Barrow BID – Annual Report 2020
Manager's Report
As we approached the end of our 3rd year on 31st August 2019, I was optimistic that Barrow town centre had turned a corner and we were seeing signs of a revival. The perception of the town had increased and businesses and the general public were buoyed by the success of large scale town centre events including the Super Soapbox and the Festival of Transport.
Barrow BID continued the feel good factor at the start of our 4th year with the delivery of our weekend long comedy fest which had laughs aplenty in venues across the town centre.
The festive period was a personal highlight as we purchased 3km of brand new cross-street lighting, new lights for Dalton Road trees and installed 2D shapes and speakers in the Forum Ginnel. Our aim was to create a festive atmosphere to welcome visitors to Barrow town centre and we backed up the new lighting with a range of schemes, events and activities, including: A town centre Santa Dash, Christmas Carol competition, Visit from Santa, live musicians and our first Shop Barrow Day which included all day free parking in the town centre.
In January the ITV Tonight programme aired and showcased some of the the issues that Barrow town centre and local businesses face. The programme provided us with an opportunity to lobby the Government for additional funding and a reduction in non-domestic rates. We have since represented businesses on the Town Deal board and have helped provisionally secure £25m for Barrow via the Government’s Town Deal fund.
In February we travelled to Edinburgh for the British High Street Awards where Barrow had been shortlisted for the Rising Star award based on our work during 2019. Unfortunately we weren’t to win the award, but we took some great ideas from the winning towns.
MARCH 2020 was the month when the world as we know it changed. The COVID pandemic had become the main topic everywhere and the UK went into its first National lockdown. COVID has impacted massively on town centre businesses with several high street chains entering administration and being lost forever from the UKs high street. Independent shops, hairdressers, market traders and the hospitality sector have been hit particularly hard and have been forced to close their doors.
Barrow BID has continued to work to support and promote town centre businesses and have delivered the following COVID schemes:
The summer of 2020 was very different to our planned year, with most of our events and initiatives postponed or cancelled all together.
With overseas travel badly affected we continued to promote Barrow as a visitor destination via an online marketing campaign and we hope this groundwork will enable Barrow to become a staycation destination.
We have also been working on a Train Station Gateway Scheme which will see new sign-posts installed to direct visitors to the town centre and places of interest. This scheme should have been completed in 2020, but has been delayed due to the COVID pandemic.
Our Business Premises Grant scheme has continued throughout the pandemic and some businesses have taken the opportunity to improve their premises whilst unable to trade. We supported 16 businesses with a grant in our 4th year.
Dino Day took place in August 2020 when the COVID virus R rate had dropped below 1 and it looked like we were able to get back to some kind of normality. The event was severely reduced in size and had strict health and safety rules in place to keep volunteers, staff and the general public safe. It was really nice to see smiles on children’s faces after a tough summer and we launched our very first town trail.
What are Barrow BID’s plans for the future?
Barrow BID remain determined to create a town centre fit for future generations. We understand that businesses are going to need our support following the COVID pandemic and we plan to put schemes in place that will safeguard local businesses and help them to adapt and grow.
The town centre has many issues and we are working with partners to identify them and implement schemes and initiatives to tackle them. Anti-Social Behaviour, vandalism and begging on the streets are a focus.
We also want to return to pre-COVID times and put on quality events, activities and initiatives which will help to increase footfall and improve the perception of the town centre.
We remain passionate that Barrow can have a town centre that is safe, welcoming and accessible to all and we will be the voice of businesses as we work with private sector partners, organisations and the local authority to deliver on our aims and objectives.
How can you help?
Barrow BID goes to ballot on 24th June this year, so if you believe that we can make a better Barrow town centre, vote YES for Barrow BID.
Colin Garnett (BID Manager)
The BID Board
The BID Board is made up of individuals from a broad range of levy paying businesses and presently consists of 9 Directors:
Large Retailers: Paul Hodgson- Chair (Rymans); Drew Anderson (Costa Coffee)
Small Retailers: Sandra Collings (Cumbria Embroidery & Print); Phil Heath (Heath’s Toymaster)
Services: Allan Kerr (Simply WallArt), Rowen McClure (RM Property Development)
Hospitality, Food & Drink: John Graham (McDonalds); Kay Bower (Labour Club)
Not-for-profit Organisations & Charities: Keiron Hart (SAFA)
There are still a number of potential Board places available and should you wish to put yourself forward, please send an email to manager@barrowbid.co.uk
Members
The BID is looking to encourage as many of the levy-paying businesses as possible to sign up to become BID Members. This will give two benefits: firstly, as Barrow BID is a company limited by guarantee, being a Member will allow a vote on key issues at the AGM or other key meetings; secondly, by registering an email address as a Member, we will be able to better communicate directly with Members on key BID issues.
Financial Summary
Click Here to open up the financial report from the year end 2020
Minutes of AGM
Click Here to open up the minutes of the AGM - February 2021
Chairman's Report
Click Here to open up the Barrow BID Chairman's Report
Manager's Report
Click here to open the Barrow BID Manager's Report
Click here to open the Barrow BID Manager's Presentation Slides
Chairman's Report
Chairman's Report - February 2021
Dear Members,
Thank you all for attending this evening.
Although the world we live in now has changed significantly over the past year, at tonight’s meeting we are actually starting by looking back at a pre-covid time, which seems like a long time ago, the end of 2019.
2019 was the year when the BID Board took the decision to make a significant investment in improving the Christmas lighting in Barrow to improve the experience for everyone visiting the town over the festive period. The feedback we got from this was extremely positive and has lead to us extending the new lights for 2020. We also ran a program of events throughout Christmas 2019 including organising Santa to visit the town centre, “Shop Barrow Day”, Late Night Shopping, live music, a Choir Competition and supporting the Santa Dash in association with St Marys Hospice.
As we moved into the new year of 2020, we made a significant commitment to regeneration by partnering with Barrow Borough Council as a supporter of the Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) centred around Duke St. This was alongside representation from Barrow BID being present on the two large scale investment projects being undertaken in Barrow, the Towns Deal (which became Brilliant Barrow) and the Future High Street Fund (FHSF). Throughout the period we also continued to help support businesses to invest in their property through our Business Premises Grant Scheme, with numerous businesses receiving match-funded grants. We were also nominated as a finalist for the “Rising Star” category in the Great British High Street awards.
In March of 2020, the first national lockdown began due to the outbreak of Covid 19. At this point, the role of Barrow BID changed drastically to one of very much of support for businesses to get them through this difficult period. As a BID, we used all our advertising channels to promote local businesses throughout the year including running a “Business Focus” campaign on our social media platforms. As businesses were allowed the re-open, we worked with them to assist with this and provided free floor stickers and posters to help them once again open their doors to customers. We also ran a significantly scaled back, Covid safe Dino Day event following the relaxation of restrictions to give people of reason to go back to visiting our town centre.
As a BID we have delivered numerous other projects and initiatives over the time period in question, many more than I have time to go through tonight. There is no way of hiding from the fact though that times are tough right now.
The role of a BID, of us as a group of business owners and managers coming together is more important now than ever before. With us all working together we will overcome this latest hurdle and continue to build a sustainable town centre that can be the hub of our community, a town centre we can be proud of. To this end, if any of you have any ideas for the future of Barrows Town Centre, for what you want to see Barrow BID delivering, then I would encourage you to get in touch with either myself, Colin our BID Manager, or any of the BID Board Directors.
Thank you
Paul Hodgson (Chair) February 2021
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