16/09/2015 – E-Bulletin: Gull Sacks, Training, Google Business View & More

We have undertaken a trial with a few selected businesses who were having problems in the High Street with gulls (and possibly revellers) opening up the plastic bags of waste left out overnight and awaiting collection. We piloted a scheme where each business was given a gull proof bag into which up to 6 waste bags were placed and the feedback so far has been excellent. Therefore we are now rolling this out to other businesses who would benefit from having these bags. Please see the attached letter and form for more information and to express your interest in having a bag for your premises.

First Aid Course

Due to last minute cancellations we now places available on the 1 day First Aid at Work training course on Tuesday 22nd September from 9.30 – 4.30.  The course is free to BID members and the elements covered are:

• Principles of first aid
• The role of the first aider
• Communicating with a casualty
• Minor Conditions (Including Minor Cuts, Grazes & Bruises, Minor Burns & Scalds and Small Splinters)
• Contents of first aid kit
• Recording  and aftercare
• Unconscious Casualty
• CPR (Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation)
• Choking
• Blood loss and shock

Please contact Hazel Shephard on 01905 731612 or email Hazel.shephard@worcesterbid.com to book or to request further information.

Following a successful pilot with 20 BID businesses last year, we are offering you the chance to have your business photographed for Google Business View free of charge. Google Business View allows people searching on the internet to see a 360 degree photographic view of your premises – useful if people want to know where they might be booking a table for a meal, the range of products on show in a retailer or simply to get a feel for an office or showroom that they may need to visit. We are offering the first 50 BID businesses who reply a chance to have their premises photographed free of charge as part of being a BID member. Simply email hazel.shephard@worcesterbid.com with the subject heading ‘Google Business View’ along with your contact details and we will be in touch.

Great examples of how the photography looks from businesses in the city centre who benefitted from the pilot last year are available here : Kings Gallery, New Street, Jingo, Pump Street, Embrace, Reindeer Court

We are looking to provide Worcester BID businesses with a free or heavily subsidised (depending on demand) confidential paper shredding service. If you are interested in finding out more, please complete our Expression of Interest Form and we will follow this up with you.

CityNet and NightSafe members (who get their membership free through the BID) will be aware that we are switching over the radio system from analogue to digital and the costs of hiring the radios will be a lot less than at present. With an exact date set for the launch to be confirmed later this week but likely to be week commencing 28^th September we are keen to hear from anyone who might be interested in joining either scheme. CityNet is the daytime crime reduction partnership which the BID manages and administers and we share intelligence with the Police, CCTV and fellow businesses on known offenders, latest activities and things to look out for via the networked radio system as well as regular intelligence meetings. NightSafe is for the licensed trade and works in much the same way. If you want to know more on CityNet and the new radio system, please inform Jack Hince, BID Crime Reduction Manager on 01905 731612 (Wed- Fri). Digital radios will certainly make communicating a lot easier with better evidence from it being able to be used in Court as well.

Don’t forget that there is still time to submit your own comments (and see others) regarding the Worcester Woods Retail Park development. There is no set date yet for the application to be heard at the City Council’s Planning Committee, but we will keep you informed. To make your comments online – visit here

Chesters Restaurant in New Street have are set to save over £5,000 per year in their gas and electricity bills thanks to the Worcester BID project. Working with BCR Associates this is a scheme that has proved very successful for some BID businesses who have expressed an interest in seeing if they can reduce their overheads. To see the media release about Owner Duncan Minshall’s reaction, click here. Contact info@worcesterbid.com or call a Street Ranger on 07982 405009 if you would like more details.

The Hive are running a Strategies for Growth (Best Ways to Grow Your Business) event with experts ActionCoach next week. Please see event brief attached. The event will run at 4pm- 6pm on 22^nd September and limited places remain and can be booked via http://www.thehiveworcester.org/business-events.html

Thanks to over 50 BID businesses who have submitted offers to students as the new academic year begins. We have collated these (see the dedicated page on our website) but please let us know if you still want to promote your own offers at a later date and we will update this and our dedicated Twitter and Facebook pages. We attended the very successful Heart of Worcestershire College Freshers Fair last week and we are off to the University next Monday to help promote you all.

Do you want to know how footfall is faring in the city centre? Don’t forget that Worcester BID provides you with free weekly footfall information to help you measure the performance in your premises against that for the city centre. If you are interested in receiving these, please contact Hazel Shephard on 01905 731612 or email hazel.shephard@worcesterbid.com

Finally we will be saying goodbye to Street Ranger Karl Turner who leaves his post on Saturday to become a Trainee NVQ Assessor. Karl has been with the Worcester BID for just over 2 years and we wish him well. His replacement (Monday to Friday) will be Anna Humphries who returns to Worcester BID having been a Street Ranger in 2012-13. Anna starts on Monday where her first task will be promoting city centre businesses and their offers at the University of Worcester Freshers Fair. Anna can be reached on 07757 463992 or bidranger2@gmail.com . For full details of who is who in the Worcester BID team, click here.

WORCESTER LIVE invites you to an Arts and Business Evening on the 29th September 2015 at 6.00pm at the Swan Theatre.  Come and Join them for a drink, some food and a taste of what they produce, for further information please click here.

Do you fancy volunteering and being part of the official sportive of the Tour of Britain? 25 volunteers from across the County are being sought after for the Worcestershire Aviva Tour Ride, the official sportive of the Tour of Britain which takes place on Sunday 4 October.

Selected volunteers will be provided with a volunteer’s jacket, lunch and the opportunity to be part of yet another memorable mass-participation cycling event in the County with participants choosing from 100 mile, 75 mile and 40 mile routes with a Family Ride also being held. Former World Champion and four times individual pursuit gold medallist, Hugh Porter MBE, will also be participating in this year’s event, cycling the 40 mile route. Volunteers will be needed to assist with registration, the start and finish areas, crossing points, way finding, car parks and ‘feed zones’. Those interested in volunteering at the upcoming Worcestershire Aviva Tour Ride are being encouraged to get in touch with the event hosts Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership quickly in order to secure their preferred available voluntary role.

Recognising the economic benefit of high profile sporting events, with last year’s stage 4 of The Tour of Britain bringing nearly £1m to local businesses, the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership is working with organisers and partners to host this mass-participation cycling event. If you are over the age of 16 and interested in volunteering at the Worcestershire Aviva Tour Ride or have any questions about volunteering, please email enquiries@wlep.co.uk with your name, contact details and any previous experience or phone 01905 672700 as soon as possible.

Participation in the event is open to both residents and businesses and costs £26 to enter. To register for the event, visit the Aviva Tour Ride website at www.tourride.co.uk.