A Business Improvement District (BID) is a geographical defined area of a town, city, or commercial district, where businesses come together and agree to invest collectively in local projects and services, which they think will make a difference. They are often, although not exclusively, a partnership arrangement through which the local business community and the statutory authorities can take forward projects, which will benefit the local economy.

In spring 2008 the businesses of Falkirk were asked to vote on whether they wanted a Business Improvement District to make improvements to the town centre. The result of the vote was a resounding yes, with 70.4% of the businesses that voted, casting their vote in favour of the BID.

 

 

Over the past few years, the popularity of BIDs in the UK has grown at a phenomenal rate. There are now over 104 established BIDs in the UK, 10 in Scotland (Bathgate, Alloa, Inverness, Edinburgh, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Elgin, Falkirk, Clarkson and Clackmannan Business Parks) with at least another 14 in the pipeline. This proves that BIDs really do work as a tool for providing the trading environment that businesses want for themselves, their staff, customers and clients.

 

The six main objectives are shown in the panel below. Further information on individual objectives can be accessed by clicking on each objective link.