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What is a BID?

A Business Improvement District is a precisely defined area of a town, city or commercial district where business ratepayers have voted to fund improvements which are additional to those delivered by local councils.



Overview

A Business Improvement District (BID) is a business-led partnership that gives businesses the power to manage their own operating environment to ensure that services directly benefit their business, employees and clients and customers.

Projects

Together, businesses identify projects and services that they think are needed to add value to their operating environment and agree, through a formal ballot process, to a level of investment.

Management

Businesses manage the BID through an independent not-for-profit company, directed by a Board made up of local businesses who decide how the money collected should be spent.

Legislation

BIDs were first established in Canada and the US in the 1960s and now exist across the globe. Legislation to create Business Improvement Districts in the United Kingdom was approved in September 2004. There are currently over 88 BIDs successfully operating in the United Kingdom.

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