BedfordBID has lost its renewal ballot and will no longer be looking after Bedford’s business from 31 March 2025 after failing to convince their levy payers that they were acting in their best interests.
Just 129 votes were cast in this ballot, a reduction in turnout of 26%. 391 businesses and other bodies in the designated BID area around the Bedford Town Centre were eligible to vote.
Of those taking part, just 45 votes were in favour of BedfordBID continuing.
Almost three-quarters of the votes, however, said they were no longer happy with the plans BedfordBID has implemented or proposed for their next term.
Two ballot papers were rejected.
Bedford Borough Council announced they were going to vote against BedfordBID’s renewal last month.
The council called into question the effectiveness and robustness of BedfordBID’s governance arrangements and said there are concerns about the ‘ability of BedfordBID to deliver services that will make a real difference to the town centre’s vitality and sustainability’.
They also said the plans for what would have been their fifth term lacked ‘ambition for the town centre’ and ‘didn’t do enough to support independent businesses’.
Read: Time running out for BedfordBID as Borough Council withdraws support
Councillor Andrea Spice (Conservative/Wixams and Wilstead), Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Planning and Prosperity, said while the BID is gone, businesses will still be supported by the Borough Council.
“Bedford Borough Council remains committed to working closely with businesses and stakeholders in the town centre to boost footfall and ensure it becomes a vibrant destination that residents are proud of and visitors look forward to exploring,” she said.
Businesses vote in a BID ballot by post, during this year’s ballot process local businessman and campaigner Tim Edwards said BID’s were essentially a good idea but Bedford deserved better.
He called for the chair, who has been in position for nine years, and the CEO of BedfordBID to step aside to help reinvigorate their plans.
Read: “Time to go,” town centre campaigner says change at the top needed to create a Better BID
Reacting to the ballot result, he said: “This is a bittersweet ‘victory’.
“On the one hand, I welcome the result and believe that the businesses of the town have correctly judged that this BedfordBID Company, particularly its Chair of the Board and operational leadership, have failed in the remit to improve and promote the town centre and provide the businesses with their support and guidance, particularly in more recent years.
“However, I also acknowledge that from 1 April, the businesses of the town will no longer have a formal body to look to for leadership and I’ve always believed that a BID can be a very good thing for a town, but it must be well run and transparent with its levy payers, returning real value to the businesses.”
Mr Edwards has now called on the council to ‘step up’ ahead of the end of BedfordBID’s current term so town centre businesses are still treated as a priority.
“In the coming months I hope the Council and businesses will be able to work together to assess what real value the BID was offering and ensure that the services that businesses need are continued,” he said.
Unspent levy payers’ money
“There are many opportunities that can arise from this and while there should be no rush to simply start again with a new BID organisation, the town centre businesses working together will undoubtedly improve Bedford for visitors.”
Questions remain over the significant funds collected from their levy payers that BedfordBID has been sitting on.
According to the final financial statements (accounts) 2022/23 published on the BedfordBID website, they had £342,432 in retained earnings at the start of 2022. This rose to £407,357 by the end of 2023.
Mr Edwards says that money now needs to be protected.
“I’ll continue to keep a close eye on the ending of the BID as they have cash reserves of over £450k and I think this money needs to be ring-fenced to improve the safety and security in the town centre first and foremost not wasted in administration costs,” he said.
We previously asked BedfordBID why there is a large amount of cash in their accounts and what they plan to do to protect the money if their renewal is not approved. They did not respond to that question.
We have contacted BedfordBID for comment about the ballot result but have not yet received a response.
What is a Business Improvement District (BID)?
A Business Improvement District (BID) is a company set up to deliver various services, the main priority here being the promotion of Bedford town centre.
This is then supposed to help encourage people to come to the area and support the shops, cafes, bars, restaurants and other businesses there that fund the BID through a compulsory levy if their business if over a rateable value.
BedfordBID does this under their Love Bedford brand.
They also look after other things such as crime prevention, networking events for businesses, training, and cost-saving initiatives.
The BID is supposed to look after all businesses in their zone whether they are required to pay a levy or not.
BIDs are required to hold a ballot every five years to determine if businesses still want them to provide these services or not. So far, BedfordBID has been in place for four terms and in October they’ll find out if there is enough confidence in them to enter a fifth term.
BedfordBID has come under increased criticism since Mayor Tom Wootton (Conservative) was elected into office.
He first made comments that hinted at the Council’s disapproval of BedfordBID, and that they agreed with some businesses that BedfordBID wasn’t doing enough to support and promote the town, in an exclusive interview with the Bedford Independent back in October 2023.
Read: Bedford Mayor told “on a daily basis” to scrap Bedford BID
How the ballot works
All businesses with a rateable value over £8000 were eligible to vote in the BID ballot.
The ballot is like a referendum in that there is a simple yes or no vote on the proposals made by Love Bedford.
However, the final result of the vote is then adjusted. From all the businesses who vote, the overall yes vote must represent more than 50% of the total rateable value of all votes cast.
So, if a small business with a rateable value of £8,100 voted yes, and a larger business with a rateable value of £100,000 voted yes, the larger business’ vote would carry more weight.
Fifth term results
The ballot for BedfordBID’s fifth term returned the following results.
- The total number of votes cast in the ballot excluding any votes given on the ballot papers rejected: 129
- The aggregate rateable value of each hereditament in respect of which person voted in the ballot: £4,725,250.00
Of the above votes:
- The total number of votes cast in favour of the proposed Business Improvement District: 45
The aggregate rateable value of each hereditament in respect of which a person voting in the ballot has voted IN FAVOUR of the proposal: £1,589,500.00
- The total number of votes cast against the proposed Business Improvement District: 84
The aggregate rateable value of each hereditament in respect of which a person voting in the ballot has voted AGAINST the proposal: £3,135,750.00
The proposal to renew a BID district for Bedford has not been approved as a majority of the business ratepayers in the proposed BID area who voted in a ballot, both by aggregate rateable value and number voting, voted against the proposal.
Following the ballot, the current term of the BedfordBID will run until 31 March 2025 when the organisation will cease operations.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information comes in.
