Business Improvement District Set Up In Cardiff

A Business Improvement District (BID) for Cardiff, which will see businesses invest £7.5m into the city centre over the next five years, will be discussed by the City of Cardiff Council’s Cabinet on Wednesday, July 27. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The BID, which is a business-led initiative, will see millions spent on making the city centre even more vibrant and welcoming. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

On July 1st key businesses across the city centre voted on whether or not to create a Business Improvement District with 84% agreeing to set one up. The Council’s Cabinet will now discuss how it can support in the implementation of the BID and how the Council and the BID company will work in partnership to support improvements in the city centre. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

A five-year business plan has been written by the businesses involved and the main points include: ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

• Providing a collective voice for over 700 businesses
• Funding a dedicated waste team to deal directly with business concerns
• Employing uniformed BID-branded Cardiff Ambassadors providing information for visitors and businesses
• Investing and managing the evening and night-time economy
• Investing in communication tools between pubs, clubs and the police to maintain public safety
• Investing in city-centre entertainment
• Providing input to bidding, planning and management of major events held in the city centre
• Working with partners to improve the offering during the Christmas season
• Building closer links with businesses, universities and colleges to encourage students to choose Cardiff and stay here when qualified
• Working with partners to provide further information to navigate around the city centre
• Improving cycling facilities in the City Centre
• Widening Cardiff’s appeal to national and international markets through business tourism and conferences
• Strengthening business networks, communications and new ideas between all city centre businesses.

Cllr Phil Bale, Leader of the City of Cardiff Council, said: “The city centre has significantly improved over recent years and more than 10,000 people live there. The management and offering of the city centre is critical to the local economy and the BID model has been recognised as bringing city centre businesses and partners together to improve both trading and business performance. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“The BID is private-sector led, although the City Council will also play a role in supporting it and is nominating that both the Leader of the Council and the Director of Economic Development sit on the board. The Business Plan produced is encouraging indicating that a levy of 1% from the businesses involved will yield £1.5 million pounds to invest into the city centre each year. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“The Council is committed at looking at new ways of working, and in this instance working in partnership with the private sector will instigate additional income to invest in business priorities, as decided by the businesses, which will benefit tourism, visitors to the city, as well as Cardiff residents.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​