The City of London Corporation has backed plans to set up two further Business Improvement District’s (BIDs) within the Square Mile.
Eligible businesses within the Fleet Street Quarter and EC Partnership areas will now be balloted on the establishment of the BIDs.
If successful, over £30 million will be invested by the private sector to fund transformational projects in the areas over the next five years.
The BIDs would represent significant opportunities for the businesses they serve, as well as for the City and London as a whole.
The business ballots will open on January 15, 2022 and, if successful, the BIDs would be established in April 2022.
Deputy Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee at the City of London Corporation, Chris Hayward, said: “BIDs offer a unique forum under which collaboration between key landowners, businesses and the local authority can flourish.
“The Fleet Street and Eastern City Cluster areas are key business locations, and we welcome the work the BIDs will put in to ensure appropriate and effective regeneration of the areas.
“The recovery from the pandemic represents a pivotal moment for the Square Mile, so now is a particularly important time for the private and public sectors to come together to rise to the challenge.”
In December 2019, the City Corporation’s Policy and Resources Committee agreed a Business Improvement District (BID) strategy that supported the establishment of BIDs across the Square Mile.
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Andrew Reynolds, Chair of the EC Partnership, said: “The post COVID City of London needs BIDs standing shoulder to shoulder with the City Corporation, and other delivery partners, with the private sector investing millions of pounds to fund transformational projects, and securing a strong, resilient and sustainable future for the area.
“Following a long tradition of businesses from across the EC area pioneering and innovating, I am excited about what can be achieved when we coalesce around shared goals, with an emphasis on advancing the crucial ESG agenda.
“Our aim is to create a more sustainable, agile City with a greater sense of social purpose and I look forward to promoting the potential during the ballot campaign.”
Alistair Subba Row, Chair of the FSQ Partnership, said that the City Corporation’s endorsement of the BID proposal adds to the support from the business community across the Fleet Street Quarter.
Row said: “Clearly, we have a campaign to win ahead of the ballot next year, but our early engagement with businesses suggests the support for a BID is there, with many recognising the huge opportunity we have before us.
“The Fleet Street Quarter area is changing, and I firmly believe that with a BID championing our priorities we will be stronger. Now we must ensure this message is understood by the wider business community so the opportunity can be seized.”
Ruth Duston, OBE, OC, Managing Director of Primera, which manages the BIDs and partnerships across the capital, including those in the City of London, added: “These BIDs, should they be successful at the ballots, will join the already established City BIDs in Aldgate and Cheapside. A partnership has also been established for the Culture Mile. By April 2023, there could be five BIDs operating across the Square Mile, generating an aggregate BID levy income of around £7 million per year.
“This is a significant investment – it can deliver tangible enhancements and leverage in additional funding, pump-priming major strategic projects, testing new concepts and gives a powerful voice to local businesses.”
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