County business chiefsshare thebenefits of BIDscheme

It’s settobeahot topic of conversation among businesses in Newport. Discussionshavetaken place betweenretailers andrepresentativesfromNewport’s Chamberof Commerce over thepossibility of creatingaBusinessImprovement District Anditseems that theideaofa BIDhas been hailed in other areas of thecounty.

Indeed businesses in Shrewsbury arebeing urged to back athird term forthe Business Improvement District whichone councillor says hasbeenresponsiblefor £2.5 million of investment

DeanCarroll,ShropshireCoun- cil’sCabinet member forgrowth, regeneration andhousing,said: “ShrewsburyBID hasbeena key figure in thetowncentre fornearly adecade.

“Intheir second term alone,they have invested andattracted over £2.5 million into projects whichpromote andprotectour strong high street,and localbusinessoffer,in Shrewsbury

“They’ve tackledthe turbulence andchallenges posedduringthe pandemic,and have puttogether astrong business proposal forthe next five years, whichcontinues theirworkand servicetomembers, butalso focuses on growingShrewsbury’s name on anationalscale.”

As well as Shrewsbury,a BIDhas also been successfullyimplemented in Oswestry andBridgnorthisalso in theprocess of putting together a plan forone

KarenWoodcock,chair of Newport ChamberofCommerceand ownerofAll AboutNewport Ltd, whichhelps promote thetown, recently said:“Proposalsare at very, very earlystages butit’ssomething that many feel wouldbeapositive move

“Wediscussedthe prospect at our recent ChamberofCommercemeeting, whereAdele Nightingale, the Oswestry BIDManager,and Sally Themans, from Love Bridgnorth, gave apresentation. It wasgoodto hear viewsfromanestablished BID andalso thoughts over an initial feasibility studyfor one.

“The businesses in attendance agreed that Newportshouldcontinue to explore thepossibility of becoming aBID area.”

Shesaidone of theadvantages of theschemewould be “havingsomeone full time anddedicated”topromoting thetown.

The firststage of theprocess is to commission afeasibility studyfrom an independentconsultantoverthe viability,benefitorwantfor businesses to be part of aBID scheme

“A decision on whetherthe scheme goes aheadwould be purely downtothe businesses,”she added.

NestledintheheartofNewport,theGuildhall isanenchantingweddingvenueforcoupleslookingfor somethingspecialfortheirbigday

TheGuildhallisavailabletobookatweekendsbetween 10am–4pm,TheGuildhallisalsoavailableforcivilpartnerships, babynamingceremoniesandvowrenewals.

|www.newportshropshire-tc.gov.uk