Long familiar in the U.S. and Canada, business improvement districts (BIDs) this month celebrate 20 years of existence in the U.K.. They are not universally admired — detractors claim that they are not democratic and provide services that should be carried out by local authorities — but British BIDs, the body that acts on behalf of the industry, reports that earlier this year there were 341 BIDs across Britain, representing just under 136,000 businesses and contributing more than £154 million ($195 million) to their communities, compared with £150,100,000 last year. According to its report, 12 new BIDs came through ballots in the 12 months to March 2024, while another 57 were reported to be in development across the British Isles.
Unsurprisingly, most BIDs exist in town and city centres, with London alone accounting for 70, but they also cover other industrial, commercial and mixed-use areas. With local authorities increasingly stretched financially, the sorts of services that make locations attractive to residents, businesses and visitors alike are generally among the first to be cut. So there is a certain self-interest in businesses stepping in to fill the gap. Furthermore, governments increasingly aware of the constraints on their resources are becoming more prepared to talk about partnerships between the public and private sectors.
But, if scepticism about the corporate takeover of what might be termed the public realm is to be overcome, it is important that development schemes go a long way towards reflecting the fundamental characters of the areas as well as offering the clean, green and safe agendas that make them attractive for commercial interests. Donald Hyslop is chair of Better Bankside, a BID that was one of the UK’s pilot schemes and covers a large area to the south of London’s River Thames that — perhaps with the exception of the National Theatre and other cultural attractions of the South Bank Centre — was until a couple of decades ago not deemed worth visiting for residents north of the river. He points out that in the time the BID has been in existence a number of high-profile businesses, such as Omnicom and WPP, have opened premises there, while cultural attractions, including Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe and Borough Market, have flourished. But he stresses that “what makes cities interesting is diversity,” and adds that the aim of the BID is to build on that and retain it. He likes to think that, while he and his colleagues are doing a lot to make the area cleaner and safer they are anxious not to detract from its character or to rip up the narrow streets that are part of the charm. “It’s partly about doing it incrementally,” he says. “Doing it through people and through indicative projects.”
The extent to which the board has convinced those involved that they are truly part of a developing ecosystem rather than subject to the sort of master plans that plagued past efforts to clean up disadvantaged areas is apparent from the results of the latest ballot, which has just backed the Bankside BID for another five-year term. BIDs are not-for-profit companies funded by those who live and work in them via a levy based on the rateable value of their properties. These same people have a vote every five years that decides whether the scheme will continue and if so with what budget.
Hyslop, who has worked as a consultant and adviser on social and urban developments around the world, sees one of the strengths of BIDs as being that “they get better with maturity.” Elections every five years mean that they cannot be complacent. At the same time, people who might question an increasing role for business in such matters as the creation and preservation of parks and open spaces need to realize that the days of local authorities with extensive budgets for such things as planting and maintaining flower beds have long gone, and that in this case what is good for business should also be good for everybody else.
It is also worth bearing in mind that in these post-Covid days, many organizations are struggling to encourage employees into the workspace. Being able to point to an interesting, vibrant and safe environment around the office can be a powerful incentive and one that many employers will find it worth contributing towards.
This post was originally published on here
