Agenda item

The Head of Town Centre Management and Business Support gave an update on progress across the main Partnership themes of Town Centre Management and Business Support in Quarter 1 2013/14.

In Quarter 4 2012/13, the Town Centre Management and Business Support Service had worked to deliver a number of events in town centres including the Bromley Fashion Week, coordinated by the Bromley Town Centre Manager in partnership with intu Bromley Shopping Centre.  A local produce market had also been hosted on Beckenham Green on 18^th May 2013.

The BID Ballot in Orpington had taken place on 21^st February 2013.  There had been a 48% turnout of those eligible to vote, of which 54% were in favour, representing 60% of the rateable value.  The Orpington 1^st BID Company had gone ‘live’ in April 2013, and the BID Board was chaired by Martin Price, Manager of the Walnuts Shopping Centre.  The Local Authority maintained direct contact with the BID Board through the attendance of non-voting members, Councillor William Huntington-Thresher and Martin Pinnell.  The Council had provided support to the BID Board through a grant of £38K, agreed at the Council’s Executive in September 2012, and the loan of the former Town Centre Manager for Orpington for 18 hours per week until the end of June 2013.  Recruitment of a BID Manager who would be employed by the BID Board would take place in July 2013 and it was hoped that a suitable candidate would be in post by mid-September 2013.

The Bromley Town Business GrowthCLUB was launched with a workshop on strategic business planning on 20^th February 2013 at Bromley Central Library.  The programme included delivery of a range of workshops webinars and one-to-one business support in partnership with ActionCoach and would run to January 2014.  The Bromley Business Guide and Directory 2013/14 had been published in April 2013 and included a CD listing over 3000 businesses based in the Borough.  An electronic version of the guide was available on the internet at www.burrows.co.uk/bromley.  The Big Local App Bromley had also recently been launched and provided businesses with a direct marketing tool with which to promote their businesses.

Future activities for the Town Centre Management and Business Support Service included initial consultation and feasibility work for possible BID proposals in both Bromley and Beckenham Town Centres, and the development of a strategy to implement further BIDs across the Borough.  Work would also be undertaken to engage more with local businesses and town centre stakeholders, including a focus on developing Town Teams or similar partnership bodies in larger towns across the Borough.  A number of events were planned across the Borough during the quarter, including an event in Bromley Town Centre in September 2013 and further local produce markets for Beckenham.  The Team would also be working with the Town Centre Development Team to ‘activate’ the space between Church House Gardens and Bromley High Street over the summer period to create linkages into the town’s ‘hidden’ green spaces.  Other activities would include work to continue to guide and promote the Bromley Business GrowthCLUB programme and to work with colleagues in Town Centre Development Team on a joint campaign to promote Bromley as a location for commercial space.

RESOLVED that:

1)  Recent work around Town Centre Management and Business Support in the 1^st Quarter of 2013/14 be noted; and

2)  The plans for Town Centre Management and Business Support activity for the 2^nd Quarter of 2013/14 be noted.