ABOUT
HUDDERSFIELD BID
A VISION FOR HUDDERSFIELD
“To develop Huddersfield into an accessible, safe, vibrant and attractive destination which celebrates its culture and heritage, serves its local business, university and residential community and is recognised nationally and internationally as a great place to be”.
CREATED BY HUDDERSFIELD BUSINESSES
What Is A BID?
A Business Improvement District (BID) is a defined geographical area within which the businesses have voted to invest collectively to improve their trading environment.
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
Since 2004, over 300 BIDs have been proposed and approved by business communities in England and Wales. These include Altrincham, Stockport, Chester, Manchester city centre, Halifax, Leeds, Birmingham and many London boroughs. There are more than 120 BID areas which have been operating for more than five years and have gone through a renewal ballot, whilst more than 30 have now entered their third term having gone through a third ballot. In most cases, BIDs going on to a second term have received an even greater endorsement in the vote than they did the first time.
TIMESPAN
The lifetime of Huddersfield BID is covered by Regulations and is set at no more than 5 years.
NOT-FOR-PROFIT
A not-for-profit company is set up and run by the businesses in the area and is responsible for ensuring that the aims and objectives of the BID Proposal are delivered.
ADDING VALUE
BIDs are about additionality. They do not replace local authority or police services but have to provide additional resource and activities to benefit the area.
Our Objectives, Making Huddersfield A Place For Everyone
The key priority areas for Huddersfield BID fall into four objectives:
Objective 1: Promotion Of A Lively Huddersfield
To create a vibrant town centre which has a strong sense of identity and a positive awareness locally, regionally and nationally.
Developing the town’s identity and branding to attract more visitors was the initiative which businesses thought would provide the greatest benefit, with 83% of businesses rating this as important. Businesses also considered having a dedicated website and social media platforms to target more customers and clients and marketing campaigns for retailers, leisure and hospitality venues as important. Both of these aspects were considered to be top twenty initiatives, with 67% and 58% of businesses respectively rating these initiatives as beneficial. 42% of businesses perceived the town to be either poor or very poor during the day. 63% of businesses thought that events and animation in the
streets and open spaces would benefit them and help to make the town a more attractive place to visit.
BID Will Spend
In Year 1
By Year 5
Over Year 5
£85,000
of businesses said that developing the town’s identity and branding to attract more visitors was important, making it the most important initiative.£88,000
of businesses mentioned that a dedicated website and social media to target more customers / clients would be a beneficial initiative.£432,000
of businesses thought the provision of events and animation in the streets would be beneficial to the vibrancy of the town centre.Objective 2: Creating An Accessible Huddersfield
To create an accessible town centre for visitors, residents and people working in and around the town centre to explore.
The accessibility of the town was considered to be of great importance, with traffic flow, parking, poor public transport provision and signage all being identified as key challenges. The most discussed issue in the workshops was actually getting into and around the town itself, and, three out of the top seven issues from the surveys ranked as poor or very poor related to parking in terms of costs and availability, particularly in the evening. 79% of businesses considered making improvements to the parking experience as being beneficial to making Huddersfield more accessible. When taking into account pedestrian access to the town, dangerous crossings with fast flowing traffic was considered as a real deterrent and 59% of businesses said improvements to the conditions of the roads and footpaths would be beneficial.
BID Will Spend
In Year 1
By Year 5
Over Year 5
£93,000
of businesses considered improving the parking experience as important in making Huddersfield more accessible.£96,000
of businesses said that improvements to the condition of roads and footpaths would be beneficial.£471,000
of businesses commented that improved public transport arrangements would be beneficial.
Objective 3: Safe And Attractive Place To Be
To develop and maintain a safe and attractive environment for visitors, residents and people working in the town centre and the immediate surrounding area to enjoy.
When considering the most beneficial initiatives for businesses, four out of the top ten all related to crime and safety and this topic was also the second most important issue discussed during the workshops. 80% of businesses rated the current levels of antisocial behaviour and begging as either poor or very poor, whilst an improved business crime prevention scheme and an extension of current CCTV monitoring and coverage was regarded as being beneficial to many. There were some aspects to the way in which the town looked which came out well, including the floral and greenery. However, there were factors which impacted upon the overall appearance including the look of derelict, vacant or old buildings of which 73% of businesses said that improving this would make Huddersfield a more attractive destination for visitors. Marketing to target and attract new businesses or investors was also considered as a top ten initiative beneficial to businesses.
BID Will Spend
In Year 1
By Year 5
Over Year 5
£130,000
of businesses rated the current levels of antisocial behaviour and begging as either poor or very poor.£135,000
of businesses felt that improving the look of derelict, vacant or old buildings would make huddersfield a more attractive destination for visitors.£661,000
of businesses said that an extension of the current cctv monitoring and coverage would be beneficial, ranking this as a top five initiative.Objective 4: A Great Business And Cultural Offer
To encourage the growth, development and investment of businesses and organisations which support the development of Huddersfield’s identity.
Seventy per cent of businesses considered marketing to attract new businesses and investment to the area as being important in continuing the development of Huddersfield’s identity whilst the way in which businesses work together was also considered to be important. A key issue identified by businesses was the range of shops in the town centre, with 61% of businesses considering this to be poor or very poor. Furthermore, things to do in the town for visitors and locals, together with things to do in the evening and events and animation, were all issues which businesses considered needing to be addressed, as they were ranked in the top twenty as being poor or very poor.
BID Will Spend
In Year 1
By Year 5
Over Year 5
£93,000
of businesses considered improving the parking experience as important in making Huddersfield more accessible.£96,000
of businesses said that improvements to the condition of roads and footpaths would be beneficial.£471,000
of businesses commented that improved public transport arrangements would be beneficial.
Huddersfield BID: Bringing everything Together
