BID Manager Update – May 2023
Firstly, thank you to every business that voted in the recent renewal ballot. With such a close result, every vote really did make a difference!
The BID’s commitment to every business for the next five years is to do our best to make sure you are getting value from money for the levy that you contribute that all helps to keep Kings Heath as the best high street in Birmingham.
And, to those businesses who remain to be convinced by the BID’s value, we will spend the next five years doing our best to change your minds.
Sadly, a very small number of businesses have decided that the best way forward is to lodge an appeal with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to have the ballot result overturned. We are convinced that this will lead nowhere, but it may take a couple of months, or longer, to sort out, so please do bear with us while we deal with the ramifications of that.
It means that there will be a delay to getting BID term 4 up and running. You won’t receive an invoice until it’s decided, but it will be dated from that date the current term started – 7th April.
In happier news, the last few weeks have been a welcome relief, without the need to worry about the ballot or securing a future for your BID. We have been working full steam ahead on beginning to shape the next five years.
Some of these highlights have included:
- Queens Heath Pride, held across the area on 18th June
- Helping to set up the “Anti-Racist Weekender Festival” on 12th-14th May and planning an Eid celebration event for 2nd July
- Planning the return of Street Fest for September
- Upgrading the retail radios
- Beginning to brand the planters that the BID provides and maintains
- Putting together funding bids for some other innovative ideas
- Several meetings with the police addressing various crime and anti-social behaviour issues
- Meeting some of the great new businesses that have just opened or will be opening very soon
We have recently had the latest quarterly vacancy rate survey and, while things nationally are slowly improving, with average vacancy rates down to around 11%, We continue to buck the trend with a vacancy rate of just 4.8%, comfortably the best in the West Midlands.
Hopefully we can all look forward to a sunny and busy summer!