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Electoral Reform Services who as the independent agent for the ballot holder, carried out the BID ballot last month conveyed the following results for the Worcester BID on Friday afternoon:
Turnout – 50.2% (323 votes cast)
Those voting in favour by number – 65%
Those voting in favour by rateable value – 71%
Therefore, as the majority of businesses have voted in favour of the proposals as laid out in the Business Plan 2015-2020 both by number and rateable value, the Worcester BID will continue for another 5 years with the new term starting in April 2015.
For the media release relating to the result, please click here.
The result means that over £2 million worth of investment will take place over the next 5 years on city centre initiatives. New projects include more marketing of the city centre, spending on reducing the number of gulls in the city centre, the introduction of hanging baskets, more free training and networking events as well as schemes to reduce overheads including trade waste.
Nicki Williams, Chairman of Worcester BID said ‘We are delighted that the majority of businesses who took time to vote and have their say have decided that they want the BID to continue and deliver the projects that they wanted to see. Businesses had the opportunity to help shape the future of the city centre through our consultation events and exercises in the summer and we believe that all sectors which make up this fantastic location will benefit.’
Head of Worcester BID, Adrian Field added ‘The BID staff and Board members who are made up of people from city centre businesses have worked extremely hard in the last 4½ years to make Worcester a place which has overcome the economic downturn better than the vast majority of other places in the country. The Foodie Festival, Motor Festival, introduction of RingGo Pay for Parking, new fingerpost signage, business overhead reduction schemes, funding for CityNet and NightSafe anti crime groups, Christmas promotional campaigns and our popular Uniquely Yours book to promote independent businesses for example have all been delivered as a result of the Worcester BID. It is the businesses who make a BID successful and we are really pleased that the majority who took the time to vote in the secret ballot have clearly indicated their support for the next 5 years as there is still a lot of work to be done in order to compete with other centres.
As always, we will be delighted to meet with you to discuss face to face how the BID can help your business, and outline the plans for the new projects which will start from April next year. Planning for these activities is already underway. Our aim is to support all BID levy paying businesses, regardless of how they voted or whether they voted or not.
The current BID term finishes in March 2015 and more information on the BID including the projects it delivers can be found at www.worcesterbid.com.
