FI EL D H N O RT
After a big spring clean, we’re ready for the summer events!
Newsletter 9 - June 2014
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P U Y TID A huge thank you to the 12 volunteers (including McDonalds, Northfield Town Centre Partnership, Baptist Church, Methodist Church and members of the public) who joined us to blitz messy areas across the town centre in May. Despite heavy rain we made great progress: •
Cut back the thorny brambles and roses over-spilling onto the pavement near the relief road.
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•
Cleared weeds, brambles, litter, fly tipping and a trolley from the car park and land behind the shops near Boots.
• Litter picked and removed weeds from the side of
Northfield House. •
Swept Bell Lane and pulled up weeds to improve the view for anyone waiting in traffic at the junction.
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City centre tunnels This summer the city centre A38 tunnels will be shut again for major repairs. For more follow @brumtunnels on Twitter or see www.brumtunnels.co.uk
Summer flowers Following a fabulous display last year, we’ve again commissioned 62 metre-long summer flower boxes. They will be out between June and September, watered daily and, for maximum effect, concentrated on three key road junctions.
All Out Day We timed our Big Tidy Up to coincide with a high profile All Out Day organised by PCSO Mel Foxall. Several agencies joined in to
offer advice to businesses and the public, including Northfield Neighbourhood Police Team, Northfield Fire, trading standards, bus inspectors and the Safer Travel team.
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Last year we joined Northfield Town Centre Partnership and Northfield Ecocentre to back a successful campaign to win £50,000 in the People’s Millions to set up Cycle South Brum. To help win the television public vote we captured people’s attention in advance with mystery green people appearing across Northfield and the city - it went viral online, got people talking and even received local and national media coverage!
Roadshow on Price’s Square in April, jointly organised with Network West Midlands.
Cycle South Brum was officially launched at the Northfield Travel
To find out more visit www.cyclesouthbrum.co.uk
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Local people can now borrow free bikes to get to work, get active or cycle as a family, and also enjoy group cycle rides and bike maintenance courses.
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Poppy planting day We’re transforming disused land at the junction of the relief road and Lockwood Road into a stunning poppy field to mark 100 years since the start of World War One.
Northfield Poppy Planting DAYS help turn disused land into a stunning poppy field to mark 100 years since the start of world war one
Over 150 people of all ages joined our public Poppy Planting Day in May including the Birmingham Mail and staff from Mortons Funerals, Sainsbury’s and McDonalds.
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We’re staggering the planting with further sessions in June and July to ensure a good crop on the 4th August centenary. We’ll also agitate the land each year to encourage the poppies to grow again. The land’s always been an eyesore and, to get it ready, behind the scenes we’ve chopped shrubs, pulled down bind weed, strimmed, rotavated through hardcore, added a few tonnes of soil and cleared fly tipping, litter and rocks!
THFIELD NOR Centre Partnership Town
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improve - promote - support
N A E L C T E E
STR
We again brought in specialist contractors to carry out the annual Big Clean over eight evenings in April. The two-stage deep cleanse of paving slabs allowed us to lift dirt, grease and gum. We also successfully trialled a different technique that allowed us to dissolve chewing gum from tarmac in hotspot areas - the heated jet wash would have melted the tarmac!
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Don’t forget to visit our new look website: www.visitnorthfield.co.uk PAGE 7
improve - promote - support
N I E D I R P
D L E I F H IVE T T C A R R T O E AT
N
MAKING
OR
ELD M I F H T R NO
Improving the town centre environment, by making it cleaner, more attractive and welcoming, makes good business sense. On your behalf we continue to invest in projects that make a visible difference, and are doing what we can to keep the town
centre as a whole looking good.
1. Make sure your shop front and forecourt are attractive and welcoming, and that your back yard is tidy.
3. Discourage delivery and other vehicles from mounting pavements, causing obstruction and damage, both inconvenient and potentially dangerous for your customers.
2. Make it a daily routine to remove litter (particularly cigarette butts, food and drink) from around your premises.
Weed removal In March our caretaking contractor Tony Adams weed sprayed across the town centre. He’d waited patiently for a forecast of four days’ dry weather to ensure it worked effectively!
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However if we each do our bit, it will make a huge difference!
4. Store and dispose of trade waste responsibly and recycle wherever possible.
Here are some practical ways you can contribute to making Northfield better for trade, better for customers:
5. Inform the BID Manager or Caretaker of any problems and issues affecting your trading environment, eg graffiti, damaged paving. If you’d like a free cigarette bin fitted simply call us on 0121 411 2157 or email bid@visitnorthfield.co.uk
www.visitnorthfield.co.uk
nd...
dema r la u p o p y b k c a B
NORTHFIELd
BEACH
WEDNESDAY 23RD TO SUNDAY 27TH JULY
Don t miss out on...
why not get really into
the spirit
of the beach
and encourage
your staff to dress in
t-shirts
and shorts!
Follow us for full details:
visitnorthfield Don’t forget to visit our new look website: www.visitnorthfield.co.uk Community Partnership
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BID projects Our projects fall under seven themes: • • • • •
The Big Projects making Northfield cleaner Pride in Northfield making Northfield more attractive ShopWatch making Northfield safer Vibrant streets putting on quality entertainment Be part of something special encouraging people to get involved
• •
Spreading the word promoting the exciting things happening Supporting business influencing key issues
90% 80%
85 80 76
50%
54
Town centre caretaker Jet washing Summer flowers Offender photo scheme Crime prevention initiatives Positive publicity
93 89 76
74 76
78 78
74 76
72
67
70% 60%
• • • • • •
Overall the results showed that our work is largely in line
89 78
The most popular projects were:
Earlier this year we carried out a survey of many businesses, where we asked your views on existing and potential project ideas.
100% 89
with what you are wanting, and we’re already working on new project ideas to fill in the gaps!
59 52
70 70 57
54 52
48
40% 30% 20% 10%
Tow n
cen tre
car eta ker Jet w S ash um All m in yea r ro er flo g w u er Lam nd p lan s pp t os er Ped est t ban s n r ers ian Pub s lic not ignag ice e R bo Off ard end etail C rad s ri Fiv er i e-d me p ph oto o link rev ay e urb s an ntion chem be i n itia e ach tiv a No rth nd fe es fiel stiv dC al Fes arniv al tive C Tow hristm light s a nc ent s eve r n e t Tow we bsi nc t e Ac e o-o High Posit ntre m ive rdi ap nat profil e c publi ed c o and it mp etit y eff ect ion F Fre Rec ive ‘vo s e a inanc eiv ice dve ia rtis l sav ing ne ’ Co in ing ws M rpo of j gs on rat yster o b ev bv ys Or ills gan h o a isa lunte oppe canci er r tion e s/e ing o feedb s ven p a ts t portu ck o n Soc i hel p f ties ial or me CS dia R tra inin g
0%
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Save big money There are two main schemes around to save businesses money, and the forms are quick and easy. If you’re eligible make sure you apply - several businesses on the high street have already received confirmation they’ll be saving £6,000 over the next two years!
Don’t fall for companies claiming they can complete the forms on your behalf, and make sure you follow the official links below.
Retail Relief save up to £1,000
hasn’t been widely publicised, but for more information visit Birmingham City Council’s website: www.birmingham. gov.uk/retail-relief
You may be able to apply for Retail Relief, a £1,000 Government discount on this year’s Business Rates bill (the scheme’s also running next year). To be eligible, your property’s rateable value (RV) must be less than £50,000 a year (your RV figure is on the front of your bill), and your business fall into one of a number of categories.
Employment Allowance save up to £2,000
This is in addition to Small Business Rates Relief and
From 6th April 2014 employers can claim the ‘Employment Allowance’ and reduce their employer Class 1 National Insurance Contributions by up to £2,000 each tax year www.gov.uk/employmentallowance
Grants
PRIME
Grants of £10,000 to £30,000 are available to eligible small and medium sized businesses through Birmingham City Council’s Business Innovation Programme (BIP). For more information visit www.birmingham.gov.uk/bip
PRIME (Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise) has free training and events coming up in Birmingham for over 50s interested in setting up business. For more information visit www.prime.org.uk/courses
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BID finances Here is the breakdown of BID income and expenditure for 2013-14.
Total Income Bid Expenditure
BID levy - £104,214 Other income including grants - £12,080 We also helped other organisations raise money towards town centre projects: Northfield Ecocentre Urban Harvest - £10,000
Work in Progress After the Event - £10,000 Northfield Town Centre Partnership Culture Mash £10,000 Northfield Town Centre Partnership Cycle South Brum - £50,000
Improve - £21,302 Promote - £35,888 Support - £594 BID Manager - £37,115 Administration - £2,738
Contact us To get involved with any of our projects, please contact Liz Newton: Northfield BID Visit Northfield Shop 693 Bristol Road South Northfield Birmingham B31 2JT
Follow us:
Telephone: 0121 411 2157 Mobile: 07921 818 828 Email: bid@visitnorthfield.co.uk
Northfield BID Facebook: NorthfieldBID Twitter: @NorthfieldBID
More reasons to visit Northfield Facebook: VisitNorthfield Twitter: @VisitNorthfield Website: www.visitnorthfield.co.uk
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