BLOG: At the end of a busy year…
Written by the Locus Team
Team Locus is coming to the end of its first full year of operations.
Last November we opened with a winning declaration in Ipswich, kicking off the strategy for the UK’s first Connected Town. Since then, Ipswich has been announced as one of five Power to Change Community Improvement District (CID) pilots.
We have been logging changes to the industry and find that there are now 327 BIDs, covering most areas of the UK. Most are in towns and cities and, perhaps inevitably, that is where much of our work has been focussed.
Our work has helped to renew the Business Improvement District (BID) in Cambridge with £6.5 million over the next 5-years to progress their ambitious plans to offer a world class experience for everyone. The Heart of Manchester BID now includes large office employers within an expanded area of the city. The Lowestoft Vision area will expand from the start of its new term, taking on an enhanced role as part of a town wide regeneration project.
In our view, the BID Regulations have sometimes been viewed too narrowly, and their full and intended potential has not been explored. We are using an entrepreneurial approach to developing a multi-site BID in Brentwood, Shenfield and Ingatestone. Creativity has also been used to bring about the UK’s first true Accommodation BID in Manchester (more on that one in the New Year).
Next year we have already been asked to help to develop place-based strategies for Sunderland, Billericay, South-East Suffolk, and… well, we’ll let you know soon!
We are also launching Build A BID, a brand-new online product to guide new and renewing sites through each stage and possible pitfalls of development.
2023 will kick off with a special interactive online workshop (10.00am on 15th February via Zoom) to explore ‘BIDs, national trends and the implications on Ballots’. Hosted jointly with our friends and partners at CityCo and Manchester BID, we will use the city as a case study. As CityCo CEO, Vaughan Allen, recently said: “a lot of the basic rules on BID ballot campaigns no longer apply.”
If you’d like to find out more about how BID development in Manchester has succeeded in 2022, and what tips you might want to use in your location, attendance is free of charge – just click to book here.
In the meantime, thank you to all our partners – past, present and those yet to come.
Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year!