Certificate in BID Marketing

Simon Edward

Simon is the Former Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at IBM, and a BID Board Director. Simon is an Advisor to several marketing professional bodies, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and a Chartered Marketer. 

Philip Collins

Philip is the Writer-in-Chief at The Draft, an agency which has written for many corporate and political leaders. He is columnist on many national newspapers and was the Chief Speech Writer to the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, between 2003 and 2007.

John Thornton 

John is the Senior Creative at SURREAL and former Social Media and Copywriter at Innocent Drinks.

The cost of the course is £1,500 for Bb members, including their 25% discount. For non-members, please get in touch.

Cyril Bekoe, Ilford BID

Cyril is the BID Manager for Ilford. Cyril’s daily goal is to support the rapid evolution of Ilford and to work with the BID’s directors, major stakeholders such as the London Borough of Redbridge, businesses and the public, to share and demonstrate that Ilford is competitive destination of choice. As the Manager of the Ilford BID, Cyril and his team work diligently to raise the profile of Ilford as a place that acknowledges its history, as it forges a bright and bold future. 

Cyril has worked with SMEs, Charitable Organisations, Public Sector and Large Corporations, Including the William Hill Organisation, Europcar Ltd. and the Royal Mail Group. He has also had the privilege to serve as BID Board Director. 

Kate Keene, Coventry BID

Kate is a key member of the Marketing team for Coventry Business Improvement District (BID), where she proudly supports local businesses by promoting events, cultural activities, safety initiatives, and special offers.  

As a dedicated Coventrian, Kate works closely with the BID’s leadership, stakeholders, and community to highlight Coventry as a vibrant, diverse, and competitive destination. She ensures that the city’s rich heritage, dynamic arts scene, thriving markets, and excellent transport links are showcased, helping Coventry shine as a welcoming and forward-looking place to live, work, and visit.   

Suzy Dierckx, Winchester BID

Suzy is a dynamic Marketing & Social Media Manager at Winchester BID, where she brings her passion for storytelling and community engagement to life. As the creative force behind SociableSuzy, Suzy offers freelance marketing and social media management services tailored to the unique needs of the Winchester BID district. 

Since joining the team in 2017, Suzy has played a pivotal role in shaping and evolving the social media strategy, ensuring it aligns with the district’s business goals and event programs. In addition to her work with Winchester BID, Suzy proudly serves as an Independent Business Ambassador for Discover Winchester, where she champions the city as a premier destination. With her strategic insight and dedication, Suzy continues to elevate Winchester’s profile, fostering a vibrant and thriving business community. Suzy is excited to attend the Certificate in BID Marketing course to gain insights into strategic BID marketing, network with other BIDs, share insights and offer a soundboard to others. 

Rachael Aldridge, Central District Alliance

Rachael is Marketing Manager at Central District Alliance. She brings an extensive background in air quality, public realm and London-based regeneration projects. Rachael has worked closely with BIDs and local authorities through strategic communications and project management in her previous roles. With five years of experience in social media strategy, marketing and events, she enjoys working across sectors to amplify brand and messaging. 

Joanna Breuer, Fulham Broadway BID

Joanna is the Business Engagement Manager for Fulham Broadway BID leading all aspects of business engagement.  This includes managing the Business Crime Reduction Partnership, promoting events, training and networking ensuring that as many of our businesses can find value in our BID activities. 

Rifat Khan, Slough Town Centre BID

Having been a key member at Slough BID for the past 2 years as the Marketing Events Coordinator, Rifat’s daily mission revolves around supporting the dynamic growth of the Town Centre. Collaborating closely with BID directors, major stakeholders such as Slough Borough Council, local businesses, and the community, Rifat aims to showcase Slough as a leading destination of choice.  

Rifat pioneered the Love Slough social media platforms which have since flourished, attracting over 15,000 visits and reaching an impressive audience of 110,000.  

Rifat has also collaborated with SMEs, charitable organisations, the public sector, and the Queensmere Observatory Shopping centre, further enhancing the community’s cultural landscape. 

Melissa Hanley, One Maidstone BID

Melissa began her journey in the BID sector as a contractor Marketing & Events Assistant for One Maidstone BID in May 2022. After a successful year of events and a staff restructure, she was promoted to Marketing & Communications Manager in January 2023, where she experienced her first ballot year. In her first full year of the new BID term, Melissa concentrated on enhancing the digital marketing aspect of the business. She introduced monthly communications, newsletters, a new social media strategy, and an improved website. Her role continues to involve creating, supporting, and managing town centre events, showcasing the impressive BCRP side of the BID to levy payers, and organizing networking events, training workshops, and supporting annual business awards. 

Stephanie Vlamis, Huddersfield BID

Stephanie is the Marketing Manager at Huddersfield BID and helps develop creative projects and engage with the wonderful community of Huddersfield Town Centre. She loves to capture the people behind the businesses and showcase them to the community to build that bond between customer and owner. She works hard with the BID manager to make sure their BID key objectives (Enhance, Engage, Enterprise) are not only met but executed to the best of their abilities in everything they do for the town. She originally moved from Limassol, Cyprus to Huddersfield in 2019 to study at the University of Huddersfield and had now taken on the role of Marketing Huddersfield through the BID in May of 2024 to showcase the beautiful and historic town. 

Ryan Mitchell, Chelmsford For You

Having worked in a Marketing and Events role within the Chelmsford area over the last 10 years, Ryan joined the city’s Business Improvement District, Chelmsford For You (CFY), back in 2021. His focus was to move this activity to run internally for CFY, with the BID previously using an external marketing agency. Since joining, he has utilised his local knowledge and passion to successfully run the company’s marketing activity, building the brand and its engagement. 

Ryan is passionate about creating unique, engaging and high-quality experiences/events within Chelmsford, delivering exciting content, building relationships and engagement with levy payers and creating partnerships across Chelmsford. 

Following the brand’s growth over the last three years, earlier this year Ryan became the Marketing and Events Manager for CFY, taking over all the channels (both B2B & B2C) and delving into the overall marketing strategy, developing this and further growing the future marketing and events opportunities. 

Lois Churcher, BID Leicester

Lois is the Marketing Assistant at BID Leicester. She joined the BID in April 2023 after working for an independent BID levy paying business for 4 years. 

Lois’s role is to manage the Independent Leicester sub-brand to help promote all the fantastic and unique independent businesses the BID area offers. She loves meeting the owners and finding out about their stories. 

She looks forward to learning new skills through this course that will help me showcase the amazing work we do at BID Leicester and help promote independent businesses further. 

Luisa Huggins, Westside BID

Luisa is the Media and Communications Manager for the Westside Business Improvement District. Luisa has studied Media academically for ten years and graduated from Birmingham City University with a 2:1.

She has a passion for storytelling and working with people. She is also the mother of a 2-year-old boy, who is the centre of her world. Luisa loves the sitcom show Modern Family and is a big fan of Disney and Mamma Mia. Thai food is an all-time favourite and spending time with family!

Elaine Weir, Westside BID

Elaine is the Business Liaison Manager at Westside Business Improvement District. She has worked at the BID for just over 11 years, loves meeting new people and is passionate about Birmingham. Elaine also believes in the whole concept of BIDS and enjoys organising events and networking.

Elaine is a wife, mother, and foster carer. Children and faith are a massive part of her life. She loves music, food, family, taking pictures and laughter.