Please support our Tweet 'Thunderclap' to help the BID Ballot

Are you on twitter AND a supporter of Bedminster BID? If so we need your help please!

Early signs are that the ballot is going very well with local independent businesses. However, we need your help convincing Asda, the biggest business and rateable value in the area, to get on board. Asda are critical to a YES vote and so we wish to use a little 'social capital' to encourage them to support the BID and are asking everyone to tweet the following at exactly 3pm on Tuesday 6th March:

Early signs are businesses are voting strongly in favour of the Bedminster BID which will release £750,000 of much needed investment in the community. We just need @Asda - the biggest business and thus biggest vote - to support this great initiative for the local community.

The BID Ballot is now live!
As you hopefully know ballot papers were posted on 23rd February - they are coloured yellow to stand out a little. Businesses have four weeks to complete them and return in the addressed envelope provided. The future of the BID is only possible if a majority of businesses vote YES in the ballot, which will ensure essential BID funding continues. The average cost for independent businesses is around £4 per week which we hope you agree represents excellent value and ensures for Bedminster businesses:

marketing and promotion
more exciting streets (events etc)
tackling crime
reducing costs
a strong voice for local businesses.

We firmly believe the benefits of the BID greatly outweigh the costs as evidenced by the dramatic drop in shop vacancies over the past five years - down over a third. Full details of what we aim to do and how we are organised are in the Bedminster BID Renewal Proposal and Business Plan already circulated, but if you have not seen it yet, please click the image below.

If you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to contact George Grace on 07801790645 or email business@bedminster.org.uk and we will be happy to give you a call or meet you face-to-face.

Finally
If you are interested in becoming more closely involved with the BID, we are an informal, friendly group, whose basic duties are to direct spending for the BID and Town Team. We invariably hold our meetings at 6pm on the first Tuesday of each month (though not in March). Please do get in touch if you'd like to get involved.

About the Business Improvement District
Bedminster BID funding is generated via a small levy on all eligible businesses in the area and paid into a central 'kitty' in November each year, to be spent on projects that benefit Bedminster businesses. Our stated priorities are to:

Create vibrant streets that excite and delight
Market and promote Bedminster
Reduce crime and improve the shopping environment
Advocate and lobby for Bedminster business interests
Drive down costs

Please get in touch if you have any ideas about what we should do. Or, if you wish to attend a board meeting or one of our specialist sub-groups in Marketing, Arts & Culture or Built Environment (ie transport, planning and street improvement), please see our calendar here and drop us a line.

Further Information
Business to business news: www.bedminster.org.uk/business-what-is-bid
Customer facing website and social media:

Contacts
George Grace - business @bedminster.org.uk
om Beard - markets@bedminster.org.uk
Simon Dicken (Wilko) - man242@wilko.co.uk
Ben Barker (GBCP) - benbarker@blueyonder.co.uk

We are grateful to local accountants Tyrrell Procter and communications experts Plaster for their generous pro bono contributions to our activities.