BID to change face of the town begins
ASCHEME that aims to ‘change the face of Stockport’ officially gets underway this month.
In October last year businesses in the town centre voted in favour of the Business Improvement District (BID), which will see all companies over a certain size pay a levy of 12 per cent of their value annually into the scheme.
This is expected to generate almost £2.5m of additional funding over the next five years and a BID company run by those businesses playing the levy will have control over what the money is spent on.
The BID has been launched under the brand Totally Stockport and organisers say the first priorities are to make the town centre a safer and better place for customers and employees; to improve choice; to improve the marketing of the town and to make it easier to do business in Stockport.
The aim is to build upon the success of things that are already attracting visitors to the town, such as Foodie Friday, the Teenage Market, Vintage Village, Stockport Old Town Folk Festival and Robinsons’ Beer Festival.
Interim BID manager Paul Taylor said: “We have great plans for the BID area and are already underway with putting our ideas into action.
“Totally Stockport’s website, totally stockport. co.uk, will provide one central portal for townwide information; a quarterly magazine will be available in the town and surrounding areas to tell everyone of all the great new things happening to attract more people in to the town centre and a Totally Food and Drink summer weekend will set the scene for future events, including a weekend music festival later this year.”
In total 193 businesses took part in the ballot, with 125 voting in favour of the BID.
Jean Walker, chair of the BID company, added: “The BID company have a shared vision and a real opportunity to invest wisely in Stockport’s future.
“We want to create a town centre that will attract more visitors, more shoppers, more residents and more businesses, working to build an economically viable and sustainable town centre for everyone.
“We know it is not an overnight fix, but we will be working hard and putting in place the means to measure the outcomes, enjoy the successes and continue to find ways to make Stockport a town that we can all be proud of.”