FEBRUARY INSIGHTS BY CHRIS TURNER

Welcome to the February Insight. The weather and the economy remain a little grim but there are emerging flashes of sunshine in both and some interesting stories that we pick up below.

As ever, Ballots continue and it is pleasing to see successes in the Linen Quarter, InStreatham, Bognor and Coventry BID ballots. There are another five ballot results before the end of this month.

The recent changes to Business Rates, coming into force on April 1 this year, have been trailed for some time and are having very different impacts on BIDs. The national data show a 7.1% increase in rateable values, but this obscures the variations by the type of business, with some major reductions in the business rates of retail units on the high street. The full data can be viewed here. This, although extremely useful for our levy payers across the country, has resulted in some BIDs seeing noticeable reductions in levy income, with others seeing growth. British BIDS had a webinar on this before Christmas and is planning a further one in March to bring together some of the data and the narratives of how BIDs have responded. For some BIDs, the dramatic changes in permitted development rights has meant that the move from business to residential in their BID area has also had an impact.

Many of us are facing pressures in our BIDs of more clean and green spaces in relation to traffic flows, car parking and pollution. Data suggest that the expansion of London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has led to a drastic reduction in harmful air pollution, a City Hall report has found. Toxic nitrogen dioxide concentrations are estimated to be 46% lower in central London and 21% lower in inner London than they would have been without the ULEZ. In a bid to tackle the capital's pollution, the zone was expanded to the North and South Circular Roads in October 2021. It now covers around four million people - roughly 44% of London's population. Any car entering the ULEZ that does not meet minimum emission standards must pay a daily levy of £12.50. Read the full article here.

Many of us have heard Wayne Hemingway’s passionate support for charity shops as part of the retail experience and what is billed as the UK's first multi-charity store has now opened to shoppers. CharitySuper.Mkt at Brent Cross Shopping Centre sells donated clothing supplied by 10 UK charities, including Barnardo's and Cancer Research. It comes as second-hand fashion is gaining in popularity amid the rising cost of living and a higher demand for sustainable shopping. The pop-up store, which is staffed by volunteers, will be open for a month at the north London shopping centre. The department store is the brainchild of Wayne Hemingway, founder of the Red or Dead fashion brand, and Maria Chenoweth, the CEO of TRAID (Textile Reuse and International Development).

Who won the Christmas retail battles? YouGov tracks the brands and retailers in the UK that have made the biggest impact on consumers in terms of the ads they’ve noticed during the Christmas season and the brands they’re talking about with friends and loved ones. The data comes from YouGov BrandIndex, a daily tracker of consumers’ perceptions towards more than 27,000 brands globally. In the analysis, they highlight brands from key categories such as Grocery, General Retail, and Fashion and Beauty. They also examine brands such as Coca-Cola, Disney+, and McDonald’s, that typically make big media investments during this period. This is always a good read for BIDS, to see what is happening in the general market place, and who has spaces in our own BIDs.

There continues to be good stories out there as retailers bounce back from administration. HMV revealed it was back in the black earlier this month for the first time since it was bought out of administration by Sunrise Records owner Doug Putman in 2019. The Retail Gazette takes a look at six other retailers that have returned to growth after going bust, including Homebase, Mamas and Papas and Monsoon, Accessorize. Read the full story is here.

According to the British Parking Association, there are approximately 17,000 local authority run car parks in the UK. The majority only tend to charge between the hours of 8am to 6pm and due to the growth of hybrid working and online shopping, parking numbers are dwindling – averaging around 80% occupancy during peak times in 2022, with experts estimating that will fall to 60% in 2023. Whilst some councils will be resigned to their losses, others are blazing a trail – exploring how this real estate can be better commercialised to their advantage. The electric vehicles market is experiencing enormous growth – with the volume of cars on UK roads expected to hit 60% in 2030, up from 14% in 2022. On paper, this figure is inspiring – going a long way towards supporting the Government’s net zero targets, but in reality the need for better charging infrastructure has never been more evident. Car parks provide an ideal solution for helping meet this growing demand, and while you may already see two or three EV charge points at council-run locations, there is a great deal more that can be done – particularly when recent reports highlight that there are only 36,752 EV parking ports in existence, with a considerable number of them in out-of-town locations. BIDs clearly will need to become part of this conversation on better

Free listings available on the leading UK festival calendar. With the funding and staging of festivals and events being central to many BID business plans, it's important that people know they are happening. Hastings BID manager, John Bownas, has been running what is possibly the largest UK database and calendar of festivals for several years now, and has recently given the website a revamp, meaning it now takes just two minutes to add new events to the website - free of charge. He said: "Festivals have been a bit of a passion of mine since I first discovered Glastonbury back in the early 90s and I've run several myself as well as booking bands and managing stages at others, so I know how much hard work goes into them. That's why I've made it as simple as possible for people to get them listed and visible." The website (www.festivalflyer.com) shows month-by-month calendars as well as maps to make it easy to find what's on in any area at any given time. Last year there were over 1,000 events on the database, and that number is expected to grow in 2023. The free listings form can be found at here.

British BIDs events and training continue to grow and develop, with both the Certificate in BID Management and the Diploma in BID Leadership refreshed, and a new group of five virtual workshops in communications joining the ten Online Academy Training courses. The 2023 CIBM started last week with a great new cohort of students joining the 120 alumni we have had over the past decade. Further information is here and Shayni Langhelt is always happy to speak to people on Shayni.langhelt@britshbids.info or 07971 071921.

Professor Christopher Turner, Chief Executive, British BIDs