Liverpool’s city centre BID company has unveiled its plans for a fifth term, including extending its retail and leisure area to include Hope Street.
The Business Improvement District aims to invest £5m in the city centre to help it bounce back after the Covid-19 pandemic, weather, the cost-of-living crisis and help businesses to go green.
The plans would see Hope Street, with its restaurants, hotels and bars, added to its retail and leisure area, which currently stretches from Lord Street to Bold Street, Renshaw Street, Williamson Square and the Cavern Quarter. The term would see the BID area run until summer 2028 and would take it into its third decade.
Liverpool BID Company operates three BID areas in the city centre: retail and leisure, which covers the city’s shopping, leisure and hospitality heart; culture and commerce, taking in the city’s famous waterfront and reaching up to William Brown Street and Lime Street; and the accommodation BID, the first operating in the UK, which is exclusively for the city’s hotels and serviced accommodation providers.
The BID, which is paid for through an annual levy on eligible businesses in the city centre, was set up in 2005. More than 1,000 businesses benefit from its services, including dedicated street cleaning, networked radios to provide better security and coverage, lobbying and connectivity to those in power, including at a local, regional and national level. The funds are also used for events, marketing and data services to help businesses understand how the city centre is performing.
The new budget will see more than £900,000 spent in year one and year two, with £1m-plus spent in years three to five.
Plans include funding festivals, greening the city centre and helping businesses achieve net zero.
Chief executive Bill Addy said: “Without the BID, Liverpool city centre would look very different. We are the only organisation that develops and lobbies for a specific strategy designed purely for the city centre’s mixed economy.
“We bring together expertise from retail, leisure, hospitality and culture to help better connect the city centre and be a voice for business.”
He added: “We often say that half of our work happens in plain sight, be it street cleansing, animation and activity in the public realm, and the other takes place behind the scenes with lobbying, pushing for the interests of our businesses and taking their concerns directly to those in charge.
“Liverpool is a visitor destination, it is a dynamic and ambitious city. While the public purse is shrinking our businesses look to their own civic role to help ensure the value of Liverpool is always seen and always felt. This helps to keep our city vibrant and reflects Liverpool city centre’s mixed economy.”
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