho

rto

n L

an

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CityHall

St. George’sHall

CrownCourt

The LeisureExchange

The WoolExchange

Sunbridge Wells

AlhambraTheatre

Science and MediaMuseum

Ice RinkLocal StudiesLibrary

City Park

CityLibrary

KirkgateCentre & Market

TheBroadway

ImpressionsGallery

BradfordCathedral

BradfordPlayhouse

PoliceStation

BradfordCollege

Universityof Bradford

MagistratesCourt

Bradford InterchangeRailway & Bus Station

Forster SquareRailway Station

Forster SquareShopping Park

BritanniaHouse

TheGreen Visitor Information

Citizens AdviceBureau

North Parade

KalaSangam

The Pavilion

Sharpe Street

CrownCourt

Westgate

The LeisureExchange

Hall Ings

PBurnett Street

TheBazaar

JacobsWell

Little Germany

Southgate

Oastler Centre& Market

P

P

T

Spin

k St

. White Abbey Road

Har

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Ga

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Longlands St.

West

end Str

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Back Roundhill Pl.Silsbridge St.

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ide

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Melbourne Terrac

So

uth

brook Tr.

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este

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Alb

ion

Str

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Glydegate

Pictureville

Southg a t e

Mille

rgate

Bridge Street

No

rfo

lk G

dn

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Channing W

ay

W

illia

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t.

Kent St.

Croft Street

Senior Way

P o rtla

nd

Street

St. B

laise

Ct.

Reyhill Grove

Sw

an

St.

Bower S tre

et

Adelaide Street

Cli ord Street

Bedford Street

Carter S

tree

t

Hardy Street

Broom St

Granby Street

Ebenezer Street

Great Cross St.

West St.

Ca

rro

ll S

tre

et

We

nlo

ck

Str

ee

t

Cater St.

Hick St.

Aked St.Vic

ar L

ane

Humboldt St.

Man

nin

gh

am Lan

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Inke

rsley R

oad

Rawson Road

Hallgate

Grammar S

chool St.

Stone S

treet

Mid d le St.

Broad S

t.

North Holme St.

North B

rook

Street W

ha

rf Stre

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Tyne

Stree

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Wap

pin

g R

oad

No

rth

Win

g

Kendra Way

Ariba Ave.

Upper Pic

cadilly

Northgate

Ja

me

sga

te Duckett Lane

Commerce

Balme St.

Cathedral Clo s e

Jermyn St.

Wellesley St.

Ko

mla C

l.

An

ne

Gat e

Ea

st P

ara

de

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ap

St.

Butler St. W.

R a wso n Square

Croft Street

Cli ord Street

Vin

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Str

ee

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Up

pe

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ille

rga

te

Grattan Road

Dryden Street

Street

Cro

ss

Wellin

gto

n St.

Hamm Strasse Va

lley R

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d

He

ap

La

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North

Stre

et

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tree

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Baptist Cou

rt

No

rthg

ateVaughan S

treet

Mannville Terrace

Little

Ho

rto

n L

ane

Chain Street

Ma

nc

he

ster R

oa

d

N

Male & Female Toilet Facilities

Disabled Toilet Facilities

Baby Changing Facilities

Changing Places Toilet

Shopmobility

Main car parks shown - Jacobs Well is temporary; evenings and weekends onlyP

Main Crossing PointsTAXIS 24hr Taxi Rank

Airport Link Bus Service

Buses not stopping at the Interchange use Hall Ings and Market Street

Location of Information Pointsi

Station walking routeFollow pavement markers

Selected Key

203 Businesses surveyed

78%Businesses in favour of a BID

1.25%Proposed levy fee

£12,000 Exemption level

5 Years

Dec ‘18BID launch date

01

02

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Feasibility Study Report14

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At this preliminary stage, the recommended levy is considered to offer the best balance of income with a manageable size of BID. Specifically, our recommendation is a levy rate of 1.25%, together with our recommendations that an exemption be applied to any premises with a rateable value below £12,000 and the suggestion that levy reduction of 25% is applied to tenants of managed centres who pay a service charge. We would, however, emphasise that all of these recommendations should be subject to further testing and refinement through subsequent detailed business consultation.

To succeed in a BID ballot, a majority of total votes and total Rateable Value needs to be achieved and we consider that our recommendations would ensure a good mix of small and large businesses in the BID area.

A BID generally takes the form of a five-year proposal, although a very few have been set up for shorter periods. We suggest that a BID for Bradford be considered for a five-year period to allow the maximum amount of time for the BID projects to become accepted, actioned and generate positive results.

BIDs are run as non-profit making organisations and so the budget within any BID business plan will propose income being equal to expenditure over the life of the BID period. Furthermore, BIDs operate as very lean organisations, with typically no more than 20% of expenditure being used for operating costs, meaning that the majority of BID expenditure is on improvement projects.

The bulk of BID income is derived from the Business Levy and it is prudent to set an anticipated collection rate of between 95%-98% depending on the view of the Local Billing Authority. Although, BIDs have been proven to generate significant additional income in the form of grants, sponsorships, voluntary business contributions and trading activities as they develop, with the likelihood that a BID would generate an additional 10-20% of income by the end of its first five-year term. Patently, the more additional income that can be generated over and above the levy, the better and more effective the additional activity programme can be and the better the return on investment provided to each levy payer.

C O M PA R I S O N W I T H E S TA B L I S H E D B I D S

F I N A N C I A L I N C O M E M O D E L L I N G

The following BIDs are considered to represent a good comparable sample range to Bradford in terms of geographical location, BID levy percentage and overall income.

City RV Levy % Levy Payers Indicative Levy Income

Halifax 1.75 654 427,000

Manchester 1.4 400 970,000

Leeds 1.25 1,090 2,000,000

Wakefield 1.25 482 282,000

Liverpool 1.2 890 720,000

Sheffield 1.0 500 847,000

York 1.0 900 790,000

Hull 1.0 1,148 460,000

Bradford (proposed) 1.25 585 419,344

Average of the above 1.23 739 768,372

BIDs are run as non-profit making organisations and so the budget within any BID business plan will propose income being equal to expenditure over the life of the BID period.

L E V Y O P T I O N S F O R T H E B I D A R E A

We have chosen to model scenarios in the range of 1% to 1.75% as these rates will give sufficient funding to achieve a fairly ambitious portfolio of projects, as hinted at by the survey returns.

In Bradford’s case, our detailed examination of the RV listing suggests that approximately 1,350 businesses in the proposed area would be under the suggested threshold and their annual BID levy would have generated approximately £75,000 per year. We anticipate that some of this number may voluntarily contribute towards any BID - setting a threshold does not exclude any business from playing an active part in a BID if the owners/ occupiers choose to do so.

The latest ratings information has been applied in order to determine a range of possible levies and corresponding incomes per year and these, as well as a total income figure for the five-year period, are shown as follows:

Standard levy (%) Reduced levy (%) Total levy income

1 0.75 £335,475

1.05 0.7875 £352,249

1.1 0.825 £369,023

1.15 0.8625 £385,796

1.2 0.9 £402,570

1.25 0.9375 £419,344

1.3 0.975 £436,118

1.35 1.0125 £452,891

1.4 1.05 £469,665

1.45 1.0875 £486,439

1.5 1.125 £503,213

1.55 1.1625 £519,986

1.6 1.2 £536,760

1.65 1.2375 £553,534

1.7 1.275 £570,308

1.75 1.3125 £587,081

Bradford faces the challenge of a combined Rateable Value of the City Centre yielding a very modest sum if a 1% levy is applied. It is therefore very important that the levy chosen for Bradford generates sufficient income to deliver the major improvements which have been identified.


L I K E LY V OT I N G PAT T E R N S

Whilst it is difficult to anticipate the voting patterns of all the businesses in the likely BID area, the survey suggests that there is considerable support for a BID in Bradford, with 70% of businesses responding positively to this survey question.

In addition, Heartflood have extensive recent experience of leading successful BID projects and so are aware of the contacts and likely voting patterns for a significant number of the national multiple businesses, with a number of the known supportive organisations trading in Bradford.

The result of this survey combined with the presence of a number of known positive BID voters suggests the strong likelihood that a BID could be created here within the next year.

N E X T S T E P S

Our experience is that the timescale and workload for a BID proposal is approximately 9-12 months.

The vast majority of BID ballots have been successful.

The basic inherent risk in any BID process is that the ballot is rejected, by failing to gain the required majority of votes cast or failing to gain the majority of the aggregate Rateable Value of votes cast.

The vast majority of BID ballots have been successful. Certainly, all that Heartflood have recently been involved with (in Cheltenham, Hastings, Hereford, Stratford upon Avon and Worcester) have been successful, although the Client should be aware that the risk always exists of a BID ballot being unsuccessful. This can result in:

• Zero return on the significant investment of time, effort, energy and money in developing the BID proposal

• Loss of reputation and credibility of the organisation(s) proposing and championing the BID process

• An informal requirement for a cooling-off period of at least 2-3 years before any reattempt is made to develop a BID within the City

An additional risk is the potential for the final ballot result to be challenged through a statutory process that is contained within the legislation. Voting irregularities or lack of appropriate consultation can generate a Secretary of State appeal. To our knowledge, no BID has been quashed through this appeals process but it is very debilitating, costly and time consuming to fight and, of course erodes the five-year period of BID operation that can have lasting, long-term impact on BID achievement and subsequent success.

R I S K S

Nov 17 Nov 17 - Mar 18 April 2018

Sept 18

June 18June 18July 18

Decision taken to develop a BID proposal

Business liaison and consultation on proposed

business plan

Notification to Secretary of State and Local Authority of

intention to hold a ballot

Ballot papers issued

Formal announcement of the results of the Ballot

Provision of a definitive business plan to the Local Authority

Launch of business plan

Notice of Ballot issued

56

7

4

1 2 3


R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S

Having considered the survey returns and mulled over the outcome in the light of our extensive, combined experience, our key recommendations are as follows:

• Bradford moves immediately towards detailed consultation and ultimately the production of a draft BID business plan

• A timescale is adopted with a view to a BID ballot taking place in Bradford in Autumn 2018 and a BID operating from December 2018, subject to a positive vote

• Further extensive consultation is carried out with the City Centre Business Community around the following outline proposals:

a) The BID boundary to cover the designated area defined on page 12

b) A 1.25% BID levy being proposed

c) A reduced rate of 1% to be proposed for premises within managed centres who already pay a service charge

d) A BID term to be proposed to cover the maximum period of five years

e) Priority projects be drawn up into a draft business plan should focus on:

1. Deliver a strategy to reduce the number of empty shops

2. Projects to encourage investment into Bradford

3. Marketing and promotion to project the City to a far wider audience

4. More major city centre events or festivals

5. Street cleansing & street washing, to include chewing gum removal

6. Improvements to problem areas, such as graffiti or fly-tipping removal

7. Security improvements, possibly to include more policing

8. Greater lobbying, representation and championing of the City

9. New seasonal events, including more Christmas activities

10. Daytime wardens/hosts/ambassadors

11. Evening wardens/marshals/pastors

12. Street markets

13. Evening economy projects, possibly to gain national accreditation

14. Physical improvements to paving, landscaping and street furniture

15. City centre street entertainment

These recommendations would result in the following:

o 585 eligible business premises being part of a BID

o Annual BID Levy income of the order of £419,344

o Total BID over a five-year BID term will be close to £2,096,720





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