Diary of a Shopkeeper, 12th March

Keeping Harry the Heart in Kirkwall

It wasn’t as important an election as the ones to Holyrood or Westminster, but the ballot count for Kirkwall BID’s next five-year term was nonetheless carried out with all due solemnity. Those of us observing as representatives of BID felt both excitement and trepidation. The three of us – manager Laura Bruce, Meghan Hume of Hume Sweet Hume and Kyloe, and myself – sat on one side of the council chamber. On the other side were half a dozen council officials including new Chief Executive Oliver Reid, who had taken time out of his busy schedule to attend. It’s encouraging to know that BID is taken seriously by the high heid yins of School Place.

After some formalities, two council staff installed themselves at a table in the centre of the room, and started work on the stack of envelopes in front of them. First of all they opened them, taking out and unfolding the A4 voting sheets. Next, they separated them into two piles. From our seats we couldn’t see which boxes – Yes or No – were ticked on the sheets, but we could see that one pile was growing significantly faster than the other.

After fifteen minutes or so, the two piles were taken to a separate table at the top of the  room, where a computer was set up. Here the officials entered the Yes or No votes linked to the unique reference numbers on each ballot paper. This is needed because BID has a double hurdle to jump. If it was to continue, it had to get a majority Yes vote by number of votes, and also a majority by rateable value. This is to avoid a situation where a large number of small businesses vote in favour, because they pay a low levy, while a smaller number of large businesses vote no. The staff and board of Kirkwall BID worked hard to draft a plan for the next five years that would benefit both large and small businesses, as well as the town centre as a whole. Had we succeeded in persuading our electorate?

The computer had made its calculations. We were about to find out. A printer whirred. Oliver Reid cleared his throat and spoke:

“The return rate in terms of rateable value was 58%, and in terms of numbers of ratepayers 47%, so well above the thresholds required. The number of Yes votes was 109, and the number of No’s 22. By rateable value, votes in favour totalled £2,322,315, and against £331,800. I hereby declare that the proposal to establish a BID for another five years has been APPROVED.”

After a few minutes of thankyous and words of appreciation in the chamber, we BID reps floated down the street to celebrate with coffee and cake in the Archive. Not only was the result a Yes, but by a significantly larger margin than in the last ballot. In 2018, 22 voted against and 96 voted in favour. This year, the No votes stayed exactly the same. (Were they exactly the same voters? We’ll never know, as the ballot is anonymous.) But the Yes figure increased by 14%. Considering the difficult period we’ve been through, with the pandemic disrupting so many of BID’s activities and plans, the result is an enormous vote of confidence in the organisation.

When I chaired the BID board meeting a few days later, I noted that our events and promotions had been receiving huge public support; we’d also won the right to be considered a key representative group both locally and nationally; and now we had a ringing endorsement from our members. Kirkwall BID can embark on its plans for the next five years with a real wind in its sails.

It will do so without me as Chair. After four years in that role I decided the new term deserves fresh ideas and energy, and I resigned at the end of the board meeting. I remain an ardent supporter of BID, and look forward to participating in everything they do – as a shopkeeper rather than an organiser. Thank you to all the board volunteers I’ve worked with, to the business members who have contributed enthusiastically, and to the public who have supported our events in great numbers. Above all, I want to thank BID staff past and present, and especially current manager Laura Bruce, who continually goes the extra mile to Keep the Heart in Kirkwall.

This diary appeared in The Orcadian on 15th March 2023. A new one appears weekly. I post them in this blog a few days after each newspaper appearance, with added illustrations., and occasional small corrections or additions