New hub created to support town centre improvements across Scotland
Fresh bid to encourage businesses to work together to improve their local areas
Anew national hub to support town “improvement districts” has been launched in Edinburgh.
Improvement Districts, the next generation of Business Improvement Districts (BIDS), aim to encourage local businesses to work together with other public and private sector partners to improve local economies and communities.
It is hoped that by pooling and sharing resources, local businesses – working with other private, public and third sector partners – can take a leading role in improving local economic conditions and deliver an agreed package of investment and initiatives over and beyond that delivered by local and national government.
The new hub in Edinburgh, delivered by Scotland’s Towns Partnership, aims to encourage more collaboration, partnership and innovation.
Phil Prentice, Scotland’s Towns Partnership programme director and chief executive, said: “Today is much more than just launching a new organisation – it is about setting out a new vision for Improvement Districts in Scotland that has been developed in collaboration with them.
“At their heart, Improvement Districts are the realisation of a meaningful corporate-community-public partnership.
“Local businesses and people are best placed to understand the needs of their local economy.
“Improvement Districts provide the forum to develop and deliver an agreed action plan that addresses those needs by bringing people and business together.”
Scotland’s Improvement Districts, part of the wider Scotland Town’s Partnership project, is funded by the Scottish Government to provide a national supporting mechanism for them in Scotland.
The new hub was launched by Communities and Local Government Secretary Aileen Campbell.
She said: “I’m delighted that Scotland’s Towns Partnership will be providing a new national hub to support Business Improvement Districts across the country.
“This has the potential to develop more flexible, expansive, and innovative models of business partnerships based on the BID model.”