Benefits to BID Members in Harrogate

Pride in our Town

Street Ranger – Our Street Rangers provide a service throughout the week across the town centre, carrying out reactive tasks, managing hotspots and more. The service can be requested by emailing the team on info@harrogatebid.co.uk
Deep Cleans – Following the purchase of new equipment, we can now offer an in-house deep cleaning service in the town centre. Our Street Rangers are fully trained to operate a new system, featuring a 1,000-litre water tank which can be heated up to 100 degrees and used as a steam cleaner to remove dirt, grime and other tricky materials, such as chewing gum and moss, to keep the town looking the best it can all year round. Over the last 3 months, the team have covered more than 5,000 square metres with the deep cleans.
Town Centre Support Officer – We launched a new Town Centre Support Officer role earlier this year in a bid to help to reduce both crime and anti-social behaviour in our town. The role involves working closely with partners including North Yorkshire Police and acting against crimes such as thefts of stolen goods.
Tackling Crime and Anti-social behaviour – Providing data and evidence to influence and encourage partners to deliver on the ground resource. We also drive campaigns such as Street Aid and Report A Crime to support Harrogate and tackle any issues.
Pubwatch – We offer annual funding to the Pubwatch scheme in Harrogate to ensure the night-time economy is safe and enjoyable for all. In 2024, we have taken on some of the administrative work behind the scenes to take the weight off the committee.
Championing our floral heritage – We fund additional floral aspects in Harrogate across the year, from hundreds of barrier baskets to supporting North Yorkshire Council with its hanging basket scheme. We work alongside Harrogate in Bloom and attend regular strategic meetings, as well as partnering with the Harrogate Flower Shows.
Harrogate Floral Summer of Celebration – We organise the popular Harrogate Floral Summer of Celebration every year to increase footfall and spend in the town, as well as promoting Harrogate as a top floral destination. We also promote our town across both regional and national awards, which saw us win Gold at Britain in Bloom in 2023.
Street Dressing – Harrogate’s streets are lined with hundreds of metres of themed bunting throughout the year, changing at key times to celebrate events including the Euros and Yorkshire Day. We recently installed new creative lighting on Beulah Street and around the Cenotaph to enable us to mark milestones in the year, from Halloween to Christmas. The BID also funds street art projects to brighten up the town centre and take pride in our place.
Vacant units – We continue to utilise vacant units where we can in a variety of ways, from unique art installations to hosting different events. We want our town to look the best it can be, so we will continue to engage with landlords as we create new ideas to decorate these spaces.

A Vibrant Town

Christmas Lights – We continue to fully fund Harrogate’s Christmas lights and we intend to build on this year-on-year. During the consultation for our second term in Harrogate, businesses told us they wanted us to lead on the lights across town. So we will ensure to make this remains a top priority for us.
Christmas Additional Animation – Each year, we also fund additional animation around the festive period, whether that be the Big Wheel, the Candy Cane Express, the Father Christmas experience or the Christmas Shop Window Competition.
Footfall and spend increasing campaigns – We deliver a high number of events, campaigns and services across the year to drive footfall and increase spend in town centre businesses. We want our town to remain a must-visit destination, while also creating a return on investment for our members. In 2024, we have delivered Lego Trails and Fashion Shows, to Music Weekenders and Floral Celebrations, our catalogue events is growing every year. Add in footfall figure
Wider promotion of Harrogate town centre – We are in the process of working alongside partners to create new brands for specified areas of Harrogate, including . This will also tie in with numerous digital and physical promotions to showcase our town and create a special ‘Lifetime of Harrogate’ campaign.
Unique experiences and animations – We offer different experiences throughout the year, whether that be to win a top prize for your parents on Mother or Father’s Day, or entering a special competition for the one you love on Valentine’s Day. We also fully fund street entertainment at key times of the year, bringing comedy, wit and performance to create a vibrant atmosphere in the town centre to enhance the experience for visitors and residents.
Partnerships to showcase our town – At the BID, we feel working in collaboration is key as it more than often leads to the top results. We consistently work alongside partners including Harrogate International Festivals, Harrogate Beer Week, Restaurant Week, Visit North Yorkshire, Great Yorkshire Show, Harrogate Flower Shows and the new Odyssey Gaming Festival to fund events and create a vibrant town for both visitors and residents.

Voice & Vision

Understanding business needs – As a nimble organisation, we can react quickly to create campaigns including free car parking, free public transport, supporting with recruitment and retention and match-funding with grants for refurbishment.
Long-term strategy – Looking towards the future, we are looking to be the glue that brings the many positive Harrogate organisations together to create a long-term vision and strategy to future proof our town. We accept that this project is likely to last for the full length of our second term.
Data and Evidence – We fully fund systems such as HUQ to collect useful data and evidence to influence key decisions in our town. We can use these systems to continue to enhance and improve not only the events, services and campaigns we offer, but the BID area as a whole.
Collaboration – We aspire to be the centre pin that brings our town’s business community together. We consistently host events, whether that be for networking at the Summer Social or delivering awards through the Christmas Window Dressing competition with the Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce. We believe a partnered approach is one of the key aspects to success.
The Harrogate Offer – Representing businesses in Harrogate, we recognise that having a positive blend of both national and independent businesses across all sectors is key. We will continue continue to strive to provide the data and influence to attract new businesses to our town and keep Harrogate as the jewel in Yorkshire’s crown.
Harrogate Gift Card – Funding and maintaining operations for the Harrogate Gift Card to increase spend in the town’s business community. So far, over £155,000 has been locked in to the local economy through the scheme. A digital version of the card is also now available, making it easier and more accessible for all. Please click here to purchase a Gift Card. If you’d like to be a part of the Gift Card scheme, email us on info@harrogatebid.co.uk
Match funding grants – We continue to listen to our Members needs and fund on the ground or aspirational grants such as the Shop Front Improvement Grant and International Partnership Work Experience Grant.
Sustainability – As we look to do our bit to support a sustainable environment, we’re working alongside experts to create new ideas and campaigns that help businesses, residents and visitors to do so as well. We are set to announce plans over the coming months, so watch this space…
The Harrogate Voice – We consistently act as the voice for the business community in our town as a regional and national level. We represent almost 500 businesses and often take on feedback through surveys and other sources so we can engage correctly and share any of the needs of our town’s business community.
Industry Best Practice – We regularly visit other BIDs, towns, places and destinations and strive to be one of the leading practitioners in our sectors and utilise this to the advantage of our town.

In-Kind benefits offered to BID Members

PR and Communications – We offer support with press releases and any other PR or communication campaigns for Members upon request. We also send out a monthly BID Newsletter featuring key updates on events, campaigns and services from across the month.
Reporting – As a team we regularly audit the full BID area for any environmental or safety issues that we report to the relevant organisation.
Collecting data – We deliver surveys on key projects and campaigns to collect data and evidence for Members and partners, such as after the Christmas period to gather feedback to share.
Analysing data for Harrogate – Working alongside partners, we provide Members with specified figures and quarterly reports on footfall, density, where people are travelling to Harrogate from and how long they’re spending in our town.
Social media promotions – We offer social media promotions to thousands of followers across our BID channels on various platforms. Email us on info@harrogatebid.co.uk to schedule something on our socials!
Sharing of important information – We share a lot of key information on events, campaigns, products, offers and discounts with our mailing list featuring several hundred members of Harrogate’s business community. We also share important information through business visits and assets at key times of year such as Christmas.
Sponsoring key events to benefit our town – We act as a main sponsor to provide essential funding for key events organised by BID Members, partners or national organisations.
Sponsorship opportunities for BID Members – We can offer sponsorship opportunities during well-attended BID events to promote Members’ offer to a wider audience.
Networking and training offer – We organise networking and training sessions for Members to attend at different times of the year to develop relationships and knowledge on certain subjects.