The document summarizes the work of Essential Edinburgh, the Business Improvement District (BID) for Edinburgh city center. It discusses the successful first term of the BID from 2008-2013 where it increased footfall, improved cleanliness scores, and reduced crime. It then outlines the key priorities and measures for the second term from 2013-2018, which include further increasing footfall and retail turnover above national averages, and improving cleanliness, safety, and accessibility perceptions. It provides positive updates on meeting these goals in the early years of the second term.

2. Denzil Skinner
Chair
• About Essential Edinburgh
• Key priorities and measures
• First term of the BID
• Second term of the BID
@EssentialEdin Essential Edinburgh

3. About Essential Edinburgh
• Voted in by businesses 2008 – turnout
46%, 54% vote in favour
• Represent 600 businesses
– 51% Retail, 31% office, 18% hospitality
• Delivered on amended 5 year plan
• Renewal Ballot successful in 2013
• £5m investment by private businesses
• £1m for city centre re-launch secured

4. First Term: 2008 – 2013
Area Promotion – Clean & Attractive –
Safe & Secure – Accessibility – Facilitation
• Events & promotion increased footfall
• 10% increase in Keep Scotland Beautiful score
• 30% reduction in retail crime, 80% solvency rate
- “Check Out” initiative
• Trade Waste initiaitve identified over £250,000
savings with “Zero-2-Landfill” for over 200
businesses
• Rose Street action plan delivered

5. Second Term 2013-2018
Areas for delivery and measurement
•Area Promotion: retail turnover and footfall 2%
above UK average
•Clean & Attractive: CIMS, Keep Scotland
Beautiful score increase by 10%
•Safe & Secure: Crime Statistics & Edinburgh
Visitor Survey perception scores
•Accessibility: Edinburgh Visitor Survey
perception scores
•Facilitation: Cost neutral through group buying
initiatives

6. Area Promotion
• Footfall up 7.3% compared to
UK average of -1.7%.
• Footfall driving events
– Edinburgh Fashion Week
– Spa in the City
– Film in the City
– Edinburgh Restaurant Festival
– Light Night
– St Andrew Square Garden events
• Advertising and Marketing
– “This is Edinburgh” city centre
marketing campaign
Review - Year 6
July 2013 to June 2014

7. Clean & Attractive
• Essential Clean Team
– 86%* of visitors to Edinburgh believed the BID area
was cleaner than the rest of the city
• Flowers & hanging baskets
– Beautiful Scotland – Silver Gilt Award
• St Andrew Square Garden
• Christmas Lights
*Edinburgh Visitor
Survey
Review - Year 6
July 2013 to June 2014

8. Safe & Secure
• 92%* of visitors to Edinburgh stated that they
felt safer in the BID area than elsewhere in the
city, up 8% on last year.
• Check Out – Check In – CCTV – Transport
Marshalls – Pub Watch
– Theft and housebreaking to a
business premises down by 59%
– Theft down by 17%
– Shoplifting down by 16%
– Robbery down by 31%
*Edinburgh Visitor Survey
Review - Year 6
July 2013 to June 2014

9. Facilitation
• Waste Management Project
– Changeworks Recycling new contractor
– Tailored solutions for each business
• Utilities
– Business savings in excess of £200,000
– All businesses saved more than cost of levy
• George Street Project
• Castle Street
Review - Year 6
July 2013 to June 2014

10. Trade Waste Project – 1st
Term
• Preferred BID supplier in place by
2011, providing Zero-2-Landfill
• Waste separation set up prior to
Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012
• Savings to business identified in
excess of £250,000 by reduction of
landfill use

11. Trade Waste Project – 2nd
Term
• Edinburgh Council trade waste changes
– No waste to be stored on street for more than 1 hour
– Initial trial in Rose Street 2014
– Following trial, BID first area for roll out - April 2015
• Changeworks Recycling
– New waste contractor for BID
– Tailored solutions for Rose Street business during trade
waste trial highly successful
– Over quarter of BID already signed up and will be
compliant with new legislation – number growing daily
– Changeworks Recycling are a Social Enterprise – local
job creation through this initiative

12. Summary
• Successfully delivered first business plan
• Resounding renewal ballot success
– 78% voted YES, up from 54% in 2008 –
almost 35% increase
• Term 2 of the BID started strongly
– On target to achieve key measures
• Major role for BID in helping businesses
to become compliant with trade waste
regulations

13. Thank you
www.essentialedinburgh.co.uk info@essentialedinburgh.co.uk

15. Alastair Mitchell
Falkirk Delivers
3rd
March 2015
Safer towns night & day

16. Getting the basics right
At both BID ballots, our businesses asked us to
deliver more of the basics to enhance the town
centre:
•Clean (Taking a Pride in Falkirk)
•Safe (It’s Friendlier in Falkirk)
•Friendly (Let’s Shout about it!)

17. The Falkirk perspective
• Pre-BID, a poor perception of the night time
economy in Falkirk
• Concentration of efforts on daytime economy
• Huge investment in licensed premises, artisan cafes
and a move towards ‘retail +’
• Opportunity to encourage growth in investment,
footfall and spend

18. The Falkirk perspective
• Change perceptions
• Help establish a much more customer friendly,
vibrant and safe environment
• Adopt best practise
• Getting the basics right
• Work with partners across a variety of disciplines
• Opportunity to maximise the impact to the town
centre of the Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel

19. It’s all about good partnerships and
collaboration!
• Falkirk Delivers +
• Falkirk Council
• Scottish Business Resilience Centre
• BIDs Scotland
• Police Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
• ATCM
• Business Community
• Local volunteers – Red Cross, Street Pastors, Signpost
Recovery etc. etc.

20. A selection of relevant Falkirk Delivers projects:

21. All things ‘Safe’
Or as we call it:
‘It’s Friendlier in Falkirk’

22. Action: It’s friendlier in Falkirk

23. Award Winning Safer Streets programme
•Featuring Safe Base / Safe Zone – providing
support to vulnerable night-time revellers during the
festive period
•Part of the Operation Christmas joint venture
•Highly successful partnership between the BID,
and 8 other partners.
Action: It’s friendlier in Falkirk

24. Action: Safer Streets projects

25. Action: Best Bar None
15 Falkirk area licensed premises accredited with
Best Bar None status this year 7 Gold winners.
Behind the Wall won Scottish Independent Pub of the year

27. Action: Street Ambassadors
• Liaison with businesses
• Reporting and resolving
problems
• Assisting businesses with
shoplifters
• Basic First Aid
• Local product knowledge

28. Another first for Falkirk…

29. Action: Events and Festivals

30. In 2014, Falkirk Delivers won a UK
national ATCM award
‘Developing the evening & night-time economy’

31. Action: Partnering local tourism attractions

32. Action: Local Tourism Partnership
And now – The Helix and the Kelpies!

33. Falkirk was a Finalist!

35. We’re contributing towards the Safer
Communities outcomes!
• By spending to save, Falkirk Delivers and its Safer
Streets voluntary partners annually saves approx.
£30K in costs and time during the festive period
for the NHS and Police
• We’re working with partners to minimise crime
and anti-social behaviour in the town centre
• We’re reducing negative perceptions as well as
the fear of crime
• We’re helping to make Falkirk a safer place

36. How long is this
guy going to
drone on for…
I’ve told him before, 6
slides max!
21, 22, for feck sake
Alastair, 23, 24…
Must stay
awake…

38. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
Improving the Business Environment
and Supporting Business
March 2015
1
Enterprising Bathgate

39. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
2
Enterprising Bathgate
A Bit About
Strong leadership from
business community
March 2008 - Scotland’s first
Business Improvement District
with West Lothian Council
in Bathgate town centre
Excellent working partnership
Approx. 400 properties

40. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
● Public Realm Design Guide
● Bathgate In Bloom Project
● Town Centre Regeneration Fund
● Town Centre Capital Programme
● The Partnership Centre
● Adaptation of former Council properties
● Adaptation of older properties
3
Making the BID Area
A Bit About
More Attractive

41. Public Realm
Design Guide
4
www.enterprisingbathgate.com

42. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
5
Town Centre Regeneration Fund
& Capital Programme

43. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
6
The Partnership Centre

44. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
7
Adaptation of
former Council properties

45. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
8
Adaptation of older properties
Big Bang Hairdressing Salon
Nineteen Twelve Cafe Bar

46. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
9
Premises Improvement Scheme
● Initially a pilot Shop Front Scheme during
development of BID
● Listened to feedback to make scheme
more effective
● Scope widened
● Banding introduced to reflect size of properties
● New scheme now run every year
● Improves individual properties
● Improves the attractiveness of the town centre

47. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
10
Premises Scheme
Facts & Figures
Approved 65 grants
totalling more than
£41,000
498 grants
approved since
company was formed
More than
£280,000
paid out in grants
Documented
expenditure exceeds
£2 million
(2014-15 scheme)

48. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
11
Premises Improvement Scheme

49. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
12
Choose Bathgate Campaign
● Promoting Bathgate town
centre as a place to set
up, re-locate or expand
a business
● Marketing the businesses
and services available in
Bathgate town centre

50. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
13

51. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
14
Choose Bathgate - Online Guide
● Auto-resizes for PCs, laptops, tablets
and smartphones
● Businesses offered a full page, which is
branded for them maintaining quality,
identity and up-to-date information
● Listings by Category, A-Z and Map Location
● Links to and feeds from social media pages
● Contact form
● Interactive with Google Maps and Streetview
● Search facility

52. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
15
www.choosebathgate.com

53. 16
www.choosebathgate.com

54. www.enterprisingbathgate.com
Improving the Business Environment
and Supporting Business
www.choosebathgate.com

59. With Thanks to the BIDs Scotland Gathering Sponsor