A BID (Business Improvement District) is a not-for-profit organisation, funded for by businesses, to improve the area in which they trade within through a voted upon business plan. There are currently over 300 BIDs in the UK after the legislation came into place in 2004.

A BID can only be formed following consultation and a ballot in which businesses vote on a BID proposal for the area. A committee is formed to develop the BID and gather data from the businesses in the proposed area to form a business plan, the business plan is then shared and voted upon through an independent ballot process. Once a BID is voted in by the business, they are fixed for a five-year term, after which there is usually a renewal process for a further five years.

All eligible businesses pay a set levy, the rate of which is agreed upon in a business plan which is drawn up before the BID is brought into place, which also sets out the projects and services. BIDs can also draw in other funding from partners and grants.

The BID levy is calculated at 1.5% of the rateable value of the property in which a business trades from. The rateable value threshold for a levy paying business is £20,000 a year, those businesses that fall below the threshold will not pay the BID levy.

Harrogate BID was formed in 2019 for an initial five-year period, following a successful ballot of eligible businesses, namely those in the designated BID area who pay business rates. The first term will end on 31^st December 2023. The renewal ballot for Harrogate BIDs second term will take place in June 2023 for the second term to begin on 1^st January 2024 for a further five years.

A BID is managed by a voluntary Board of Directors who are all either business owners, managers of a business or landlords within the BID area. The BID Board oversee the delivery of the business plan by the BID Team.

Harrogate BID is governed by a voluntary Board of directors who provide strong direction and oversight of the BID business plan. The Board is made up of influential representatives from the key business sectors, partner organisations and levy paying businesses in the town centre.

The next BID Board elections will take place in December 2023. For more information, please email info@harrogatebid.co.uk

No. Whilst North Yorkshire County Council are BID partners and a representative from NYCC sits on the BID Board, the BID is not here to replace core public sector services. However, it can – and will – enhance certain services they currently provide.

For businesses both within and outside the Harrogate BID are who have a rateable value of under £20,000, and therefore are exempt from paying the BID levy, there is an opportunity to make an investment of £300 a year to become voluntary levy payers of the BID. This entitles them to all of the projects and services outlined in the Harrogate BID business plan, as well as full rights as members in the management and governance of the BID company. If you are interested in becoming a voluntary levy payer then please contact the BID Team via – info@harrogatebid.co.uk

It has been confirmed that there is not support from BID levy paying businesses for a Christmas lights switch on in Harrogate for 2024.

The BID team have carried out extensive research with local businesses, with 60% saying they feel switch on events do not benefit them through either increased footfall within their business or spend.

Feedback suggests that business owners would rather see the money spent elsewhere, for example in additional festive animation including as the Candy Cane Express or Ferris Wheel.

It is hoped, as in many other towns across the UK, a future Harrogate Town Council may pick up this community event.

The BID fully supports the Christmas offer in Harrogate, from the annual festive Fayre to Candy Cane Express and other additional animations. As an organisation, we also fund every single Christmas light across the town centre.

HARROGATE BID POLICY 

Our Town Centre Support Officer (TCSO) has been instructed to ensure that every incident they attend the camera is on and recording. This is for their own protection and forms part of their risk assessment.

Where possible and practical, any user or wearer of a body camera should inform potential subjects that video recording is taking place and verbally inform the subject, how (if they wish) they can request the data that you have recorded. The data should be readily available as per the privacy notice timeframe.

Here is a link to our Privacy Notice – https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:2cd4f4f4-8df0-466c-a86b-15ded206e71e

The privacy notice informs the subject(s) how they go about requesting any data that is retained.

If cameras are activated during an incident, the recording should continue uninterrupted until the occurrence concludes to ensure a full and accurate account.

The information must be stored, retained and disposed of according to the privacy notice or advised by the Data Protection Controller. Access to surveillance footage must be controlled, and only those with a verifiable organisational need should be able to review footage.

We upload the footage to an encrypted cloud server, which Our Town Centre Support Office can access. The TCSO can only view their footage on the server, and it cannot be deleted or altered.