BID FAQs

The BID does not have the power to do that. The LTN is a Birmingham City Council project, and is largely funded with ringfenced money from central government.

The BID has always maintained its neutrality towards the LTN, given the wide range of views amongst the business community, but it has secured business-only consultation events and challenged the Council to ensure that problems with the scheme will be considered and dealt with.

We also submitted the most comprehensive response to the consultation of any stakeholder in the Kings Heath area, which you can read here.

You can find further LTN support here.

The Board serve the interests of Kings Heath’s business community as a whole, as set out in the Articles of Association and Business Plan.

If you have a different opinion on how this should be done, and are a Member of Kings Heath BID – join the Board! There are a maximum of 15 spaces for Directors on the Board, but they aren’t often all full, so get in touch if you’re interested in steering the direction of Kings Heath’s future.

If you have an issue with shoplifting or similar, you can contact Simon, who leads our Street Warden team, on 07956 540 288. The wardens patrol the whole BID area several times a day. The BID’s Retail Radio scheme is largely used by nationals, due to the £1-day cost involved, so they are more often in contact with our street wardens, but they are there to support every business and are available to all. The national retailers, though, do suffer a larger percentage of business crime and our wardens save them thousands of pounds weekly.

The BID has close relationships with all of the schools that are in or border the BID Area. Although schools no longer pay the BID Levy, they represent an important part of our local community and as such, the BID works closely with them on various projects in and around the area.

If you want to stay abreast of what the BID is up to, don’t hesitate to get in touch! We can put you on our business mailing list or answer any further questions you might have.

Again, please get in touch!

Whatever your issue, we will do our absolute best to help you out, whether that be marketing and promotion, or reducing overheads through your complimentary membership of BIRA.

The reason that York Road has recently been the focus of many BID events is that it is pedestrianised. Whether you agree or disagree with the LTN in principle, while it’s here we might as well make the most of it! The pedestrianisation means that we no longer need to apply for road closure permits, as the road is already closed.

That being said, we’ve made an effort to broaden our events to include other parts of the Heath – The Parade car park, Kings Court, the Village Square, Heathfield Road and Silver Street – and will continue to do so in future.

Every Director on the BID Board brings their own experiences, opinions and areas of interest. All Directors are required to declare their interests which could or do raise conflicts of interest.

If you would like to request the register of a Board Members interests, or see the minutes of Board meetings, please get in touch.

Most BIDs across the country will have a representative from the Local Authority on their Boards, certainly every other BID in Birmingham does. Like every other business that is represented, BCC pays a BID levy to Kings Heath BID, in fact it pays more levy than any other business, so has a right to sit on the Board as a levy payer, like any other business.

The BID Board asked Birmingham City Council to nominate an appropriate Councillor to join the Board, which they did after following their own internal protocols.

Having the Council on the board offers further advantages as well. Dealing with BCC can be tricky and frustrating and having close ties at Board level clears some obstacles to dealing with the local authority.