Leading the BID industry
Leading the BID industry
Only a month ago, in the September Insight, we were speaking of a new Prime Minister and Chancellor, with a new growth strategy! Much has clearly changed and continues to change. BIDs are having to keep abreast of the developments as they affect our levy payers, their energy bills and mortgages and also their customer and clients' incomes. For those who haven’t managed to keep up with it all, the BBC as ever is a pretty comprehensive source. As you know, the commentators are suggesting that it looks as if things are going to get a great deal worse until they hopefully start to get a little better, find out more here.
The business responses to all these major twists and turns have been pretty blunt. Business leaders are calling for more stability after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's mini-Budget bonfire and want a clear roadmap out of the economic turmoil. Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said that the Government once again risks a 'cliff-edge' by scaling back on the energy support pledge which will only target the most vulnerable after April. David Hudson, restructuring advisory partner at FRP, said: "After all the disruption of the last few weeks, these latest changes bring the picture for businesses nearly completely back to its starting point. "Management teams will have picked-up on the Chancellor’s warnings that there will be more difficult decisions for the Exchequer in the months ahead, heralding the potential further changes to come." Tim Sarson, Head of Tax Policy at KPMG UK, said the statement may bring a 'period of calm' to tax policy. He said the new Chancellor is looking to prioritise market stability over growth for the short to medium term. The largest fiscal announcement in the new Chancellor’s statement was a Treasury led review into how to support households and businesses beyond April 2023 in relation to energy prices. And he pointed out one noticeable absence from the announcement was any comment on investment zones, a key pillar of the Prime Minister’s leadership campaign.
One key part of the current government policy that has been supported and taken forward by some BIDs has been the Levelling Up agenda and the Prime Minister is clearly looking at ways to finesse that, find out more here. The government’s proposed new investment zones would be central to achieving levelling up and some BIDs are involved in these. Apparently, Councils and combined authorities have submitted “hundreds” of investment zone bids the levelling up secretary revealed, as he promised that the Treasury would find new money to support their implementation.
Everyone who overnights in Wales, whether it be in a luxury hotel, a cosy holiday cottage or the most basic campsite, may face a “visitor levy” under a hugely controversial Welsh government scheme, you can read more here. The Welsh government has launched a consultation on the proposal that could result in almost all visitors – including Welsh residents staying away from home – being taxed for their stays. It argues that the idea is to raise money that local authorities will be able to reinvest to improve tourist spots and engender a feeling of “shared responsibility” between residents and visitors. The proposals have been fiercely criticised by many tourism businesses who worry a levy could make Wales seem less welcoming, especially as the consultation comes at a time of the cost-of-living crisis. There is no denying that such a levy exists across much of continental Europe, but of course BIDs are very rare there; many would see a BID as a far more useful solution to the problem.
Business Rates and the outcome of the 2022 revaluation is fast approaching for the 2023 business rate bills https://avison-young.foleon.co.... The government is able to keep the tax take from Business Rates constant by amending the Universal Business Rate [UBR] to ensure ‘fiscal neutrality’ across the country. It was expected that the English Uniform Business Rate (UBR) would rise to 50.7p. However, the UBR estimate has now been upgraded to 52.5p from April 2023. These calculations reflect the Chancellor's decision to freeze the inflationary increase applied to calculate the 22/23 UBR. The biggest increases will be in the industrial sector, in particular logistics, with values increasing by 23.2% across England. Retail will see dramatic falls in rateable values, fuelled by the growth of online sales and the resultant decline of traditional retail. However, strong variations between the retail sub-sectors (high street, retail parks and supermarkets) will be seen. Overall, the decline for retail businesses across England averages 25.7%. The office sector is showing limited growth between the two revaluations. A minimal uplift of 4.3% nationally is expected. Many BID levy payers will be affected by these changes, as will many BIDs, as the rateable values in the 2022 review affect those BID arrangements linked to the new 2023 lists.
The government Start Up Loan fund has been increased and widened, with 33,000 new loans for small businesses under the £900 million government scheme for businesses trading for up to 3 years. Start Up Loans provide a fixed interest rate of 6%, as well as mentoring, support and funding to aspiring business owners across the UK, providing support to those who might find it difficult to secure loans from traditional lenders. Alongside this, a new second loan will be available to businesses operating for up to 5 years, providing eligible businesses between 3 and 5 years old a much-needed government-backed finance to support their expansion at a crucial juncture.
It was good to read in Hansard that Dehenna Davison, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) announced that “Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have a significant role to play in regeneration of high streets and towns across England. Published in April 2022, British BIDs’ spring report states that BIDs contribute approximately £145 million each year to their communities. Many BIDs deliver a range of projects which help to regenerate the local area, from funding ambassadors to act as a visible and welcoming presence on city streets, to undertaking projects which help to keep the BID area clean and safe.”
Ballots continue, despite the difficulties of Postal Strikes that are affecting many of them. We wrote directly to the fifteen or so BIDs that are in ballot at the moment. Congratulations to seven BIDs: Huntingdon First, BID Clifton Village, Durham BID, Bristol City Centre, Wilmslow BID, Bishops Stortford and Penge BID on their successful ballot results. Unfortunately Rediscover Peterhead has been unsuccessful in their ballot.
We have two major contributions on BIDs and Crime at our National BIDs Conference on November 3, and the Police have suggested that, following the success of Operation London Bridge after the death of her majesty the Queen, where they say that the assistance and support provided by BIDs and BCRPs was outstanding, they would like to build on this success for general business matters and of course for future major events. They propose to trial a monthly drop in (online) meeting where members of their team will be available to answer any questions raised by BIDs, you will be able to drop in and out as you wish. The first 2 will take place Thursday 3rd November and 1st December 1000-1200 via this link: click here to join the meeting.
As ever, the British BIDs training programme continues, the details and dates are here and do please contact either I or Shayni Langhelt on shayni.langhelt@britishbids.info for more details.
Professor Christopher Turner, Chief Executive, British BIDs
