The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Resounding yes for BID
Group voted in again
Scotland’s first Business Improvement District has been confirmed in place for another term after six weeks of voting concluded.
The Highland Council announced that, at the end of counting ballots, Inverness BID won with 79% of the vote.
That means it will remain in operation for what is its third five-year term until March 31, 2023.
The count was held yesterday and the “yes” result was declared by depute ballot holder, David Sutherland. Speaking yesterday, BID chairman Peter Strachan said he was “delighted with today’s result”.
He said it is “a major endorsement for the work that BID has undertaken over the past five years and reconfirms our remit to work on behalf of the city centre businesses”.
Despite being voted in for another five-year term, Mr Strachan said Inverness BID would continue with the same engagement of businesses.
He said: “BID’s mission for the city centre continues to be to deliver a series of projects and services to improve the trading environment of Inverness City Centre to the benefit of the city centre economy.”
He believes it was vital in the run-up to the ballot that “we engaged with the businesses to ascertain their priorities and these are incorporated in the BID Business Plan 2018-23”.
He added: “Our focus for the next five years will continue to be to work to improve the economy of the city centre and its businesses.”
Among those top priorities are marketing to attract people to a vibrant and thriving city centre while still trying to “enhance” it further.
Inverness BID will also try to champion the city centre as efforts are made to make it as “safe and welcoming” as possible.
Since Inverness BID started operations in March 2008, Scotland has witnessed the creation of 38 operational BIDs with 21 others currently in development. A total of 652 voters were issued with ballot papers for the election starting from on February 8 with businesses voting since then.
The new BID will become operational from April 1, when all businesses, traders and property owners will pay the levy.
The money from that levy then goes towards improvement projects in the co-called BID area of the city centre.
BID projects are driven by the directors of the Inverness BID company who are themselves elected by local businesses.
“It reconfirms our remit to work on behalf of the city centre businesses”