Newquay votes ‘yes’ to BID

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A third Business Improvement District (BID) is set to be formed in Cornwall following an overwhelming ‘yes’ vote from Newquay’s businesses.

74% of the companies that voted were in favour of the scheme, meaning that the Newquay BID becomes the 110th BID to be approved in the UK and the third BID in Cornwall, following Truro and Falmouth.

From April 1, funding of circa £150k a year for five years will be available to spend on projects that the business community have already indicated are priorities and that can make a significant impact.

The funding, raised through every organisation paying 1% of their rateable value each year into a ring-fenced pot, will be firmly in the control of the private sector and managed by Newquay BID, a not for profit company limited by guarantee. 85% of all businesses will pay less than £10 per week.

The result was delivered today (March 10) at the Headland Hotel after a year of work by members of the BID steering group to develop the proposal.

Veryan Armstrong of The Headland Hotel and chairperson of the Newquay BID Steering Group said: “This is a superb achievement and we are delighted that the BID has been successful. I’d like to thank all the businesses and other organisations who voted to create the BID, particularly in these challenging recessionary times. This result shows real spirit amongst Newquay businesses to move ahead to a brighter future and today marks the beginning of a very exciting chapter for our resort.”

Work will start immediately to put the proposals outlined in the Final Newquay BID proposal into motion including some early publicity drives to promote Newquay at the beginning of the season as well as schemes to save businesses money.

Nominations will shortly be invited from all levy paying businesses for places on the board of directors who will oversee the delivery of the BID and ensure that the money is invested responsibly in areas that will make the maximum impact.

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