Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are an opportunity for businesses to coordinate investment in their area in a way that improves it as a place to do business.
BIDs are business-led and business-funded, not-for-profit organisations working in a defined area, set up by a ballot of businesses.
There are currently more than 300 BIDs operating across the UK, including in Colchester, Cambridge and Norwich, some of which have been around with support from local businesses for over 10 years. BIDs create significant sums of investment across the UK and put it in the hands of locally situated businesses. BIDs’ strong governance structure and income stream also make it easier to attract external and match funding.
KEY BENEFITS OF A BID
- An opportunity for businesses to make decisions about improvements in their area
- Giving businesses a strong voice in discussions about the future of their city
- A robust vehicle for implementing projects
- 5-year funding stream and staff resourcing for projects that businesses want to run
- Transparent operations and the opportunity to get involved further in a BID mean that you can be sure about where your money is being spent
- Strong governance helps to attract external funding in addition to the funding raised through the BID levy
