The National BID Awards offer BIDs the opportunity to tell the industry about the projects they have delivered that they are most proud of. There are three categories; Place Marketing, Place Management and Special Recognition. Thank you to all who have entered the 2019 awards.
The 2019 Shortlist
Place Marketing
Manchester BID – Halloween in the City
For Cardiff – City of Arcades
Edinburgh West End – West End Character Project
Place Management
South Bank BID – Accessible South Bank
Sidcup BID – Showcase Sidcup
Sligo BID – Town Coach Park Facility
Special Recognition
Plymouth Waterfront – Plastic Free Plymouth Waterfront
Victoria BID – Victoria Emergency Notification System
Ipswich Central – The Ipswich Vision, 5 years on
You can read all about the 2019 shortlist here
How winners are decided
The winners of Place Marketing, Place Management and Special Recognition will be considered by the judging panel which is made up of members of the National BIDs Advisory Board (NBAB). The winner of the ‘BID Industry Favourite 2019’ award will be chosen by the public once all votes are received.
All the winners were announced at the National BIDs Conference on November 7th 2019.
View some of the entries plus the shortlist on this video:
Manchester BID – Halloween in the City
Launched in October as a city-wide celebration to welcome a broad mix of customers and encourage people to explore and stay in the city. Themes included thousands of pumpkin lanterns, spooky dog shows, greenlit iconic buildings, roaming skeleton parades, themed trick or treat trails, a giant maze haunted by ghostly creatures, live make-up displays in windows and a Capital FM music stage.
The impact from the event was huge, increasing footfall by 15% and sales by 27% across the period. And after the success, Halloween is now a fixture on the city’s civic event calendar.
Sligo BID – Town Coach Park Facility
Sligo had a negative perception in the coach sector, and being a stopping point to one of the longest touring routes in the world (The Wild Atlantic Way) this needed to be improved. The 2 year project to improve this was completed in April 2019.
Crucially, coach sector business to Sligo increased by 25% from June 2018 to June 2019 and another successful result was that Sligo was the first to be awarded the coach Friendly Destination kitemark in Ireland.
Plymouth Waterfront – Plastic Free Plymouth Waterfront
Delivered from April – June, one of the driving goals for the project was to swiftly reduce the amount of plastic litter in the public realm and marine environment around the Waterfront BID’s extensive coastline. Another goal was to position Plymouth as the vanguard city for driving change in the single-use plastics effort taking place across the nation.
Within five weeks of commencing the work, Plymouth were recognised for their partnership efforts by the Surfers Against Sewage and won the accolade of Plastic Free Plymouth Waterfront, the first city district to win the award in the UK.
South Bank BID – Accessible South Bank
With 30 million visitors a year, South Bank BID commissioned surveyors to audit the major transport hubs, attractions, venues and public spaces in the area providing Detailed Access Guides for over 50 places.
Each venue was also given access to guidance documentations with a range of solutions. The successful project has made South Bank London’s most welcoming and accessible neighbourhood.
New to 2019
This year, we have launched an additional award that allows you to vote for your favourite project of the nine shortlisted which you feel deserves to win 'BID Industry Favourite 2019'.