BID Newsletter May 27th - SHOPS TO REOPEN!

May 27, 2020 george grace

Good Morning

Clearly there has been a major announcement affecting high streets – with government publishing a clear timetable for shops reopening click here. Detailed guidance is still to be released but in summary “from the 15th of June, we intend to allow all other non-essential retail, ranging from department stores to small independent shops, to reopen”.

MARKETING POST LOCKDOWN

The BID will hosted an online digital meeting last night. If you are interested in attending and contributing please send us an email and we will send you the joining details for future meetings which are usually last Monday’s of the month at 6pm. Alternatively drop us a line with your ideas.

Last night we discussed and agreed our focus should be:

WEAREBS3 - ie the new ecommerce site that is free for all BID businesses. We are investing in futher photography material, looking at finessing the brand throught the website, spending some money on social media advertising and will seek to get more businesses online from East and West Streets.
General marketing comms ideas in the coming months will entail Father's Day, campsites and picnicing (in Ashton Court for example), shared baskets for picnicing and days out on/near retail streets, ‘staycation’ spending, ;getting ready for summer, home craft competitions (and fails!), trails (gnomes - ie Gnomeminster(?!), and finally possibly a close the road party - perhaps at end of summer.
Christmas - yes it is coming and we have to start planning soon!

Emerging trends

Our thinking above is driven by the themes emerging from research into people’s attitudes to shopping today in the UK:

we have missed our friends more than the ability to shop (going out to a restaurant is missed most, combined with meeting friends for a coffee
we have a greater affection for our local area and want to support local business more
to cater for this we want a cleaner, greener outdoor environment with more outdoor seating
over 2/3 of people feel more part of and a pride in their community
2/3 agree they will use more contactless payment, less cash with half saying they will spend less time in shops and will meet outside to maintain social distancing (the sentiment for these statements is very high)
nearly ¾ of people want an increase in cleaning whilst all respondents want more outdoor seating and greening (Full survey available here)

In other research (IpsosMori) found nearly 2/3 of people uncomfortable with the idea of going to bars and restaurants. Thus there is a conflict between what people miss most and their concerns about acting on those impulses once the lockdown is relaxed. Clearly there is an opportunity for high streets to make operations safer post lockdown.

BID E-COMMERCE NOW LIVE AND FREE FOR BID MEMBERS

As reported the BID’s main focus since the lockdown is to provide a high quality Ecommerce option for businesses enabling them sell more and collaborate on deliveries. Please see:

www.wearebs3.co.uk

…and get in touch if you wish to trade on the site – there is no charge for BID members.

Meanwhile we have also been continuing to communicate day to day stories via our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds reminding everyone that the high street is still there and where possible to support local either via the new online offer or by visiting. Please let us know if there is anything at all about your buisness you wis to communicate with our many 000’s of followers.

Finally new business grants – we reported recently securing a £150K grant pot to subsidise new businesses considering locating on East Street. In the current circumstances this has been delayed but we hope will return and launch in the summer and clearly will be a significant boost to fill empty premises that were already quite plentiful on East Street prior to the lockdown.

BUILT ENVIRONMENT, PLANNING AND TRANSPORT

We were delighted to hear a presentation by the developers of Little Paradise at our last meeting. Part of their development obligations include the building of a multi story car park on the existing surface level car park. We think this is excellent news for East Street increasing significantly the car access immediately adjacent. In addition the 300 new appartments a mere 30 seconds walk from East Street will provide substantial new demand for shops. Full details of the scheme may be found here https://www.littleparadisebedminster.info/

We are also approaching the final stages of the East Street Visioning exercise - https://eaststreetvision.com/ - and will circulate a report shortly. We raised £60,000 from local developers and the council to run this exercise which will culminate in a detailed vision and costed plan that will enable us to put a very strong offer forward for funding form central government pots such as Future High Street Fund (now worth nearly £1bn) and new transport funding worth £2bn. We believe that whilst currently things are bleak, in the longer term given the amount of residential development emerging locally and these initiatives combined will ensure a more positive outlook for East Street.

Church Road Pocket Park – ie opposite East Street Fruit and Veg. This has been delayed for obvious reasons and will finally be installed next month and improve greatly the look and feel of this part of East Street. The costs are largely covered by a £15,000 grant the BID secured last year from central government.

COVID NEWS FROM BRISTOL CITY COUNCIL

We are informed that the council’s ‘Regulatory Services (RS)’ are visiting main high streets/local centres disseminating guidance/offering advice (have visited East St, Gloucester Rd, Fishponds, Stapleton Road and various other premises). This includes posters, mailshots etc. The primary aim is ensuring social distancing measures in/around shop units as much as possible (where possible one-way systems work best). The council do not anticipate enforcement regarding installation of screens in premises (around tills etc), but recommend doing so

- Nominal timeframes - assuming no increase in infection rate etc:

- 1 June: Non-essential retail

- 4 July: some hospitality that accommodate social distancing (licenced premises with beer gardens for example)

- Further openings anticipated by August, and by September most businesses hopefully open

Road closures/lifting of parking restrictions/relaxation of licensing regs etc - the main stream press have reported acceleration of various shcemes to support the end of lockdown across the city. Changes have been announced on Bedminster Parade (the Factory 1 section) and possible suspension of some car parking bays in North Street. We await more details. We are also seeking the opportunity to introduce wider pavements on East Street.

Extended Grant Scheme – Government announced an extension of the grant scheme – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/881040/business_support_grants-local_authorities_guidance.pdf. We are in touch with the council who inform us they will provide details at www.bristol.gov.uk/business-support-advice/covid-19-information-for-businesses.

£10,000 Grants for High Street Businesses - we are informed some businesses have still not claimed their £10,000. There are few strings attached to this and so if you have not applied for you grant please do make sure you start the process – please go to https://www.bristol.gov.uk/business-rates/grant-funds

COVID News from Central Government

Official guidance to help employers, employees and the self-employed understand how to work safely during the coronavirus pandemic - the UK Government is hosting a series of webinars from Wednesday 27 May covering the range of different types of workplace settings which are allowed to be open, including: factories/warehouses; restaurants offering takeaway/delivery; shops/branches; vehicles; construction/outdoor work; research facilities; offices/contact centres; and homes. Many businesses operate more than one type of workplace so you may need to use more than one of the guides/webinars as you think through what you need to do to keep people safe; further details of the webinars here.

Bounce Back Loans - Britain’s small businesses are able to apply for quick and easy-to access loans of up to £50,000– with the cash expected to land within days. See https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-bounce-back-loans-to-launch-today.

FURTHER USEFUL INFORMATION:

Finally, PPE - there are now many suppliers out there as you prepare to reopen safely. wanted to flag an organisation that help people that need PPE find certified quality products, at the best price, as quickly as possible and from multiple verified sources.
https://ppe4people.org/

BID E-COMMERCE WEBSITE NOW LIVE - FREE FOR BID MEMBERS

May 20, 2020 george grace

The BID is delighted to announce the new online sales and delivery platform is now up and running successfully. www.wearebs3.co.uk is a brand new, FREE, online local marketplace created jointly by the BID working with local techco Employtec - the platform is built exclusively for the Bedminster community. Thewebsite allows you to sell products and services to customers more effectively - particularly during Coronavirus and changing customer habits.

REASONS TO JOIN WEAREBS3

1. INCREASE ONLINE SALES - Promote and sell online to anyone locally.

2. IT’S FREE - Bedminster BID have taken away all the pain and invested up front to enable all Bedminster businesses to come together in a single compelling online offer

3. STAY ON TRACK DURING COVID-19 - Tap into one of the key trends of the current crisis; shopping online is growing at a faster rate than ever during the lockdown

4. MORE EXPOSURE - Bedminster businesses together under a single ‘banner’ enables cross merchandising and selling between businesses and catalyses impulse purchases across several shops in the way a trip to the high street does.

5. IT WORKS -In the pilot stage alone two Bedminster businesses processed over 150 orders worth £5,000 in just six days – the potential is huge

6. STRONGER TOGETHER - Bedminster businesses working together means helping each other – this approach will support the Bedminster economy as a whole, by helping sales in all local independents and thus recycling economic benefits (60% more than money spent in large corporate businesses such as the high street chains)

This is 100% free for Bedminster BID members. Typically, online systems such as these will cost around 10% of a sale. To ensure this is free for Bedminster businesses and moulded around their specific needs, the BID are delighted that Employtec gave their time for free to the project, coupled with a one off early investment of time and money from the BID resources allowed us to make this happen for you.

In addition the sales platform will benefit from all of the BID’s social media outlets which have been established and grown over eight years and thus will be working for WEAREBS3 to create a compelling marketing and communications reach.

Bedminster BID Facebook page

Bedminster Bristol Instagram page

Bedminster BID Instagram page

USING THE PLATFORM

Each trader has their own dedicated space in the website. All data is stored securely on the site with all payment details processed by Stripe - a nationally recognised payment system. The administrative system for business owners has been designed for speed and efficiency. There is complete flexibility for individual shops to set opening hours, delivery times, min order values, change product offers in accordance with the seasons, create promotions, adjust pricing to reflect trading conditions and stock, and have direct liaison with customers. The back office system supports businesses with managing orders including utilising in built route planning for efficient delivery scheduling. More details of back end operations may be found here.

TESTIMONIALS

We love the ease-of-use of the #wearebs3 website. We were able to get our page and products set up in no time at all. I see this website being a great asset to businesses with no web-presence, in terms of being able to start selling online quickly and easily. It will also benefit businesses like ours who already have e-commerce websites as it gives the opportunity to reach new customers. We’re really excited to see more local businesses joining in! (Lindsay, Co-Owner Toyville, North Street).

The idea of wearebs3 was immediately appealing to us especially in these current times, to be able to take orders quickly and efficiently not only to local customers but to those slightly further afield in Bristol who may not know about the shop. The extra bonus is being able to link in with all the other amazing shops in BS3 and allow so many more people to shop easily from multiple retailers in one basket. We have been used as a pilot shop and as the orders have come in we have found them easy to deal with and the customers have given us great feedback. The back end side of the site is easy to use and allows us to enter our stock levels which is really helping us maintain a great availability. This platform has the ability to grow and become a great showcase for what BS3 has to offer! (Stacey, Co-Owner Zero Green, North Street).

TAKE A CLOSER LOOK

We aim to get every relevant Bedminster business online as soon as possible. Click HERE to see how you might appear on the #wearebs3 website.

Please fill out this form. We can then help you create your business profile and upload details of your products and services. New businesses will feature in our campaigns – see marketing above – and you will have comprehensive support from the technical team when needed via phone and email. And all of this for FREE. So, what are you waiting for?

Please feel free to contact us if you have any other questions or queries. EMAIL: WEAREBS3 or BEDMINSTER BID

BID: HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HELLO 2020!

March 4, 2020 Jocelyn Wellby

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE WHOLE BID TEAM

After a brilliant festive season that brought together the whole BS3 BID area we are looking forward to an exciting 2020 full of activity. Many thanks to all those who were involved in the numerous projects that happened during November and December. If you have any additional feedback, comments or questions please contact Jocelyn via northst@bedminster.org.uk

Bedminster Winter Lantern Parade & Preview

We kick off the year with the welcome return of the Bedminster Winter Lantern Parade, now in its ninth year, which will light up the streets of Bedminster in a celebration of creativity and community.

The parade will start at 5pm on North Street, with on-street music. Below is a list of the pre-parade entertainment programme which will run from 4pm on Saturday 11th January on the traffic free Parade route.

Performance Location Performance Name Time of Performance

1. Tobacco Factory The Bristol Sea Slugs 15.45-16.30

2. CJ Hole Sam Pennant/The Callous lips 16.30-17.00

3. Bedminster Green Pan Sonic 16.00-16.45

4. Creative Design Sambista 16.30-17.15

5. Toyville Amy from the Woods 16.15-17.00

6. Hunters Drum Machine 16.15-17.00

7. British Road Simon Campbell 16.30-17.15

Following the parades finish on Small Street there will be fireworks for everyone to enjoy.

Lantern Parade Preview (East Street 1-2pm on Friday 10th January)

Shoppers on East Street are in for a treat this week. For the first time, organisers of the Bedminster Winter Lantern Parade will be showing off some of the spectacular lanterns made for this year’s community celebration at a special lunchtime preview event on Friday.

This is a great chance to get a close up look at this years amazing creations made by local school children. The participants have been working alongside the BWL project’s lead artist Alan May highlighting species which are currently at risk of extinction along with personal messages from the children - including a 3 metre long White Rhino lantern!

The fun starts 1pm at the junction of East Street and Church Lane with music provided by Bristol African Drum Masters led by Steven Blagrove with Alan May on saxophone.

For more information visit http://site.bwlp.org.uk/ and stay tuned to live updates via their I nstagram or Twitter.

GET INVOLVED IN THE BID

Alternatively a marketing (and arts, culture) group meets on the last Monday of every month also at 6pm and a Built Environment Group on the first Tuesday monthly at 4pm (please see our calendar here). Alternatively if you prefer drop us a line or telephone us for a chat to discuss any ideas you have that you think the BID should be pursuing.

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

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

Contacts

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

BID: CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER

March 4, 2020 Jocelyn Wellby

Welcome to the Christmas Newsletter.

Updates below on all BID matters however why not come along in person on Tuesday at the Steam Crane where we are hosting an informal Christmas Drinks event for BID business owners and managers from 6.15pm to discuss all things BID for the forthcoming year.

Christmas Activities

As reported last month the BID has committed a greater proportion of funds towards Christmas this year - nearly 1/3 of all BID income will be focused on these festivities, with the aim to link the local BS3 businesses, residents and wider consumers, while increasing revenue in the run up to Christmas.

These include:

Up to 100 Christmas themed events
A gift guide with a 20,000 print run (this is out already)

The Shop Local campaign celebrates local traders - see the bill board posters which are up and receiving very positive reviews

The Elves will be back to hand write hundreds of Santa letters in response to letters received in our own post boxes
Christmas Lights are up in East Street, North Street and West Street!

There are still many ways for traders to get take part - click here or contact Jocelyn via 07811178400 or northst@bedminster.org.uk

Finally in addition to the Christmas marketing initiatives the BID was delighted to commission and promote online a video of the people and places of Bedminster. This has been promoted over the past two months with nearly 60,000 have seen this via Facebook alone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z8X9MhJveI.

Built Environment - transport, planning etc

Illegal Graffiti Cleansing – We continue to work with OneFifty an exterior cleaning company based in Bedminster. Things are not perfect on our streets but are we believe much better for the efforts of OneFifty and other initiatives we are trialling. One such initative is to paint shutters bold, vibrant colours and provide shopkeepers with a spray can of the same colour in order they can quickly and easily paint over any illegal tagging. If you would like this done on your shutter free of charge please do get in touch – northst@bedminster.org.uk

New Sign-Sculptures
The BID is helping Trika Yoga, Toyville and Zero Green install new shop signs with an arts/sculptural element to them. This is part of an ongoing project we started 3-4 years ago building on the aim to develop the area as a stimulating arts and creative place and easier and more interesting on the eye as you walk around. Existing signs include Souk, Ivory Flowers and Rhubarb Jumble.

St Catherines Place Redevelopment
This went to planning this week and whilst not approved it was not rejected. It has been deferred until a transport study is complete however we are hopeful that once complete the new development including a new cinema will be given the go ahead and finally the blight that this development has been on this end of East Street will end. Meanwhile Factory 1 next door to Asda is coming to market with some high end apartments that will soon increase the level of local walkabale shopping demand and we hope be the start of a new more promising future for East Street. Their arrival has already seen a vast improvement in the collonade (covered pavement) at this end of East Street

East St Vision – the outline vision was completed in the summer and the consultation and feedback has been most positive. We are now working hard on an informal partnership with local developers and the council to organise detailed plans and raise funding to turn it into a reality. This is an ambitious plan and in the past highly unlikely to move forward. However with the increased interest from the council in the area as a result of developments around 'Bedminster Green' and national pots of money becoming available (such as Future High Street Fund) we are of the view that slowly but surely there is the real possibility of significant improvement.

Shop Access Ramps
The BID through Alice owner of Trylla on North Street has been working closely with Ben Barker at AgeFriendly Bedminster to explore ways to improve accessibility. They have found some very low cost ramps - c£50 - to help with access to shops for the elderly and others and are looking at ways to make it even cheaper by 'bulk buying'. In addition the BID have offered to pay for half of the cost of early commitments as part of the BID's commitment to supporting Age Friendly Bedminster. Please contact Ben or Alice if you are interested - tryllashop@gmail.com, benbarker@blueyonder.co.uk. Alice will be dropping in on businesses in the New Year.

Pocket Park on East Street
The designs are complete and subject to council highways approvals we will install a range of benches, planters and ‘green walls’ in the spring on the corner of Church Road opposite East Street Fruit and Veg.

CRIME
The BID continues to support initiatives to reduce crime and anti social behaviour. This has been a growing concern for businesses on East St this past year in particular. A data sharing app has been purchased by the BID for sharing info directly with the police – if you are not on the DISC system yet please get in touch with Olivia at Bubble Cafe – email is best in order she can give you access - olivia@bubbleplaycafe.com.

GET INVOLVED IN THE BID

About the Business Improvement District

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

Contacts

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

BID: SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER

March 4, 2020 Jocelyn Wellby

Built Environment - transport, planning etc

East Street Vision

There is a great deal of change going on in the East Street area and the BID is active seeking to ensure it benefits businesses in the area. We have used the strong voice of the BID to impress upon the council the need for speed to bring these changes forward in particular at St Catherine’s Place and the former Argos block.

The impact on East Street trading could be most significant, in particular if we are successful in the grants we are seeking to ensure the East Street ‘Vision’ is delivered – in effect a face-lift of the streets public realm, street furniture, facades etc.

Church Rd Pocket Park

As reported earlier we were delighted to win a small grant of £15,000 to install a much needed pocket park on the junction opposite East Street Fruit and Veg which will bring some much needed aesthetic improvement to this spot. The latest draft ideas are summarised in the image below and we hope to install early in the New Year.

At a more basic level the state of the cleanliness of the area has declined in the past year largely as a result of increased illegal graffiti and as such the BID has invested in a private contractor to deal with the worst of it on behalf of businesses. Nearly 30 properties have been treated in the BID area over the past 6 months with an average cost of approximately half what it would be for businesses to organise and pay for this themselves as the economies of scale and efficiencies of doing multiple properties in one visit really work for BID members.

Anti-social behaviour

With the level of anti-social behaviour increasing sadly we have had to invest in our own data sharing system (DISC) as a means to enable businesses to be the ‘eyes on the street’ and communicate directly and effectively with the police. More information of how the system works here - https://www.discagainstcrime.com/ - please do get in touch if you wish to be put onto the system. Also a mini crime prevention group of businesses meets with police on the last Monday of each month at 5.15pm in Bubble Cafe – if you wish to come along please contact us to find out more or just turn up.

Marketing

Christmas Objectives

Like many of you the BID team have been busy planning, and getting excited about, the coming festive season; thinking of ways to promote BS3 as a shopping destination for all Christmas gifts and activities, while setting that special festive feeling and getting locals excited for the holidays.

The marketing team have elected to spend considerably more money on Christmas this year, nearly 1/3 of all BID income will be focused on these festivities, with the aim to link the local BS3 businesses, residents and wider consumers, while increasing revenue in the run up to Christmas.

The 2019 programme is the largest one we have planned so far seeing the likes of Show of Strength and community groups managing up to 100 events. These will all be promoted via the return of our very successful gift guide with a 20,000 print run. The Shop Local campaign will be celebrating you, our traders, while our community Elves will be back to hand write hundreds of Santa letters.

There are numerous ways for traders to get stuck in, take part and be involved in the fun. More information can be found here.

Any questions please contact Jocelyn via 07811178400 or northst@bedminster.org.uk

Bedminster Promo Video

Our very own Bedminster promo video is now live and definitely worth a watch. Colin Moody has captured some of the well know faces working and living within the area, celebrating the vibrant streets and shops. Its turned out really well, had great feedback and we hope you like it - share it with your customers via this FB link.

Fiver Fest

Have you heard about Fiver Fest? This is a national campaign that encourages locals to spend locally and keep revenue within our economy. It would be great to have as many businesses taking part in this as possible. A personalised poster can be downloaded to let customers know you are taking part and what your offer might be.

More information can be found via the Fiver Fest website. If you choose to take part please let Jocelyn know via northst@bedminster.org.uk so we can share on social.

Promotion

The Bedminster BID works closely with Plaster, a local communications agency based off North St, who have years of valuable experience running events, launching products and creating innovative campaigns for their clients; luckily for us they are also pretty passionate about all things BS3.

Who is Plaster for the BID?

Plaster helps to increase the public profile of the BS3 retail area, with the ultimate aim of driving traffic to the amazing local businesses south of the river.

This includes running the BID's website and social media channels, planning and supporting community events such as Christmas in Bedminster, Musicians on the Run and Make Sunday Special as well as helping create marketing opportunities for Bedminster as a whole.

Hundreds of independent traders make up the Bedminster BID and Plaster would like to make all of their voices heard. If you'd like to be featured on Bedminster's website and social media channels, please send photos and information on new products, celebrations or great stories from the shop or restaurant to bedminster@weareplaster.com. Send as many photos as you'd like and Plaster will do their best to share everyone's content.

Introducing Heather: Heather joined the team at Plaster in January of this year. Her background is in retail management in Montreal, Quebec and nothing makes her more excited than seeing community being built and championed for. Send any content you would like to be shared her way and she will be happy to try get it featured bedminster@weareplaster.com

Face of the High Street

Face of the High Street is a feature on the Bedminster BID's website and social media channels that highlights the people behind BS3's amazing local businesses. We reveal the history, the stories and the inspiration that makes these local shops and restaurants so incredible as well as discuss each owner's favourite parts of Bedminster, what they love about doing business here and where the future will take them.

If you're interested in being featured on Face of the High Street, get in touch with Plaster at bedminster@weareplaster.com and they will set up a time to come and visit. Each interview should take about 30 minutes, including Plaster snapping a few pictures of you doing what you do best, running your business.

GET INVOLVED IN THE BID

About the Business Improvement District

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

Contacts

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

BEDMINSTERS BUILT ENVIRONMENT

June 18, 2019 Jocelyn Wellby

Welcome to your June newsletter!

Lots of exciting initiatives are underway to help improve Bedminsters built environment. See below for updates:

BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Illegal Graffiti Cleansing - We are pleased to announce that the removal of Bedminster’s unwanted illegal graffiti has commenced. OneFifty is an exterior cleaning company based locally in Bedminster. They have been providing exterior building cleaning services since 2013 and are experts in safely removing graffiti. OneFifty will also be protecting affected walls to help deter future graffiti attacks and make the surfaces easier to clean and maintain. We are still awaiting a small number of indemnity forms - please click here for the relevant form.

East St Vision – we have been working hard on this with local architects Purcell and will be circulating some visuals shortly and conducing some face to face customer consultation at the East Street Summer Fair - see below.

Pocket Park on East Street - (Opposite East St Fruit) Initial ideas have been presented by the architects and a concept with a strong theme of re-using metal bins as planters and ‘street-arting them’ was favoured. More details to follow.

Licensing – the council are reviewing their 'cumulative impact assessment' for the area and given the impact this can have on the business of pubs and restaurants we are watching the detail carefully. Further details of the consultation to be circulated late summer.

Police Independent Advisory Group – Simon Dicken chair of the BID attends this important new group and will keep us informed of any important developments.

MARKETING

BS3 JAMBOREE
Bedminster BID would like to invite local businesses, traders, and residents to the BS3 Jamboree this Saturday - 22nd June 2019. Taking place between The Old Bookshop and The Steam Crane, the BS3 Jamboree will be celebrating it's local businesses as well as hosting live music & DJs, food vendors, family arts, crafts, and workshops, and outside bars and seating. All we need now is some good weather!

Taking over the live music stage is The Bristol International Jazz & Blues Festival who will be hosting Bristol's favourite musical son James Morton. Alongside James there'll be explosive Blues from the Will Edmunds Band, latin grooves from Los Gusanos, and the exuberant trumpet maestro Jonny Bruce. The BS3 Jamboree: 11am-5pm, Lower North Street, Bedminster, Bristol

Christmas – Planning is already underway for the upcoming festive season. We are exploring alternative approaches to lighting up East Street, and beyond, which we will report back on next month.

Bedminster on Google - have you ever tried to 'walk' down East Street on Google Street View - you will find its not possible. As such we are paying to have it done with an approved Google supplier and exploring other ways that we can use the world's premier information provider to share all the area has to offer, such as via online street art maps.

Bedminster Video - we are excited to be working with local photographer Colin Moody and local musicians to come up with a short video to for use on line to help Bristolians and tourists appreciate what this great area has to offer. We hope to share the video with you next month and launch ready for the summer.

GET INVOLVED IN THE BID

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. The BID Board meets 6pm on the first Tuesday of each month. Please do get in touch if you'd like to get involved.

Alternatively a marketing (and arts, culture) group meets on the last Monday of every month also at 6pm and a Built Environment Group on the first Tuesday monthly at 4pm (please see our calendar here). Alternatively if you prefer drop us a line or telephone us for a chat to discuss any ideas you have that you think the BID should be pursuing.

About the Business Improvement District

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

Contacts

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

DEEP CLEANSING OF ALL ILLEGAL GRAFFITI IN THE BID AREA

June 17, 2019 Jocelyn Wellby

DEEP CLEAN OF ALL ILLEGAL GRAFFITI IN THE BID AREA

As reported last month the Bedminster BID is now taking action within the Bedminster shopping streets regarding the above. There are a number of ways you can help us ensure this is a success for all our sakes:

Indemnity Forms
We expect to commence cleansing this month with a preferred contractor to remove or paint over all graffiti in the BID area – nearly 200 tags etc have been identified in a thorough audit. If you wish to be part of this clean up please sign up to the self-explanatory disclaimer – click here – which will allow our contractors to deal with your building now and in the future if you have been affected. Please complete the form and return to by email to business@bedminster.org.uk or via any of the ways described in the form as soon as possible – if you have any questions please do email or call.

Graffiti Removal Training
Once we have the place cleaned we are looking at ways we can stay on top of the situation. Below is information regarding dates and times for training being provided by the council (some venues are yet to be confirmed). If you are interested the council are offering four Certificated (Pro-Kit) sessions (4 hours in length), and one Introductory (Graff Off Kit) session (90 minutes in length).

11th June – 9.00 – 13.00 – Certificated Course (11 Places) – Venue to be confirmed
11th June – 16.00 – 20.00 – Certificated Course (11 Places) – City Hall
12th June – 10.00 – 14.00 – Certificated Course (11 Places) – Venue to be confirmed
12th June – 15.00 – 19.00 – Certificated Course (11 Places) – City Hall
12th June – 19.30 – 21.00 – Introductory Course (25 Places) – City Hall

Please email us at business@bedminster.org.uk if you are interested.

Buckets and Sponges
Finally we have secured grant from the council to purchase buckets, sponges and other equipment to support this initiative. Again please do contact us if you can put these to good use.

GET INVOLVED IN THE BID

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

Contacts

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

BID TO COMMENCE DEEP CLEAN OF ALL ILLEGAL GRAFFITI IN THE BID AREA

June 17, 2019 Jocelyn Wellby

BID TO COMMENCE DEEP CLEAN OF ALL ILLEGAL GRAFFITI IN THE BID AREA

We are all painfully aware of the increase in senseless illegal graffiti across the entire city and so Bedminster BID is now taking action within the our shopping streets.

We are finalising negotiations with a preferred contractor to remove or paint over all graffiti in the BID area – nearly 200 tags etc have been identified in a thorough audit. This clean-up will be at a cost of nearly £30,000 to the BID however there will be no additional cost to businesses.

All you need to do if you wish your building to be included in the clean-up is to complete the self-explanatory disclaimer – click here – which will allow our contractors to deal with your building now and in the future if you have been affected.

Please complete the form and return to us via any of the ways described in the form as soon as possible – if you have any questions please do email or call us – contact details below.

BID NEWS:

East Street Vision – the BID has commissioned local architects to create a vision for the future East Street that may emerge with the changes anticipated through development of ‘Bedminster Green’. More information to follow in a round of consultation which we will share on-line and via an exhibition on East Street.
Bedminster Video/Film – the BID has commissioned a short film of the area profiling and promoting the highlights in a form that we hope will be picked up Bristolians and visitors alike attracting them to all the area has to offer. This is at initial draft stage but we hope to launch ready for summer visitors.
Upfest Editions – there is no Upfest Festival this year however there will be Upfest ‘Editions’ which the BID has agreed to support. Editions is a series of new paintings across BS3 which takes in refreshing some existing walls but also painting some new walls that would for H&S reasons be unable to be painted at the annual festival. Spreading out the project over five months will bring summer long benefit to traders without creating the headache of dealing with large crowds on a specific weekend. Visit Bristol and the press are already supporting the launch ensuring Bedminster receives its fair share of visitors to the city, the new artwork will also bring back visitors who come to the festival each year in order to photograph the new artworks.
Winter Lantern Parade – the BID has agreed to back the 2019 event given its success becoming one of the largest events in the city in recent years.

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

Contacts

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

CALL TO ACTION

June 17, 2019 Jocelyn Wellby

URGENT AND IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY

The council are proposing extending CIL funding to Bedminster Green and East Street areas which could mean £ms of investment for the area. Please read the short details in the link and if you are in support and wish to see this happen please email no later than tomorrow to cil@bristol.gov.uk a simple statement along the lines of

'I strongly support the council's intention to extend CIL to the Bedminster Green wider area as described in the consultation details, given the significant changes and improvements required in the transport and highways arrangements and associated public realm works'.

EAST STREET VISION - on a related subject the BID is conducing a consultation exercise in relation to the future of East Street and will be in front of St Catherine's Place between 10am and 1pm tomorrow if you are free to drop by and share your thoughts.

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

Contacts

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

FEBRUARYS FOODIE NEWSLETTER

June 17, 2019 Jocelyn Wellby

Welcome to your February Foodie Newsletter!

This month we have a great opportunity we wish to share with our restaurants and cafes. Bristol Food Connections arrives for 11 days on 12th June and we want to make sure Bedminster takes a big bite out of it. Thus we have bought a 'World Food Passport' for Bedminster which is a co-promotion run by Bristol Food Connections and happening in several other areas of the city such as Gloucester Road, Clifton etc.

Each passport will be coloured differently, this year Bedminster will be a pale turquoisy blue.

IMAGE: 2018 World Food Passport

150 passports will be available via the Bristol Food connections website - click and collect (at Tourist Info) or postal service. Venues in the passport offer a complimentary taster to holders of passport. Once a food explorer has visited and sampled - the venue stamps the passport (looks nice and ensures people only visit each venue once with the passport).

Passport holders can visit venues any time during BFC 10 days (this means generally you don't get 150 people descend on one day). Bedminster passport will be for up to 15 eating venues with a page dedicated to a simple map of venues.

Passport stamps can be provided if necessary but many businesses will have their own stamps/logo to use. So this is up to you.

The Benefits
Part of a trail that was piloted last year in the Gloucester Road area in which 120 passports sold out in 3 days. 79% of visitors had NOT visited those venues in the past and 84% said they would return. There is an ‘upsell’ – ie most passport holders purchased something else on top of their complimentary taster.

Clearly it’s a fun way for people to discover the neighbourhood through the diversity of food (last year saw a many international foodie adventurers including a couple of well know foodie bloggers/influencers and visitors from other Bristol neighbourhoods). In addition there is marketing and social medial support from Bristol Food Connections (on the programme).

What Next
If you wish to be involved then please let Joss know via email by February 18th (northst@bedminster.org.uk). Then other than thinking of an effective free taster sampler to offer in June just sit back.

IN OTHER NEWS
We will be updating you on numerous projects for the rest of the year in our next newsletter. In the meantime some potentially very good news on East Street which could mean significantly more funding being targeted here, however, some of it is subject to a consultation exercise:

CIL S123 LIST CONSULTATION
The council are proposing extending s123 List to the area subject to consultation. This could be very significant for us and as such we urge you to respond by emailing cil@bristol.gov.uk that you support the council's intention to improve East Street via investment in improvements to the highway infrastructure including upgrading the public realm and landscaping etc.

FUTURE HIGH STREET FUND
The £675m fund the chancellor announced last autumn is now approaching the deadline for applications - it could mean £ms for East St. Each council must choose just one high street to apply for funding - the council still has not made their decision and so any lobbying you can do to encourage the council to elect East St for this grant will be helpful.

EAST STREET VISIONING EXERCISE
The BID has just instructed Purcell Architects to commence a visioning exercise - ie what ideally would we like East Street to look like in order to ensure its future - which will serve our interests in respect to both of the above. We are looking for businesses to become involved over the next 4-6 weeks in this process and if you are interested please email business@bedminster.org.uk.

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

Contacts

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

NEW YEAR NEWSLETTER

January 17, 2019 Jocelyn Wellby

Welcome to our first Newsletter of 2019. We do hope you had a good Christmas and are looking forward to a successful New Year.

Important note: Please remember The Winter Lantern Parade is this weekend (following postponement due to bad weather in December). Road closures will start at 4pm, with the on-street entertainment starting at about 5pm. The Parade itself will start at 5:30pm, following the usual route, and the fireworks will be set off at about 7pm. More details at www.bwlp.org.uk

In other news...

Marketing and Promotion

Christmas Celebrations - With only two months between securing a successful ballot and Christmas being upon us we had to get our festive skates on and Christmas plans in action. We hope you enjoyed the new lights on North Street in particular which we thought looked great. Sadly we say goodbye to the Elf Village on North St Green, which the Elf and Safety have deemed unfit for habitation.

Events – Considerable efforts went into North Street Nights (ie Thursday shopping evenings on North Street) with much positive feedback of some of the activities, in particular the staging of Scrooge in the Ebenezer Gate pocket park which attracted an extraordinary 160 people. Many thanks to the organisers and volunteers.

Next steps – We are now organising an events calendar for the rest of the year with ideas around close-the-road summer festivals for both North Street and East Street and the return of various On the Run events (ie musicians, magicians etc). If you have any ideas in particular that you think would go down well in Bemmie please do email or come along to the next marketing meeting on the last Monday of this month 6pm in Tobacco Factory.

Built Environment (ie planning, transport etc)

Street Cleansing – the increase in graffiti in the area is in fact a city-wide problem. However one of the benefits of having a BID in place and our own funding is the ability to redirect monies to address specific problems. As such the BID will invest in graffiti removal and wash-downs including a vehicle with high powered hot wash for the next six months across the entire BID area.

Lower North Street – finally the new buildings in this part of the BID area are complete and the car parking has been returned for... well cars. Whilst its clear this part of Bedminster has seen quite a renaissance in the past few years with numerous new interesting independent shops opening up, this stretch perhaps deserves a bit more TLC in terms of pavements, greening, planters, cycle racks etc. As such we are commissioning a small design exercise by place-making specialists to see what can be done – if anything given the narrow pavements here.

East Street – its all change on East Street in the medium term with well over 1000 new apartments either being built (in St Catherine’s Place and Factory 1) or planned around Bedminster Green. The positive impact this will have on East Street should not be underestimated in terms of new local demand (what value in £s around 2000 more people within 2 minutes walk?). However we are keen that these new residents spend as much time as possible on East Street and so we believe now is the time for fresh investment and something of a ‘facelift’ for the street which suffers from high shop vacancy rates (ie 20% compared to the rest of the BID being only around 6%) and a poor ‘public realm’ (ie landscaping). In addition to monies being raised from developers adjacent to East Street we are making the case for East Street to be nominated by the council for the Future High Street Fund which would mean several £m worth of much needed investment.

GET INVOLVED IN THE BID

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. The BID Board meets 6pm on the first Tuesday of each month. Please do get in touch if you'd like to get involved.

Alternatively a marketing (and arts, culture) group meets on the last Monday of every month also at 6pm and a Built Environment Group on the first Tuesday monthly at 4pm (please see our calendar here). Alternatively if you prefer drop us a line or telephone us for a chat to discuss any ideas you have that you think the BID should be pursuing.

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 benefitBedminster 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

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

Contacts

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

TOWN MEETING FEEDBACK: IDEAS FOR OUR RETAILS STREETS

January 17, 2019 Jocelyn Wellby

‘TOWN MEETING’ IDEAS FOR BEDMINSTER’S RETAIL STREETS

You will recall from our last newsletter we were hosting an important meeting jointly with Action Greater Bedminster - BEDMINSTER'S SHOPS IN 2030: WILL THEY STILL BE HERE?
We had a most constructive meeting with businesses, residents and community groups generating some very useful ideas for the future work of the BID. These will be followed up in the New Year but in the meantime they included the following (priorities listed in bold type):

CHRISTMAS DRINKS AND LAST BOARD MEETING OF THE YEAR
Tomorrow Tuesday at 6pm is the last board meeting of the year and will last only half an hour before Christmas drinks get together invitation to all businesses in the BID area – hope you can join us at 6pm for the board meeting or 630pm for a drink and informal chat if you wish about the BID going forward – at Wetherspoons on Cannon Street.

FESTIVE UPDATES:
Plenty of festive activities still to come:

Christmas Tree Illuminations: To celebrate the BIDs return we have taken the opportunity to give our large pavement trees, which reside on North St and West, a bit of much needed love and attention. Taking inspiration from none other than Paris’s Champs-Elysées we will be be creating a little something extra for this years tree illuminations.

Winter Lantern Parade: Bedminster’s hugely iconic and much-loved Winter Lantern Paradereturns for its seventh year. Expect the biggest and best lantern parade yet as the entertainment starts on the traffic free route from 4pm, followed by the spectacular display of lanterns of all shapes and sizes. Saturday 8th December, 4:00pm – 8:00pm, North St.

North Street Nights: In its second year NSN has already got over 40 businesses proudly taking part and hopefully a few more joining in. Running Thursday 6th, 13th and 20th Dec we will see North St Green being used for community festive fun, while the shops keep their doors open till 8pm for all Christmas shopping needs. The North St Nursery has kindly got involved to host a Santa’s Grotto (6th and 13th) and Elf Post office (20th) - Jocelyn is still searching for a Santa so please get in touch if you know of anyone with previous experience of being the big man himself.

Gift Guide: Thank you to everyone who sent in gifts for this years guide. The A5 pamphlet is jam packed with a wide range of Christmas goodies that will be distributed with the next edition of the South Bristol Voice. With 20K copies going out this year we hope to promote the variety of products available from our local stores. Have a sneaky peak HERE.

Santas Letters: Building on the success of last years Santa letters we have enlisted a community of older Elves to hand write responses to local children. Letters posted between 1st - 15th Dec in any of the post boxes, which can be found on East St, West St and North St Green, will be ready for collection from The Elf Post Office (20th Dec). If you or anyone you know would like to join our Elf army to help with responses please contact Jocelyn - this years head Elf - for more details.

GET INVOLVED IN THE BID

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. The BID Board meets 6pm on the first Tuesday of each month. Please do get in touch if you'd like to get involved. Alternatively a marketing (and arts, culture) group meets on the last Monday of every month also at 6pm and a Built Environment Group on the first Tuesday monthly at 4pm (please see our calendar here). Alternatively if you prefer drop us a line or telephone us for a chat to discuss any ideas you have that you think the BID should be pursuing.

About the Business Improvement District

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

Further Information

Business to business news: www.bedminster.org.uk/business

Customer facing website and social media:

https://www.bedminster.org.uk/

www.facebook.com/bedminsterbristol.bs3

www.twitter.com/BedminsterTT

Contacts
George Grace - business@bedminster.org.uk
Jocelyn Wellby - northst@bedminster.org.uk
Simon Dicken (Wilko) - man242@wilko.co.uk
Stef Brammar (AGB) - stef.brammar@way-out-west.org
Ben Barker - benbarker@blueyonder.co.uk

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

BEDMINSTER SHOPS IN 2030 EVENT & FESTIVE FUN

January 17, 2019 Jocelyn Wellby

IMPORTANT MEETING THIS WEEK WITH ACTION GREATER BEDMINSTER

BEDMINSTER'S SHOPS IN 2030: WILL THEY STILL BE HERE?
Or will it just be Amazon and faceless corporations?

22nd November 2018 6.30pm (for 7pm sharp) until 9pm
Hen & Chicken, North Street, BS3 1JF

We need you! Bedminster's businesses, residents and community groups are invited to help us shape the next five years of the BID. What do you want from your high streets? Does it matter? Do you care?
We do. If you do too, join us for a couple of hours to hear and offer opinions about how businesses, residents, community groups and public authorities can work together to ensure the future of Bedminster's retail and leisure streets at the heart of this great community.
Clearly this is an opportunity for the BID and all businesses to engage with their local customer base and we hope come up with some great new ideas around what will help us continue improving the offer for residents and visitors alike.

https://www.facebook.com/events/707244189633121/
No need to book – please just come along.

£M FUND ANNOUNCED FOR EAST STREET - CHRISTMAS MUST BE COMING!

You may have noted some rare good news in terms of government funding with the announcement by the new combined authority of a £10m fund to help high streets and the decision by Bristol to make East Street a pilot - please click here for more.

FESTIVE UPDATES:

With lots of festive preparation underway we thought it would be good for a little update and shout out for input or help were appropriate.

Christmas Tree Illuminations: To celebrate the BIDs return we have taken the opportunity to give our large pavement trees, which reside on North St and West, a bit of much needed love and attention. Taking inspiration from none other than Paris’s Champs-Elysées we will be be creating a little something extra for this years tree illuminations.

Winter Lantern Parade: Bedminster’s hugely iconic and much-loved Winter Lantern Parade
returns for its seventh year. Expect the biggest and best lantern parade yet as the entertainment starts on the traffic free route from 4pm, followed by the spectacular display of lanterns of all shapes and sizes. Saturday 8th December, 4:00pm – 8:00pm, North St.

East Street Festive Illuminations: The the first time in many years we will be creating festive illuminations running down East St. Due to the nature of the road these have been designed to complement the changing architecture and utilise the nooks and crannies the buildings create. East St property owner have been very supportive of this project and we are excited to see the lights turned on for the East St Fair 1st Dec.

West St Carols: Head on down to West Street and spread some Christmas cheer. The Bedminster Citadel Salvation Army Band will be on hand, providing a glorious festive backdrop and with mince pies and mulled wine, what’s not to love! Tuesday 18th December 6pm – 7pm, Mezzaluna, West St.

North Street Nights: In its second year NSN has already got over 40 businesses proudly taking part and hopefully a few more joining in. Running Thursday 6th, 13th and 20th Dec we will see North St Green being used for community festive fun, while the shops keep their doors open till 8pm for all Christmas shopping needs. The North St Nursery has kindly got involved to host a Santa’s Grotto (6th and 13th) and Elf Post office (20th) - Jocelyn is still searching for a Santa so please get in touch if you know of anyone with previous experience of being the big man himself.

OTHER NEWS

EAST STREET ROAD CLOSURE - NEXT TUESDAY 27TH NOVEMBER (2-3 HOURS ONLY)
Please note the council have contacted us to inform us that East Street will be closed for a short period next week for the installation of Metrobus ticket machines. If you have any questions please contact Ian Maggs, Bristol City Council on 0117 922 2911, Ian.maggs@bristol.gov.uk

WORKSPACE FOR EVENTS - COMMERCIAL AND COMMUNITY
North Gallery Workspace, a new contemporary arts space offering artist and hot-desking opportunities, has recently opened on North St. Shaped by the local community its newly renovated facilities offer a space for a variety of creative and educational pursuits. The space lends itself to community and consumer facing activities alike. If as local businesses you are looking to host events big or small please get in contact with them to find out more details on how they might support you.

GET INVOLVED IN THE BID

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. The BID Board meets 6pm on the first Tuesday of each month. Please do get in touch if you'd like to get involved. Alternatively a marketing (and arts, culture) group meets on the last Monday of every month also at 6pm and a Built Environment Group on the first Tuesday monthly at 4pm (please see our calendar here). Alternatively if you prefer drop us a line or telephone us for a chat to discuss any ideas you have that you think the BID should be pursuing.

About the Business Improvement District

Further Information

Business to business news: www.bedminster.org.uk/business

Customer facing website and social media:

https://www.bedminster.org.uk/

www.facebook.com/bedminsterbristol.bs3

www.twitter.com/BedminsterTT

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

AUTUMN NEWSLETTER 2018

October 24, 2018 Jocelyn Wellby

Welcome to the Autumn Newsletter

As you know the BID succeeded in a September ballot (more than 2:1 in favour) in its efforts to continue working on behalf of the businesses of Bedminster to ensure the vitality of the main retail and leisure streets. Thank you for your support if you voted yes and we hope to convince you of the merits of the BID if you voted otherwise.

What’s been happening?

Not a lot to be frank as for six months the BID had no revenues at all whilst we prepared for the autumn ballot. This has meant much of the work around marketing, events and street enhancement was put on hold or did not happen at all sadly.

What’s happening next?

Christmas is coming and everyone knows what a key period this is for almost all businesses. Now that we have had funding confirmed we are in a rush to make the best of it and have some great plans forming:

East St - New festive lighting will be installed along East St created by local carpenters and designers from Hot Soup House. Nestled in the buildings rooftops these will decorate the street with playful lighting as the nights draw in.

Beaming Bedminster – Our larger than life Christmas decorations will be popping back up in shop windows along North, Canon and West St. All 52 handmade units are up for grabs and going fast - if you are interested in having one again this year, or for the first time, please email Jocelyn to discuss being part of the project.

Elf Village – North St Green will see our much beloved Elf Village installation coming to town for its final year, so make the most of it and take the whole family.

Tree Lighting – Its time to invest in new festive street lighting for our large North and West St trees in the run up to their big Christmas switch on.

North Street Nights – Building on last year’s trial we hope to see another successful turnout for these Thursday late night Christmas shopping opportunities. This year NSNs will be running over 3 Thursdays in Dec, 6th/13th/20th, is would be great to see as many businesses as possible opening up their doors and being part of, what we hope to be, an annual tradition.

Jocelyn will in contact regarding the above projects with many of you, however if you just can’t wait to talk Christmas please get in touch with her via northst@bedminster.org.uk

East Street Christmas Fayre – Taking place Saturday 1st Dec, 10AM – 5PM, East St will come alive with festivities, seeing local traders line the street and bring some Christmas magic to start off the month. Trading spaces are still available, interested parties should contact Olivia directly via olivia@bubbleplaycafe.com

Other Plans

Its exciting kicking off another five years of trying to work out what’s best for the area. We have a plan – the business plan and BID Proposal that was used for voting purposes. But we are very open to fresh ideas and in addition to our regular meetings (see below) we have arranged a ‘Town Meeting’ jointly with Action Greater Bedminster as part of their community conversations series:

BEDMINSTER'S SHOPS IN 2030: WILL THEY STILL BE HERE?
22nd November 2018 6.30pm (for 7pm sharp) until 9pm
Hen & Chicken, North Street, BS3 1JF

Or will it just be Amazon and faceless corporations? We need you! Bedminster's residents are invited to help us shape the next five years for supporting Bedminster's businesses. What do you want from your high streets? Does it matter? Do you care?

We do. If you do too, join us for a couple of hours to hear and offer opinions about how businesses, residents, community groups and public authorities can work together to ensure the future of Bedminster's retail and leisure streets at the heart of this great community.

Clearly this is an opportunity for the BID and all businesses to engage with their local customer base and we hope come up with some great new ideas around what will help us continue improving the offer for residents and visitors alike.

No need to book – just come along.

In other news

East Street Bus Diversions – you may have completed a short bus survey for us recently. The overwhelming response was not surprisingly that buses should not be diverted from East Street in favour of Malago Way (ingoing) although there was a significant portion open to the idea of testing the concept at a later date provided the street footfall and sales performance had significantly improved on the back of new residents from all of the new development and the street is significantly upgraded and fit for 21st century shopping.

Cleaner Streets – this is a growing concern for many businesses and not an easy one to deal with. We continue to hold regular meetings with Action Greater Bedminster, the council and Bristol Waste Company and are investigating additional spending by the BID to raise the bar to a higher standard. We understand that Bedminster is cleansed to a ‘B’ standard currently and are keen to understand the implications and cost of improving this to an ‘A’ standard.

Lantern Parade (8th Dec) – do you have palns to do something a little special outside your shop to show support for this great community event? Ideas are welcome and all invited to be involved.

Friendly Streets - Community volunteers have been warmly welcomed by local businesses who are working together to make our area one of the friendliest and most accessible in the city.
The Community Project, including groups like BS3 Community, Bedminster Social Club and the Bristol Dementia Action Alliance, is offering information and assistance around responding appropriately to customers that might have dementia.
Proactive businesses will be added to the city-wide list of ‘Dementia Friendly’ organisations and feature in local publicity around making Bedminster Bristol’s first ‘All Age-Friendly Neighbourhood’.

The project also explores how Bedminster increase support for people with physical disabilities or mobility issues. Take a quick look at the pavement outside your premises. Is it clear of obstructions and trip hazards? If you want some help in making your premises or your bit of the street more accessible to a wider range of customers, please contact Ben on benbarker@blueyonder.co.uk.

Ongoing projects – our main business info page at www.bedminster.org.uk/business lists a series of projects we commenced prior to the BID ballot and we are continuing with these. They include greening projects (planters etc), utilities and waste saving schemes, shop front programme, street art and marketing and promotion (in particular social media and press relations).

GET INVOLVED!

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. The BID Board meets 6pm on the first Tuesday of each month. Please do get in touch if you'd like to get involved. Alternatively a marketing (and arts, culture) group meets on the last Monday of every month also at 6pm and a Built Environment Group on the first Tuesday monthly at 4pm (please see our calendar here). Alternatively if you prefer drop us a line or telephone us for a chat to discuss any ideas you have that you think the BID should be pursuing.

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 benefitBedminster 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

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

https://www.bedminster.org.uk/
www.facebook.com/bedminsterbristol.bs3
www.twitter.com/BedminsterTT

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

ITS A YES FROM BUSINESSES!

October 19, 2018 Jocelyn Wellby

BID BALLOT - ITS A YES FROM BEDMINSTER BUSINESSES

We are delighted to report the BID ballot result was positive with more than 2:1 voting for another five years of the Bedminster BID. The full result showed 68% voting in favour by number of businesses and 71% in favour by rateable value - this was achieved on a higher than average turnout (for BIDs) of 51%.

GET INVOLVED?

This result assures the BID of funding for the next five years - but this money will only mean something if we spend it really well. What ideas do you have for the BID and Bedminster's retail streets? 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 meet 6pm on the first Tuesday of each month. Please do get in touch if you'd like to get involved. Alternatively a marketing (and arts, culture) group meets on the last Monday of every month also at 6pm (please see our calendar here) or drop us a line or telephone us for a chat to discuss any ideas you have that you think the BID should be pursuing.

About the Business Improvement District

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

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
Jocelyn Wellby - northst@bedminster.org.uk
Simon Dicken (Wilko) - man242@wilko.co.uk
Stef Brammar (AGB) - stef.brammar@way-out-west.org
Ben Barker - 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.

FINAL WEEK OF BID BALLOT

October 19, 2018 Jocelyn Wellby

FINAL WEEK TO RETURN BALLOT PAPERS

Please note that the ballot is about to enter the final week and ballot papers must be returned by 13th September.

LOST BALLOT PAPERS?

If you have lost your ballot paper then the process for a replacement is to email for a replacement ballot paper, providing a scanned letter and a scanned copy of ID (detail below) to electoral.services@bristol.gov.uk.
The letter should be addressed to The Independent Scrutineer, The Election Centre, 33 Clarendon Road, London N8 0NW. The letter must be signed by the Eligible Voter and evidence of the voter’s identity must be provided in the form of one of the following:

a) Signed Letterhead for the appropriate company
b) A signed photocopy of the National Non-Domestic Rating Bill for the hereditament
c) A signed photocopy of an item of personal ID such as a Passport or Driving Licence.
Please do not send original of ID or Bills.

WHY YOUR VOTE COUNTS

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 here.

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

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

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

Contacts

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

BID BALLOT BEGINS

October 19, 2018 Jocelyn Wellby

Hello All,

A quick note to say please keep a watchful eye out for your GREEN BID ballot paper which you can expect in the post this week - you have 4 weeks to make your vote count.

We have of course circulated the business plan in hard copy and via this newsletter, however if you have have not seen it please click this LINK.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or queries. We do of course hope you can vote positively to help ensure the healthy future of Bedminster's retail, leisure and commercial streets and help us build on the achievements of the last five years.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Business to business news: www.bedminster.org.uk/business
Customer facing website and social media:

www.bedminster.org.uk

www.facebook.com/bedminsterbristol.bs3

www.twitter.com/BedminsterTT

Contacts

ABOUT THE BEDMINSTER BID

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.

Finally we are grateful to local accountants Tyrrell Procter and communications experts Plaster for their generous pro bono contributions to the BID’s activities.

AUGUST NEWSLETTER 2018

August 3, 2018 Jocelyn Wellby

Welcome to your August edition of the Bedminster BID Newsletter

BID BUSINESS PLAN LAUNCHED

As we reported in our last newsletter we were exploring the possibility of another ballot in order to secure the future of the BID for a further five years. Consultation has been very positive in favour of a further ballot and as such we have now revised the five year business plan and commenced circulation of hard copies to all businesses affected. Please click here to open the business plan.

Why a second ballot so soon? You may recall the ballot result from earlier this year was negative despite 70% of businesses voting in favour of the BID. This is because the ballot must be won on the basis of two counts - by number of businesses and also by rateable value. The second count by rateable value was lost because the largest superstore in Bedminster voted NO and its massive rateable value was enough to swing the ballot into negative territory. Given a significant majority of businesses voted positively towards renewing the BID for a further five years the BID Board decided to consult businesses again on the possibility of a new BID that would exclude the largest ratepayer and allow the smaller businesses to work together to improve marketing, street enhancements, safety and ensure a strong voice for Bedminster businesses.

Do we need a BID? Traditional high street sales continue to fall and shop vacancies continue to grow in many locations with numerous household names closing their doors for the final time. In Bedminster alone in the past few months we have had the closure of Bon Marche and the announcement that Argos is to depart. In our view it is essential we respond by improving the shopping experience in Bedminster and create something based on uniqueness, authenticity and community – ie something it is impossible for the internet to match. A BID will help greatly in this regard.

OTHER BID NEWS

Other BID Projects: The result of the March ballot means the BID has missed out on six months worth of income and as such many projects and activities have been seriously curtailed. However we are able to guarantee some Christmas events - given this is the key time of year for most businesses (such as The Lantern Parade, Christmas Fairs and Lights etc) - and a small number of other events in the summer. We have also been successful securing grants from other sources particularly for East Street.

Bedminster Green Developments: as reported in earlier newsletters there is now a large amount of property developer activity proposed around 'Bedminster Green' - the area between East Street and Windmill Hill. Six developments have the potential to deliver up to 1500 new homes within a few minutes walk of East Street, meaning a major injection of new footfall and demand for shops and other businesses in the area. We are all aware that lower East Street has probably been suffering more than most parts of Bedminster in terms of vacant shop units and have long recognised the benefits of redevelopment close by. With this in mind the BID is working hard with the council to ensure these new developments benefit East Street. We are also working with local architects Purcell to develop a vision for the area that we hope will enable it to thrive in the 21st century. For further details of the written policy the BID has produced for East Street development please see the last newsletter.

BID Community Bus Service: a number of businesses have highlighted that large pockets of South Bristol have very poor access to Bedminster and there is a need for a community bus service to fill the gaps not being served by the larger bus operators. Unfortunately this is a very expensive endeavour with just a 16 seater bus operating six days a week during work hours costing circa £100,000pa. However we have unearthed a major grant application opportunity aimed at 'Connecting Communities' and we are hopeful our application will be successful - more details to follow.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Business to business news: www.bedminster.org.uk/business
Customer facing website and social media:

www.bedminster.org.uk

www.facebook.com/bedminsterbristol.bs3

www.twitter.com/BedminsterTT

Contacts

George Grace - business@bedminster.org.uk

Jocelyn Wellby - northst@bedminster.org.uk

Simon Dicken (Wilko) - man242@wilko.co.uk

Stef Brammar (AGB) - stef.brammar@way-out-west.org

Ben Barker - benbarker@blueyonder.co.uk

ABOUT THE BEDMINSTER BID

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.

Finally we are grateful to local accountants Tyrrell Procter and communications experts Plaster for their generous pro bono contributions to the BID’s activities.

MAY NEWSLETTER 2018

June 27, 2018 Jocelyn Wellby

Welcome to your May edition of the Bedminster BID Newsletter

BID CONSULTATION RECOMMENCES

Bedminster BID intends commencing with a further round of consultation with businesses in advance of a possible ballot in August/September. As you will recall the ballot result from earlier this year was negative despite 70% of businesses voting in favour of the BID. The ballot must be won on the basis of two counts - by number of businesses and also by rateable value. The second count by rateable value was lost because the largest superstore in Bedminster voted NO and its massive rateable value is enough to swing the ballot into negative territory.

Given a significant majority of businesses voted positively towards renewing the BID for a further five years the BID Board have decided to consult businesses again on the possibility of a new BID that would exclude the largest ratepayer and allow the smaller businesses to work together to improve marketing, street enhancements, safety and ensure a strong voice for Bedminster businesses. For full details please click on the BID Consultation document:

DO WE NEED A BID?

Retail sales 'fell off a cliff' in April with the worst month recorded since records began in the mid 1980s according to BRC (British Retail Consortium). The growing impact of the internet means traditional shopping locations will continue to be negatively impacted with the latest sectors to be badly hit including banking and travel. Amazon et al will not be satisfied unless we are ordering and drinking cappucinos out of our phones and so it is in our view essential we respond by making an experience - based on uniqueness and authenticity - that it is impossible for the internet to match. A BID will help greatly in this regard.

OTHER BID NEWS

East St and Cannon St 'Clutter Patrol'

‘Clutter Patrol’ involves us walking the retail streets with relevant officers from the council and other agencies to inspect the state of pavements in terms of blockages and litter etc. The next one will focus on East and Cannon St and be on Wednesday, 23 May starting at 10.30am. All are welcome. We will meet near the Steam Crane and walk along Cannon and East Street and back. We hope to see you there.

Other BID Projects: The result of the March ballot means the BID has missed out on six months worth of income and as such many projects and activities have been seriously curtailed. However we are able to guarantee some Christmas events - given this is the key time of year for most businesses (such as The Lantern Parade, Christmas Fairs and Lights etc) - and a small number of other events in the summer. We are also looking for grants from other sources such as local landlords and/or developers particularly around East Street in whose interest it is to improve the local area.

Bedminster Green Developments: as reported in earlier newsletters there is now a large amount of property developer activity proposed around 'Bedminster Green' - the area between East Street and Windmill Hill. Six developments have the potential to deliver up to 1500 new homes within a few minutes walk of East Street meaning a major injection of new footfall and potential income for shops and other businesses in the area. We are all aware that lower East Street has probably been suffering more than most parts of Bedminster in terms of vacant shop units and have long recognised the benefits of redevelopment close by. With this in mind the BID has developed the following policy regarding new developments in Bedminster Green:

Overall in favour of development in this area on condition:

1. Clear, attractive, safe (active ground floors) routes connecting the Green Bus Stops and East St through SCP and one other - Little Paradise or Stafford?

2. Metrobus diversion only when East St improves via new demand and major physical improvements from s106 and CIL

3. High environmental and place making standards particularly through limited car ownership encouraging attractive walkable urbanism

4. The BID holds no views on building heights – but does have a preference for a scheme to be delivered quickly

If you are keen to find out a bit more about one of the developers, Dandara who have a major site on Little Paradise St, head to https://littleparadisebedminster.info/ where they have just published a website with details of their proposal.

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
Tom Beard - markets@bedminster.org.uk
Simon Dicken (Wilko) - man242@wilko.co.uk
Ben Barker (GBCP) - benbarker@blueyonder.co.uk
Jocelyn Wellby - jocelynwellby@gmail.com

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

BID BALLOT RESULTS

June 27, 2018 Jocelyn Wellby

We have good and very bad news re the BID ballot:

Good - the response from the majority has been very positive with 70% voting in favour
Bad – we lost the second count (by rateable value) because Asda which has a massive vote share decided to vote NO.

This NO vote by Asda means a NO vote overall as they have such a huge rateable value relative to everyone else. We are extremely disappointed with their decision to vote against the BID given they are far and away the largest business in the area and should clearly contribute to the scheme. We have made our feelings public in a press release which has been picked up by the Bristol Post.

Next steps for the BID? The implications for us are that for the time being all of the projects set out in the business plan – from reindeer to flower baskets and all the rest of it (please see the business plan) are now either dead or at least on hold for the foreseeable future.

The BID Board will meet in early April to discuss matters and we will keep you in the loop. Options vary from ending the BID entirely to a possible second ballot (this time excluding Asda from our BID boundaries) much later in the year or next year given the response by the vast majority is positive. However this would only be done with a full round of discussion and consultation with all those affected.

Thank you to all those that voted positively in the ballot!

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

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.