Diary of a Shopkeeper, 15th November
Street art by anonymous, November 2019.
The initials in Kirkwall BID stand for the slightly boring phrase Business Improvement District. As a description of a particular area, it’s only a wee bit more exciting than Congestion Charge Zone or Municipal Industrial Estate. However, each word tells us something important about what BID does.
‘B’ says that it’s funded and run by the Businesses in the area. Every BID member pays an annual fee (‘levy’ is the official term) and every member can volunteer to help organise events, or to be on the board of directors.
There are certain baseline services that are always looked after by the local authority – waste collection and road maintenance, for example – but beyond that BIDs have the flexibility to do almost anything that members think will benefit their area.
If members like what BID is doing, BID will do more of it. If members have better ideas, BID will develop those instead.
‘I’ means that BID’s mission is to Improve the area, both directly for its members and indirectly for the community as a whole. BIDs in different parts of the country interpret ‘improve’ in different ways, depending on the needs of their area and the priorities of their members.
In Kirkwall we’re already blessed with a beautiful town centre, so apart from installing winter lighting, summer bunting, and benches for weary shoppers, we haven’t focused on physical improvements. Most of our efforts have been directed at events like the Halloween Parade, the Festive Day Out, and Spring Fling. This year such things have all been online, of course, and online promotion is also a huge part of what we do.
Although BID’s main focus is on the physical town centre, many town centre businesses reach out around the world through ecommerce and other websites. BID helps promote those too, from time to time, bringing money into the town centre from all over the country, and all over the world.
‘D’ is for District, and though it may seem obvious that it indicates the town centre, the area that BID covers is more specific than that, in fact it’s very tightly and formally defined. The BID area can only be varied once every five years, when BID has to go to its members for a vote of confidence in its performance – and existence.
That is, in a normal year. But as we are all painfully aware, 2020 is far from normal. This year, special permission has been given for BIDs to use their experience and resources to help beyond their strictly drawn boundaries.
Hence our temporary name-change over the summer to Kirkwall BID & Beyond. Ninety businesses from all over the county signed up and we swung into action circulating useful information, promoting their activities – whether reopening after lockdown, special offers or delivery services – and lobbying public bodies on their behalf. All that on top of publicising and representing our permanent members with equal enthusiasm.
In fact, it’s important to remember that the special BID & Beyond funding allowed us to provide extra support and promotion for BID area businesses, as well as reaching out beyond the town centre.
It was a real thrill to have these efforts recognised recently when we were named as High Street Heroes, award-winners in a Scotland’s Towns Partnership national competition.
The even better news is that we have just won a second round of funding from our parent organisation, Scotland’s Improvement Districts. This means that BID & Beyond can come out of the hibernation it’s been in since the end of September, and once more carry out extra activities in Kirkwall, as well as try to help right across the county.
We’re not a big organisation. Laura Bruce has been taken on specially for a few hours a week to head up our BID & Beyond activities. Sally Laughton does our web and social media work in the equivalent of one day a week. And our manager, Mel Miller, manages the whole thing over a three-day week. Together, and with the support of a volunteer, unpaid board of members, we will try our best to deliver benefit to business across Orkney from now until the end of March. BID-area businesses will benefit throughout that period, and into the future…
So, if you’re a business of any kind, in any part of Orkney, and would like a little boost to your activities, sign up on our website: www.kirkwallbid.co.uk. And if you’re a long-standing member of BID in Kirkwall town centre, keep an eye on our website, social media, and The Orcadian, for news of all our winter activities.
BID’s motto is ‘keeping the heart in Kirkwall.’ Kirkwall will always be at the heart of BID, but at this uniquely challenging time, we’re happy to spread the love a little bit further beyond.
This diary appeared in The Orcadian on 19th November. Other diaries will appear weekly. I am posting them in this blog a few days after each newspaper appearance, with added illustrations., and occasional small corrections or additions.
Mostly the blogs focus on Kirkness & Gorie, which I run with Lauren and with the help of Mary and Amy. Occasionally - as this week - the blog covers the activities of Kirkwall BID, of which I am currently the Chair.