Back Haverhill BID

We are delighted to announce exciting plans to campaign for a Business Improvement District (BID) in the heart of Haverhill town centre.

‘Heart of Haverhill’, a task group of businesses in the town, have been working closely with West Suffolk Council and Haverhill Town Council since July 2019 . West Suffolk Council recently agreed support and funding for the BID campaign, which is also supported by Haverhill Town Council.

A BID is a Government scheme, where town centre businesses pay a levy based on the rateable value of their premises. That money creates a fund controlled by the businesses, which is used to promote and improve the town centre.

For most businesses, the cost is small. Larger businesses pay more, but the benefits are shared equally across the town. A BID gives businesses a common voice and a greater say in how their town centre can be improved.

A survey of Town Centre businesses in October 2018 presented a challenging picture - the majority of businesses reported static or declining turnover and profits. A BID is an opportunity for town centre businesses to work together for change.

Town centres everywhere are having a tough time. But nothing improves by doing nothing and there are more than 300 BIDs around the country, demonstrating that they work.

A BID gives businesses a common voice and a greater say in how their town centre can be improved. Everybody wants Haverhill to be successful.

What does it mean for your business?

If you own or work for a business in the town centre of Haverhill, what would a Business Improvement District mean for you?

Firstly, it gives business a strong voice to influence change and unites local businesses to work together for the greater good of all.

Since July 2018, a ONE Haverhill Partnership task group, Heart of Haverhill, has been working informally on a number of initiatives. In that time, we have successfully worked with Haverhill Town Council to attract more than 50 businesses to stay open and support the Haverhill Family Christmas Night and also improved communication around the vast array of events taking place in our town. Improvements to Haverhill market remain ongoing - we are a proud market town which can have knock-on benefits to town centre businesses.

Since 2018, a number of keys ideas have emerged including employing a town centre manager to represent businesses and helping them to save cost by some centralised procurement.

Heart of Haverhill expect some businesses to question a BID. We have two questions for them - what ideas do you have to make Haverhill town centre a better trading environment and can you do it on your own? If you have some ideas, please talk to us and let’s see if we can do it together.

A BID can act as a single voice for all businesses in the town centre, lobby the right people at the right time and promote everything that is great about Haverhill.