Lancaster BID releases five-year plan to boost city centre ahead of new year vote

A group championing Lancaster businesses has announced a five-year plan aiming to win support to continue its work in the city centre.

Lancaster BID (Business Improvement District) has released its business plan explaining what it will deliver for Lancaster city centre businesses over the next five years.

First established in 2013, the BID is a company funded by city centre businesses, and spends a levy received from them on improvements to the city.

The BID organises events in Lancaster city centre including the annual Christmas Lights Switch On, Dino Fest dinosaur festival, and the recent Love Lancaster Live music festival which stood in for Lancaster Music Festival this year; has brought in a BID Warden to help tackle antisocial behaviour; organises the annual Love Lancaster Business awards ceremony held at Lancaster Town Hall and runs a Christmas Toy Appeal to help local charities and organisations.

Below, the 2024 Love Lancaster Business Awards. Photo credit: Ginny Koppenhol

This, Lancaster BID's third term, lasts five years and the current period ends on March 31 2026, so a ballot will be held in the New Year to determine if the BID will continue in Lancaster. 

The BID must receive the support of over half of voting businesses by both number and rateable value at the upcoming ballot.

Three key priorities have been identified by levy-paying businesses for the next five years. They are:

· High quality events and festivals

A BID spokesperson said: "Lancaster BID has long been the biggest organiser and supporter of events in Lancaster city centre - flagship annual events include Dino Fest, Lancaster Day, Christmas Lights Switch On and other festive events as well as being a key partner in organising Light Up Lancaster.

Below, the Lancaster Christmas Lights Switch On in 2023.

"In 2025, when events across the wider district were being cancelled due to limited funding, the BID team pulled out all the stops to ensure all the major city centre events continued as planned.

"This included Lancaster BID stepping in to coordinate Love Lancaster Live in October when the team behind the usual Lancaster Music Festival announced they were taking a break.

"In addition to their own events, Lancaster BID also contributes funding to numerous other city centre festivities including Festa Italia, Lancaster Pride, Chinese New Year, Lancaster Jazz Festival and so much more."

· Marketing Lancaster as a destination

A BID spokesperson said: "With the support of their design agency, Lancaster BID has launched a strong 'Love Lancaster' brand which is now used across all marketing.

"Digital assets have also been made freely available to all levy paying businesses who have been encouraged to use the branding within their own marketing materials to gain increasing recognition for the city.

"In a new BID term the branding will continue to be utilised and developed further including an aim to build a digital business directory listing all city centre businesses.

"Printed guides will also be updated and BID plans to develop a Coach Party Strategy to encourage more visitors to the city."

· Safe and secure city centre

A BID spokesperson said: "The BID Warden has become a familiar face in the city centre helping to reduce antisocial behaviour and frequently helping shops tackle shoplifters including retrieving stolen goods.

Below, Lancaster BID Warden Max Dior

"In a new BID term the BID Warden hours will increase to seven days a week to help keep the city safe for everyone to enjoy.

"Lancaster BID also supports the city centre Pubwatch scheme and has recently been invited to sit on the Safer Lancashire Business Partnership Joint Advisory Board to share best practice."

A Lancaster BID spokesperson said: "Alongside these top three priorities identified by levy paying businesses, Lancaster BID will also continue with other work to deliver physical improvements to the public realm within the city centre and deliver direct support to businesses.

"Throughout the five years the BID will remain responsive to businesses and may make minor adjustments to activities."

Tony Johnson, Lancaster BID manager, said “The business plan has been developed based on feedback from city centre businesses.

"The ballot is an important time for Lancaster BID as it is a democratic process to ensure we continue to have the support of the majority of city centre businesses. We hope that everyone eligible to vote returns their ballot papers to ensure their voice is heard.”

Businesses located in the Lancaster BID Zone with premises with a current rateable value of £9,000 or above will be eligible to vote in the ballot.

The ballot will succeed if the majority of votes cast are in favour of Lancaster BID by both number and rateable value.

This result would mean that each business eligible to vote would then be liable to pay an annual BID levy, based on the rateable value of their property, for the next five years.

The BID levy will be calculated at 1.85 per cent of rateable value in Year 1 then will increase by 0.01 per cent of rateable value each year for the remainder of the five year term.

Calculations will be based on rateable value on March 31 2026 for the entire five years to ensure businesses have certainty in the amount they will pay when deciding how to cast their vote.

The ballot must legally be a postal vote and will be conducted by an independent ballot provider to ensure individual votes remain confidential.

Eligible businesses will have their ballot papers posted on Thursday January 8 and must return them no later than 5pm on Thursday February 5 for their vote to count.

"Lancaster BID encourages all levy payers to read the Business Plan carefully to enable you to make a fully informed decision on which way to cast your vote," said a spokesperson for Lancaster BID.

"The BID team can be contacted at info@lancasterbid.org or 01524 590650 and will be happy to answer any questions from businesses or to meet with you if you would like to discuss the ballot, or any other aspect of Lancaster BID, in more detail.

"Lancaster BID hopes that businesses recognise the importance of the work they do in the city centre and will be happy to vote YES to another five years."

You can find the full five-year plan HERE.