Our Bury St Edmunds BID Ballot
Annual Events and Seasonal Trails
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Spring Fayre, Motorsport East, Food and Drink Festival, Christmas Lights and the Skating Rink at arc.
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More than 250,000 visitors to the free admission BID events.
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Physical and digital trails promoting annual campaigns and BID businesses.
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Providing Christmas Lights to the town centre.
Training & Business Support
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First Aid, Fire Marshal, Food Safety, Digital Marketing, Alcohol Licensing and Neurodiversity.
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1,250 free training places for member businesses’ staff.
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Free business health clinics, waste/recycling advice.
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4 new defibrillators installed to help save lives.
Town Centre Partnerships
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Over 70 businesses are part of our Dog Friendly Scheme.
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Free Graffiti Removal, Bury in Bloom, Eco Carriers.
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£140,000 worth of ‘shop local’ generated spend from our
Bury St Edmunds Gift Card.
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11 years of Free from 3pm parking on Tuesdays.
Raising Awareness Of Our Town
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600,000+ user visits to our websites in 2023 and 60,000 followers on social media channels.
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150,000 town centre maps promoting businesses distributed.
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Over 1 million views of our Bury St Edmunds promotional videos.
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Trips to Bury increased by 22.84%, visitor since tourism brand launch.
Our Bury St Edmunds BID improves the trading environment for its members. Our priority is to bring additional people into the town centre and support our members. We do this by promoting and marketing our town centre offer, organising events, delivering projects, and services. The BID also lobbies at a local and national level and is the key voice for the town centre and its business community.
No, by law a BID must provide additional services not provided by the statutory authorities, or enhancements to existing services. Money generated through the BID is used to benefit our members located in the BID area and to deliver services which would not have happened without the BID.
All businesses with a rateable value over £10,000, within the BID area, which is currently more than 400, will pay a levy of 2.15% on their 2023 rateable value. The BID also accesses external funding to reinvest in the town centre and during the current term this has totalled around £400,000. Over 30 businesses, under the rateable value threshold, have made a conscious decision to join the BID. As a not-for-profit organisation any surplus funds are reinvested in projects to benefit BID businesses.
The BID is managed by representatives from BID businesses. Our Bury St Edmunds BID is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. The Chief Executive manages a small team and reports to a Board made up of a cross-section of businesses from the BID area who volunteer their time free of charge.
You will receive a ballot form in early June. Please complete and send it back in the envelope provided. There’s more voting information overleaf.
As with a general or local election, everyone in the BID area has the chance to vote in the ballot and, after the election, everyone is bound by the way the majority voted. If the majority voted Yes, everyone pays and the BID will work to make Bury St Edmunds better for all BID businesses.
If businesses vote not to continue for a fourth term, the BID will cease operations as of Spring 2025. All projects and activities delivered by the BID to support businesses including: free training courses; events such as the Food & Drink Festival and the Spring Fayre. The provision of the Christmas Lights: the town centre gift card; and the ongoing marketing of the town to bring people into Bury St Edmunds will stop. The BID businesses will also lose their collective voice both locally and nationally.
Business organisation seeks election to further support town
Businesses in Bury St Edmunds town centre will soon be able to vote on whether the Business Improvement District (BID) should continue to operate for the next five years. Our Bury St Edmunds BID has provided additional services to support businesses in the town centre since it was first established in 2010. It has continued to be elected in a ballot of member businesses at five year intervals ever since. Read more here.