Leading the BID industry
Leading the BID industry
Monday 9th February, 2026 - 2pm
Every three years the Valuation Office Agency updates the rateable values of over two million commercial properties in England and Wales. This process is known as a revaluation, with the latest coming into effect on 1st April. In our next British BIDs webinar Paul Philips, Director of Non-Domestic Revaluation at the Valuation Office Agency, will explain the latest changes across regions and sectors and discuss everything businesses need to know about the process. We will also look at the implications for BIDs and how they should be preparing.
This webinar follows Paul’s session at last year’s National BIDs Conference where the date for the business rate draft levels was announced.
As announced in the run up to the budget last year, England’s 16 Mayoral Strategic authorities will be able to invest in transport, infrastructure, and the visitor economy through a new levy on overnight stays. The fee will apply to visitors’ overnight trips, and it will be up to Mayors and other local leaders to introduce a modest charge if it’s right for their area. The move would ensure UK Mayors have the same powers as their counterparts in cities like New York, Paris and Milan, where charges on short-term trips are already commonplace. This will also mirror the existing legislation in Scotland and Wales.
The government wants the levy to apply to virtually all types of short-term commercially let visitor accommodation used by leisure or business visitors, regardless of size, price, or booking method. Examples of accommodation that would attract the levy include hotels, Guest Houses, B&Bs, campsites, caravan parks, self-catering properties, serviced apartments, and short-term lets (STLs) as well as University halls when commercially let during holidays.
British BIDs analysis suggests that this new legislation in England will apply to 149 BIDs in England, and therefore over 50% of the 249 English BIDs.
The government’s consultation seeks feedback on the design of this new power, including its scope, how it would be adopted locally and what national and local exemptions should be required. The initial consultation period closes on February 18th, 2026.
The consultation is asking whether Foundation Strategic Authorities should also have the power to create overnight visitor levies; how any revenues collected should be used; the types of accommodation that will and will not be included; how levy rates should be calculated and the powers Strategic Authorities have to change them; what Strategic Authorities need to do to introduce a levy and to change it; liability for the levy and how this will be assessed; the administrative framework for overnight visitor levies, including options to minimise regulatory requirements; and any equalities impacts.
Clearly it is important that BIDs have a role to play in this new levy and British BIDs has been working through some of our responses in the last month, talking to BIDs and levy payers.
This round table webinar allowed wide‑ranging discussion and gave us a sense of the mood within the BID community regarding how far they wished to be involved in the overnight stay levy process in their area. This will be incorporated into our consultation response.
If you are a member, the recording will soon be available to view on our Learning Portal.
Free employment webinars for British BIDs members
British BIDs members benefit to free access to Croner, an expert employment law and health & safety helpline. Find out more here.
The Helpline gives you access to telephone advice from a team of experts.
Your 24/7 Croner Telephone Business Support Helpline offers a range of support, including:
Members can view the full webinar library here.
You will need to be logged in to the British BIDs website as a member to access these links.
Stephen Toal, UK Head of Retail & Leisure Insights at Savills, provided industry-leading insights and updates on the current retail environment, performance, consumer behaviour and trends.
If you are a member, the recording can be accessed on our Learning Portal.
British BIDs members were invited to join Christopher Turner and Lucy Stanford as they dissected the 19th annual BID survey. The session covered a range of subjects, from levy income, finances, and governance issues to diversity, boards, and policy matters.
If you are a member, the recording can be accessed on our Learning Portal.
We were joined by Christopher Turner and Stephen Gaskell for an insightful discussion surrounding devolution and local authority reorganisation.
The conversation covered:
👉 What devolution is and why it matters for BIDs
👉 How local government reorganisation may impact BID operations and funding
👉 Practical steps BIDs can take to prepare for upcoming changes
If you are a member, the recording can be accessed on our Learning Portal.
About Stephen Gaskell
Stephen has almost three decades of experience working in top tier Councils. Most recently as Assistant Chief Executive for Southwark Council where he was responsible for the Strategy and Communities Department of Corporate and Community Services, overseeing 90 staff and an £8 million operating budget. Stephen led the development of the Borough Strategy, Southwark 2030.
In previous roles, Stephen has on led on projects and programmes to support a strong local economies, resilience and emergency planning and housing improvement work. Stephen is passionate about public services, keen to tackle the challenges the sector faces and curious about future innovation.
A webinar with Philip Collins and the team behind Sister
We were joined by Philip Collins, former chief speechwriter to Tony Blair and founder of The Draft, for a webinar on how language can make people care about innovation and enterprise. Philip and his team designed the branding for Sister, a new £1.7 billion innovation district formerly known as ID Manchester.
Drawing on this experience, Philip shared his views on the current state of innovation communications. He believes the majority of writing about innovation is strangely un-innovative, and that by speaking and writing in a more human way we can broaden the appeal of what we do at BIDs.
If you are a member, the recording can be accessed on our Learning Portal.
