What We Do

HULL BID’S FIVE KEY PRIORITIES

“It was great to see the live bands really liven up the city centre. And I did like it when Hull BID helped me with security advice and removing graffiti. That’s what I pay my subscription for and I see it as an investment.” – Alison Penny, Owner, Shine Hairdressing Salon.

Research during the creation of Hull BID helped identify what member businesses saw as the priorities for improving the city centre area.

In the past 18 months, over 200 face-to-face consultations with business owners has taken place (as well as a comprehensive postal survey conducted when BID entered its fourth year of operations) which affirmed that the organisation’s efforts are making a difference, but that there is more to be done.

The initial research established five key issues for BID to address: safety and security, cleaning and maintenance, marketing and events, signage and access, evening economy

The more recent meetings and questionnaire helped rank those issues in order of priority, with businesses asked to indicate which areas of activity they felt were most important.

The results showed safety and security is the biggest concern of business people in the city centre, with 73 per cent of respondents seeing it as top priority. Cleanliness and maintenance of streets and buildings was also high on the list of priorities at 71 per cent.

Marketing and events are important to nearly 53 per cent of respondents, just under 51 per cent consider signage and access important and just under 38 per cent attach importance to BID’s efforts to improve the evening economy.

The feedback directly influences how Hull BID allocates funding for future work, but the evidence suggests that BID’s spending programme matches the requirements of the businesses who fund the projects.

“We have constantly sought to connect with and re-establish the views of the businesses to make sure funding is spent according to their priorities,” said Kathryn Shillto, Hull BID City Centre Manager.

“We have been delighted with the response to our visits and with the feedback generated from the questionnaire, particularly as it demonstrates our priorities are consistent with those of the businesses.”

Comments that accompanied the questionnaire responses indicated people feel the city centre is a safe place during the day and Hull BID has been successful in tackling graffiti. Hull BID’s involvement in major events is credited with increasing footfall for city centre traders and there is a view that more funding should be made available to promote the evening economy.

“Some people voiced concern that the city centre is not a very pleasant evening experience and question marks were also raised about Hull BID’s ability to respond effectively to problems and queries which gives us a focus,” said Kathryn.

“Overall the feedback has given us plenty to work on. It tells us we’ve made progress on matters like safety, security and cleanliness but these problems still need tackling on a day-to-day basis. It also indicated we should do more to inform people about how we can help and we are addressing this with increased personal visits to businesses.