Christchurch BID Steering Group

Christchurch BID Steering Group is pleased to announce that the Business Improvement District (BID) for Christchurch town centre is now underway, with the BID having taken place October 2021, and the BID has been approved.

We feel this step forward for the town could have significant positive benefits for businesses and create a new way of providing support at a crucial time for the High Street.

A BID is a business-led and business-funded body formed to improve a specific commercial area, in this case Christchurch town centre. Most are governed by a board made up of businesses who represent the BID area, which means that businesses and organisations have a genuine voice and decide and direct what they want for the town.

The following are intended to answer a few common questions, although please contact us if you have any further queries.

There are more than 300 BIDs already operating across the UK and the benefits which have been widely reported include:

A BID is funded by businesses voting to pay a small proportion of their business rateable value on a package of improvements and this money is then ring-fenced for use only in the BID area. A BID can only be formed following consultation and a ballot in which businesses vote on a Business Plan which they have developed.

Businesses in Christchurch have indicated that they would support a levy of 1.75% and any tenant of a managed centre who are subject to a service charge would pay a reduced rate of 1.3% to reflect the fact that their service charge covers some of the services which would be provided by the BID. It may also be worth pointing out that this means that 60% of all eligible businesses would pay less than a pound per day for the BID and very small businesses, with rateable values of less than £5,000 would not be liable to pay the BID levy.

Detailed consultation has resulted in a proposed BID area of approximately 270 businesses, which would generate approximately £130,000 per year, and which we would also expect to be supplemented by contributions from local businesses outside the town centre, as well as other funding sources. It is proposed that the BID would initially operate for 5 years, meaning that approximately £650,000 of improvements would be generated for the town..

Feedback has strongly suggested that the area covered by a BID should be within the area shown as follows…

Detailed feedback has suggested that improvement plans for Christchurch should focus around the following four main themes:

Christchurch ENHANCED
Introduce a number of new and ongoing measures to improve the appearance of the town centre, so creating a much more attractive place to visit.

Christchurch ANIMATED
Ensure that new events & street entertainment are developed specifically for the town centre and that businesses benefit more from existing events.

Christchurch PROMOTED
Develop a compelling & co-ordinated strategy to take the marketing & promotion of the town to the next level.

Christchurch SUPPORTED
Ensure that everything the BID does is designed to support and develop businesses in Christchurch and create a strong local business community.

Projects around these themes are have therefore been fully detailed and costed within the Business Plan, which businesses will be voting on during September.