Cambridge BID Annual Report 2022/23

Cambridge Business Improvement District: Supporting our City and High Street

Overview

Cambridge Business Improvement District (BID) is a collaboration of 1,200 businesses, working together to create a world-class experience for all who visit, live and work in Cambridge, a global city.

2022/23 was a ballot year for Cambridge BID meaning a new 5-year business plan had to be created and a series of consultations were undertaken to work with the city stakeholders to determine what they wanted their BID to look like going forward. The Ballot took place in October 2022 and the results were 84% of voters voting yes by number and 92% by rateable value secured Term Three for Cambridge BID.

Work started almost immediately ensuring come 1st April, the official start date of Term Three, the team were ready to hit the ground running.

Board of Directors

Nominated by the local business community and representing a cross-section of sectors from within the extended BID area, our Board of Directors drives forward the agenda and ensures the team deliver against the new five year Business Plan.

The following Directors were in post at the end of March 2023:

Roger Allen (Chair) The Lion Yard (Shopping Centre)

Ian Sandison (CEO) Boudoir Femme (Independent)

Alison Wright Fitzbillies (Independent)

Dominic Joyce John Lewis (National)

Simon Wallis Brookgate (Professional)

Valerie Lambert HCR Hewitsons LLP (Professional)

Nick Finlayson-Brown Mills & Reeve (Professional)

David Ormrod The Regal (Night-time)

Jane Baker Cambridge University (Educational)

Glen Sharp Trinity Hall College (Educational)

Alice Gilderdale Cambridge City Council*

Gerri Bird Cambridgeshire County Council*

Philip Greer University Arms Hotel (Visitor Economy)

Chris Douglas Graduate Hotel (Visitor Economy)

*Local Authority Appointed

Foreword from the Chair

2022/23 has been another busy year for the BID team, which never seems to phase them. This year saw a full year of project delivery which the city has most definitely benefited from. It also saw the BID achieve another strong, successful ballot, confirming the work it delivers is what the city and our businesses are looking for.

Tourism and the visitor economy is important to the city. Cambridge is an international destination and Cambridge BID plays a huge role in managing and developing the Visit Cambridge brand, working to promote the tourism in the city. Working with various accommodation providers, hospitality and cultural venues, several press familiarisation trips took place throughout the year which resulted in some fantastic coverage for the city in a wide range of publications and social media accounts. As you will have noticed from the footfall data circulated weekly visitors are returning to our city and we need to ensure we manage this return and any potential growth to ensure the city's businesses and local communities benefit from this.

For all of us having a safe and well managed city is vital. The Purple Flag renewal application submitted in June resulted in a positive outcome for Cambridge, meaning all the hard work that goes into ensuring that Cambridge has a safe, vibrant and well managed nightlife has been recognised for the third time. Working in partnership with Cambridge Business Against Crime (CAMBAC) on the application was key to its success.

As we move into Term Three, we are excited about Cambridge Standing Tall public art trail coming to Cambridge in Spring 2024, look out for 30+ giant giraffes across the city. Work has already started on the new festive lighting scheme that will adorn the city later this year, proving a magical backdrop for those that use the city and of course we have a full events schedule running throughout the city. There is so much to look forward to and the team work tirelessly to ensure the projects are delivered successfully across the city, for that I thank them.

As I step down as Chair of Cambridge BID I can honestly say I am proud of the work that the team deliver and have every confidence they will deliver the business plan, and more over the coming years and I have no doubt the BID will go from strength to strength.

Roger Allen Chair of Cambridge BID

Welcome

Street Cleaning & Rapid Response

Our street cleaning schedule continues to ensure Cambridge is kept clean and attractive to all. Working with the City Council to ensure our additional service compliments their statutory provision, we try and clean each street at least 2 or 3 times extra per year.

The Rapid Response service continues as a 7 day-a-week service allowing businesses and city users to call through to a dedicated phone line requesting an operative attends immediate cleaning requirement.

City Dressing & Festive Lights

With over 25 streets illuminated over the festive period, Cambridge continues to be an attractive place to visit during the Christmas months. As an important time for retailers and hospitality it is a key objective to ensure Cambridge is positioned as THE place to visit and enjoy during the festive period.

Having the structural assets in place enable us to utilise that investment and place bunting and streamers across the city during the summer months which has become very popular across the UK over the past few years.

Cambridge Business Against Crime (CAMBAC)

CAMBAC is an independent, non-profit making organisation set up in August 2007 by City Centre Management as a direct response from City Centre businesses.

It has been another busy year for CAMBAC;

100 Members of which Cambridge BID cover the membership fee

67% Daytime economy

33% Night-time economy

316 Incidents supported across all sectors

CAMBAC have also supported the application and instalments on new CCTV cameras across the city to tackle bike crime, reduce violence against women and girls and reduce anti-social behaviour.

Purple Flag

In the autumn of 2022, the Cambridge evening and night-time economy met or exceeded more than 30 judging criteria to qualify for continued Purple Flag status. The Purple Flag accreditation benefits the night-time economy and all that use it, including businesses, residents, and visitors. Cambridge BID & CAMBAC, co-founders of the projects, lead a multi-agency working group of night-time representatives to deliver projects that will enhance Cambridge after dark. Projects that have been developed as part of this working group include:

• Night Map

• Street Pastors

• Taxi Marshals

• Ask for Angela

• Welfare & Vulnerability Engagement (WAVE) Training for licensed venues

• Purple Flag Music Nights

2023 will see the introduction of an accreditation system to the city to further reduce incidents of violence against women and girls and promote Cambridge as a safe and diverse environment.

Visit Cambridge

Case Study: 1

Ambassadors and Mobile Visitor Information Centre

Following the Covid-19 pandemic a range of grants became available from Government to aid the recovery of city centres and high streets. Cambridge City Council obtained a grant from the Combined Authority Growth Fund and part of the grant delivery was ringfenced for supporting the tourism within the city.

Cambridge BID, Cambridge City Council, Kings College and Fitzwilliam Museum Enterprises are jointly responsible for the delivery of projects under the Visit Cambridge brand therefore a number of projects were developed of which, an electric Mobile Visitor Centre idea gained traction and became a reality in late 2022.

Managed by the City Ambassador team, they enable the team to travel between different sites throughout the day providing visitors with much needed information about the city. Regular pitches include the train station and the market square.

Using as a base, it gives the Ambassadors an identity and presence making them stand out as the official visitor information service for the city. A bricks and mortar Visitor Centre is not viable in the current climate but having the two electric bikes works as a fantastic alternative.

Results over the last year

Cambridge BID continue to deliver work under the Visit Cambridge brand which includes bespoke press releases, Press Trips, managing the Visit Cambridge website and working with several influencers throughout the year.

The 2022/23 press activity has led to Cambridge content appearing in 54 different articles (a combination of online and in print) with a combined circulation of over 2.4 million and a monthly unique users reach of over 177 million and an advertising equivalent value of over £142,000

The social media stats for the year 2022/23 now sit at:

11.4K Instagram followers and growing

76K+ Instagram reach

5K+ Facebook followers

15.5K People reached via Facebook

Influencer Trips

Influencer Trips - 3 trips during 2022/23 leading to the following combined results:

914K Total Followers

268 Pieces of content

596.6K Total reach

465.1k

Total impressions

426K Total video views

292.8K Instagram stories views

32.3K Total engagements

The Stats

6K Attendees at the Market Square event

12 Book Benches installed

45+ Restaurants included in Restaurant Week

20 Window Wanderland installations

Experience

Outdoor Events

The outdoor event calendar continues to grow and develop across the city. With a schedule of four films in the market Square across the summer and Wimbledon screened on Station Road, the events encourage people to stay in the city after work and bridge the gap between day & night-time economy.

During November the Christmas lights are switched on during 2 separate events, one at the Station and one in the Market Square. Working in partnership with Star Radio, these are designed to launch Christmas in the city. An average of 6,000 people attend the Market Square event.

Restaurant Week

Delivered in March, over 45 restaurants participated in this year's Restaurant Week which is designed to help residents rediscover different places to eat by offering set menus at various eateries across the city. Over 2000 voucher codes were downloaded and feedback from participating businesses has been positive. Social media campaign reached over 20,000 accounts.

Book Benches

During the Summer of 2022, 12 Book Benches were installed across the city. Following the success of the Cows About Cambridge art trail the idea behind the Book Benches was to keep the momentum and interest in the city of public art trails and increase dwell time whilst the city prepares for the Cambridge Standing Tall Giraffe Trail which is coming to Cambridge in 2024.

Window Wanderland

During January & February a group of artists were commissioned to install their artwork in the windows of a number of larger office buildings on Station & Hills Road. A total of 5 installations appeared in office windows with a further 15 retail businesses also joining the fun and creating their own window displays.

Case Study: 2 Publications

Using both the Cambridge BID and Love Cambridge brand, several publications are produced to talk to varying audiences.

The Love Christmas Magazine has been in circulation for 10+ years and was developed to promote the retail offer across the city during the peak gift buying season.

The distribution of the magazine is designed to pull people who may choose to go to Peterborough, Bury St Edmunds, Lakeside and other notable shopping destinations in the East and encourage them to come to Cambridge.

With a print run varying between 80,000-100,000 over the years, the magazine has become a household staple.

Several years ago, a decision was made to cease producing traditional visitor guides for the city, and following the success of the Love Christmas Magazine, Love Summer was introduced. Content includes everything from eating & drinking, suggested itineraries, shopping, culture, what's on, events, festivals, and much much more. With a distribution model similar to the Christmas magazine, the Love Summer guide encourages the traditional day ripper or staycationer to come to the city and explore more than just the obvious sites.

The Love Cambridge Mini Map is a product that the City Ambassadors use as a tool when talking with visitors to the city. Due to potential high wastage issues, we do not offer the maps on a free pick up, except in the larger hotels.

The environment and paper wastage are a consideration when producing any materials and the paper used is ethically sourced and in partnership with printers who use Woodland Trust or Forestry Commissions approved paper.

Support

Independent Fund

Throughout the course of Term Two, a dedicated fund ringfenced for projects that directly support the Independent businesses across the city was implemented. In 2022/23 the following projects were delivered using this fund:

Meet the owners 2 articles per month in Velvet Magazine from an independent business, one food based and one retail.

Business Videos 6 extra business videos for independents were created to feature over the Love Cambridge socials throughout the year.

Trail Maps 6 maps were created featuring Independent businesses. These will be released throughout the year and used to create social assets also.

Marketing Working with Visit East Anglia, Independent businesses were profiled throughout the year.

Social Media paid social marketing month to month with videos and meet the owner article articles.

Grant Pot

An allocation of funds were set aside to support local events and festivals across the city. This is particularly important to ensure there is a good cross section of activity for those that live, work and visit Cambridge. During 2022/23 support was given to:

Summer Music Festival, Bon Fire Night, Jazz Festival, Cambridge Literacy festival, Film festival, Open Cambridge, PRIDE and Music in the Park.

Gift Card

The Love Cambridge Gift Card continues to grow each year, with 2022/23 figures showing as:

44% Increase in sales from previous years

£111,780 Sales in 2022/23

£74,751.91 Redemptions in 2022/23

180+ Number of participating businesses

Mystery Shop

Over 130 businesses took part in the Mystery Shop programme during 2022/23 where they each receive two mystery shop visits during the year. After each visit, the business is invited to take part in a detailed, personalised feedback session with Storecheckers, who run the project with us.

The project culminates in an awards ceremony which took place in September at The Cambridge Union Society where a total of approximately 65 businesses were shortlisted across 13 categories. Each winner and runner up receive an award along with press coverage in Cambridge Independent, the media partner for the events.

Case

Study:

3 Job Fair 2022

Following Covid and during 2022 it became apparent that a major issue for businesses in the city was recruitment and the large number of retail and hospitality businesses that were struggling to find and retain staff. From this, the Cambridge BID Job Fair was created.

In partnership with Iliffe Media and Cambridge Independent Newspaper a Job Fair was held in October 2022 where businesses were invited to attend to showcase their opportunities to the attendees. A total of 27 stalls attended which ranged from retail, hospitality, education, office and entertainment & leisure. Form the Future and Future First also attended from a skills and training point of view.

A lot of work was put into ensuring enough attendees were aware of the event to ensure it was successful a marketing campaign through social media, directly with 6th form colleges and a large advertising campaign across the Iliffe publications was implemented. A total of 200 people visited the job fair with several potential candidates being offered interviews and trial shifts.

Finances

We delivered a full project programme last year that included spending some of our accrued reserves to support the city post Pandemic.

The extent we can support the city going forward is wholly dependent on our levy being paid and we thank those that are up to date with this. Over the past twelve months, the Board of Directors has ensured that both levy payments and voluntary contributions were used efficiently by Cambridge BID, to meet the stated aims of promoting and improving the city of Cambridge for businesses, organisations, visitors, and residents.

Expenditure

(£95,738)

After almost 15 years of being involved in City Centre Management this is my last annual report as I move onto to new challenges, it has been a privilege to work in such a dynamic and inspiring city and lead a great BID team. I am handing over to a great new CEO Maria Manion.

Ian Sandison

Looking Ahead

I am thrilled to be part of the Cambridge BID, so much has been achieved over the past 10 years by Ian and his amazing team, it's going to be quite an act to follow.

As I write this I have only been in post a matter of weeks, and what a few weeks.

The welcome and support I have received from the team, the Board, and the few businesses I have met has been incredible, I couldn't have asked for more.

Cambridge is a stunning and iconic city, but as we all know a thriving city presents its own challenges, especially when it's a city with an international reputation and such an historic core. Satisfying the needs of everyone can at times be difficult, if not impossible, but we have a responsibility to serve our businesses and the city in the best way we can. I am a firm believer that our towns and cities are the economic and social heart of our local communities, and often reflect what is happening in the surrounding communities.

Essentially, we all want our city to be enjoyed by all, to prosper and to be safe and welcoming. The BID supported by our businesses and working with the city's other key stakeholders play an important leadership role in shaping the future of the city, and that includes managing visitors and ensuring the quality of the city experience is maintained. The BID, along with other key stakeholders, will play an important role in delivering the aspirations of 'the city', and we know over the next five years these partnerships will have to be galvanised if we are to maximise the limited resources we all have.

The team will continue to deliver a fantastic range of activities and events across the BID area and of course we have the giraffes arriving in the spring of 2024 which is an amazing event for the city.

This is an exciting time to be joining the 'Cambridge' team, I look forward to meeting as many businesses as possible and learning from you what makes Cambridge unique for you, and how to ensure Cambridge retains its international reputation as a centre for excellence and innovation, and a place to visit.

Maria Manion

Cambridge BID Chief Executive

Keep in Touch

To tell us what else you would like to see Cambridge BID deliver, or to comment on any of our projects, email becky.burrell@cambridgebid.co.uk

Connect with us on Social Media

For consuming-facing projects and events, where we regularly support social media campaigns run by BID businesses and organisations, visit:

@LoveCambridge_

@LoveCambridge_

@LoveCambs

#LoveCambridge

@VisitCambs

@visitcambridgeofficial

@OfficialVisitCambridge

#VisitCambridge

To receive regular email updates from Cambridge BID on issues relevant to your business, send your preferred contact details to info@cambridgebid.co.uk

For B2B messages, shared for and on behalf of businesses within the BID area, visit:

@CambridgeBID

Cambridge BID

#CambridgeBID

Contact Information

Cambridge Business Improvement District (BID) Dashwood House, 185 East Road Cambridge, CB1 1BG 01223 903 300 info@cambridgebid.co.uk www.cambridgebid.co.uk