The word BID is short for Business Improvement District, which defines an area of business ratepayers. A Business Improvement District (BID) is a business-led and business-funded scheme to improve a designated commercial area, such as a town centre or industrial estate, through additional services or new initiatives.
Government legislation enabling the formation of BIDs was introduced into England and Wales in 2003, empowering businesses to ‘raise funds locally to be spent locally’ on improving their trading environment.
BIDs are funded through a nominal percentage levy calculated on the rateable value (RV) of all businesses within a defined area.
Make It Ealing currently applies a 1% rate on the rateable value of a herediment, as the BID levy charge.
While most of the income will come from non-domestic ratepayers, public and voluntary sectors can also contribute to the BID.
The levy income can be leveraged to lever in more funding, such as from public sector agencies, grant bodies, sponsorship, landowners, and trading income, during the 5-year scheme, thereby maximising the potential funding stream and the benefits the BID can achieve.
The process of developing a BID involves extensive consultation with businesses and permission from the Secretary of State. A BID Proposal is produced and a 28-day postal ballot is held where businesses vote ‘for’ or ‘against’ the proposed programme that will be in place for 5 years.
For the BID to go ahead, two conditions must be met: a majority of those voting must vote ‘yes’ and those ‘yes’ votes must represent more than 50% of the total rateable value of all votes cast. There is no minimum turnout threshold. If these conditions are fulfilled, payment of the levy becomes mandatory for all businesses regardless of how they voted.
A BID will only be established if the majority of businesses, by number and rateable value, vote yes.
Once a BID is established, businesses must confirm a new yes vote every 5 years with an agreed business plan to continue for another 5 years.
Many businesses view BIDs as a fair and affordable way of creating a ring-fenced fund for up to 5 years that is ‘managed by businesses for businesses.’
Town centre BIDs focus on increasing footfall through promotion, beautification, increased security or events. For further information, read the Government guidance on Business Improvement Districts here.
The BID represents your voice and is a united front for all businesses in the BID area to tackle issues that could impact the public space, the overall perception of the area, and your company’s success. Read our business plan here.
We collaborate with police and council agencies to monitor and track individuals who commit crimes or ASB.
We provide free pest control to independent hospitality businesses, alleyways and areas where rubbish is likely to build to keep our public realm attractive, clean and pest-free.
We offer businesses an allocation of free dry mixed recycling bags and discounted prices on all waste services through our waste contract supplier, currently First Mile.
We provide events, promotions and decorations to celebrate seasonal activities and occasions. Your business event, activity, news or job offers will appear on our website, newsletter and social media channels. You will be kept informed through direct mail, newsletter or flyers of B2B opportunities, training, webinars and promotional activities that could benefit your business and save you money.
The BID team is also your first port of call for any queries and provides help from the right people or portals. We can assist with printing, scanning forms and applications, and we can follow up on your behalf.
All billing-related matters are handled by the Ealing Council’s Business Rates team. They can be contacted via phone: (020) 8825 7020, or via email: businessratesteam@ealing.gov.uk. More contact details can be found here.
No one owns the BID. It is an LLP company, and does not have shares or a person with significant control. However, directors who serve on the board are bound by Companies House rules and regulations, and are legally responsible for correct due diligence.
The BID is run by a board of BID levy-paying businesses, who are elected by the BID members and give their time without remuneration.
The length of term for the company is five years, which has to be renewed every five years by a renewal or new ballot.
If there is a majority yes vote at ballot then every business within the identified BID area is liable to pay a BID levy based on a percentage of their rateable value outlined in the business plan, regardless of their vote preference. All businesses occupying property within the BID boundary are bound by the BID levy rules regardless of the date of occupation. See BID boundary here.
The Board employs the staff in the BID office to deliver the BID projects in the business plan. They are all paid employees and are identified along with their job role on the meet the team page.
You the BID levy payer. The ballot is about voting for the projects you want to spend the money on over a five-year term.
Every year we send out a billing leaflet detailing how money was spent against the project deliverables and how we predict we will be spending the money in the coming year. We have to use external accountants and are accountable to the council who collect the money on our behalf.
If you would like to get more involved with the decisions made by the Board, the first step is to sign up to be a BID member. Please get in touch with info@makeitealing.co.uk for more details.
Please refer to our recycling FAQ page here.
Please refer to our pest control page here.
Contact info@makeitealing.co.uk Tell us what you want to know and we will try to direct you to the information you need