North West BIDs
BIDs in the North West are making a real difference to the region’s overall value, especially as we enter the festive period.
CH1 Chester
The ballot for CH1 Chester BID took place in June 2014 and passed with a 75% pass rate! Chester is a beautiful city with plenty of history and the BID’s aim is to continue to drive footfall, constantly improve the city; making it a more attractive place to work, live and visit!
For Christmas, CH1 Chester BID has teamed up with Storyhouse to launch ‘Storytelling with Santa’. This will start on the 18th November – 17th December with hopes to create another unforgettable Christmas in the city! It will encourage families to visit the city, increase dwell time and heighten footfall into surrounding businesses.
CH1 will be also be installing CheSTAR on the Cheser Cathedral grounds which will be illuminated from the 17th November.
Manchester BID
Manchester, also known as ‘The Northern Powerhouse’, has become the second most visited city in the UK. The city has seen plenty of investment in property development with cranes hoisted up all round the city for both residential and commercial; increasing the number of residents and businesses – both increasing the footfall into the city.
Manchester BID’s four central focuses are to increase; footfall, standards, the cities profile and communication.
Recently, we have seen the BID organise ‘Halloween in the City’. This event gained momentum from numerous surrounding businesses and retailers which really made the event a success. The campaign achieved £1.3million worth of press and marketing coverage, +12% footfall at Manchester Arndale and stores reported an increase of up to +40% in sales!
Liverpool BID Company
Liverpool BID Company works across two BIDs; City Central BID and Commercial District BID. The BID was established in 2005 and have 1500 members. The BID has plenty of ongoing events and schemes improving the city including; commercial waste service advice, police officers, choir and seasonal campaigns to name a few!
The BID’s aim is to add value to four key themes: environment & safety, promoting the areas, improve connectivity and support BID businesses.
For Christmas, the BID’s campaign focuses on improving the shopping experience in the BID areas, with some key elements including Christmas Lighting in conjunction with Liverpool City Council on Bold Street, Church Street, Lord Street, Whitechapel and Castle Street. There is also a BID funded Christmas Tree in St Paul’s Square and there will be complementary animation at key locations in the BID such as workshops in Metquarter and St Johns.
The BID is working hard to improve the cities appeal, driving footfall and improving the guest experience over the festive period!
Preston BID
Preston BID began in 2009 and since, has and continues to organise plenty of events to drive footfall and awareness of the city including; Rock in the Park pop-concert, the thrice-annual Lancashire Markets, the annual Christmas Lights Switch On and Prestfest; a celebration of Preston By Night.
With Christmas looming their annual Christmas Concert and Switch on, sponsored by St Georges Shopping Centre is highly anticipated by all. Mark Whittle from Preston BID said: ‘The Christmas Concert and Switch On is widely regarded as a headline event in the city’s calendar. We’re always blown away by the number of people who come out to enjoy the event to help us officially start Christmas in Preston.’ This event, along with the others, are sure to heavily increase footfall into the city!
Altrincham BID
Altrincham has become a very popular and sought after area over recent years, house pricing has gone up, more bars and restaurants have opened and more businesses are moving there. The BID was launched in April 2016 and has a real focus on:
Experience – driving more visitors
Rediscovering the city – ensuring local residents feel welcome
Business – improving the working life of individuals
A big project they have recently completed is the Altrincham Unlimited website. On the website you can see they are promoting ‘free parking after 3 pm’ and the Christmas lights switch on along with many more events and awards; all encouraging footfall into the town, supporting the local businesses.
There a numerous other BIDs across the North West working hard to improve the cities, drive footfall and benefit businesses within the area!
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