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Updates

Industry insights and news including Bb Chief Executive Professor Chris Turner's observations, thoughts, updates and announcements can be found below.

£1bn Towns Fund for 45 areas in England announced

Yesterday (3rd March 2021), Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced £1bn towards 45 areas of England as part of his 2021 Budget. The government said the money would help to "level up" towns and aid recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.  We are delighted at the news of these areas receiving the fund and...

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February ballot results – a congratulations from the British BIDs team

Since England went into its second lockdown almost three months ago (January 5th), we have seen several BIDs achieve a successful ballot. This is such brilliant news for our industry, and each week we put the spotlight on those BIDs and send our congratulations to each and every one of...

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February's Insight from Chris Turner

This has been a phenomenally busy month for BIDs across the country, with work on ballots, levy collection, government support, future planning for town centres, and permitted development rights. Some 38 BIDs are planning for their ballots before the end of March. We know that a few BIDs have already...

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Letter on proposed new Permitted Development Rights

We are determined that the government reconsiders its plans to extend permitted development rights which would mean that shops, restaurants and gyms can be converted to housing without any planning permission.  We have been working with fellow business organisations on this issue and signed the letter to Robert Jenrick which can be seen...

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Watford BID overcoming the challenges to secure a ‘YES’ vote

We are delighted at the recent news of Watford BID achieving a successful renewal ballot this month and we send our congratulations to the team! Businesses in Watford have noticed the invaluable work that has been actioned by the BID not only over the last five years, but especially since...

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BID ballots during lockdown

By Ben Collins, Client Relationship Manager I recently had the pleasure of catching up with Lucy Stanford and Carla Jones, the BID Managers for Nottingham and Newquay respectively, for the latest British BIDs podcast recording. The topic of discussion was ‘BID Ballots during lockdown’, with both Lucy and Carla steering their...

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Business Interruption Policy Checker, Christmas Support Payments and Lockdown Guidance and elections

Business Interruption Policy Checker The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has produced a Policy Checker which details the process businesses should follow to check whether their insurance policy covers business interruption losses due to Covid-19. It is important to note that each claim will still need to be individually considered to...

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The headlines are gloomy, but our future evolved local high street looks exciting

By Fiona Wright, Director There’s been lots of doom and gloom in the news lately about the state of our high street. Headlines from just the past week tell us that the high street ‘crisis deepens’; consumers ‘see the end of the high street’; and our laziness has ‘killed the...

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As we lose a retail icon, we must embrace the change

By Chris Turner, Chief Executive, British BIDs We start the week with our high street losing one of its most iconic and loved brands to the digital world. Fashion retailer Boohoo has bought Debenhams for £55 million - however it is not taking on any of the 118 bricks and...

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January's Insight from Chris Turner

BIDs start the year as busy as ever, with a national lockdown, new grants on offer to our levy payers, five ballots taking place this month and another forty before the end of March. Speaking to the BIDs concerned there is sense that running a ballot in full lockdown isn't...

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