Decision day nears over city’s Business Improvement District

Businesses will give their verdict on a controversial city centre improvement programme later this year.

In September firms will be asked to decide whether they want Hull’s Business Improvement District to continue for another five years.

The scheme which charges city centre firms one per cent of their rateable value to pay for initiatives including extra police patrols, removing graffiti and staging events was set up in 2006 with the aim of improving the city centre.

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Although supported by many of the businesses, including main players like St Stephen’s, the Prospect Centre and Prince Quay, some independents have complained about it doing nothing for them. In 2009 30 were taken to court after refusing to pay up.

However, Kathryn Shillito, who became the manager of the BID in 2009, believes she has listened to what businesses want and cites the numerous events and initiatives the BID supports.

She said: “I think people will make their minds up on its achievements to date; you can’t get a better idea than face to face meetings with people and the feedback I’ve had from people has been very positive.”

Events like the recent Fashion Week which saw models walking down a catwalk at Holy Trinity Church is cited as one success, increasing footfall on one Saturday alone by 49,000.

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A free dining guide which give cafes and restaurants a free page to promote themselves has also gone down well with visitors as well as the businesses concerned.

The BID organises the annual Yum Food Festival, featuring local chefs rather than celebrities, which will be staged on July 29 and July 30 and has helped the businesses running the Half Past The Weekend events on Princes Dock Street. Plans for a city centre music festival, similar to the Cottingham’s highly successful Springboard music festival, are in the early stages.

Paula Howarth, from Stanley’s in Paragon Square said they would “most probably” vote yes.

The BID helped the business, which is extending, by intervening to help move the project along. She said: “There’s a support system there from them. The (dining) brochures were a really good idea.

“It’s a little bit of money and I do think it is worth it.”

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Jo Roos, of Segal’s in Paragon Arcade, said she was “dead against it” at the start.

She said: “We thought it was just another way of getting money out of us but the more I got involved with it the more I could see that it does what it says on the tin.”

Pete Barber, who manages the Prospect Centre believes promotions like Fashion Week have had an impact: “Customer numbers throughout the week were up on last year. This highlights the positive benefits that promotions like Hull Bid have had on the city.”

But not everyone has been won over. Ted Johnston, who runs Johnston’s Butchers and Delicatessen in Carr Lane, has been a fierce critic of the scheme in the past and has seen nothing to make him change his mind.

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He said: “My rateable value is £28,000, that’s £280 a year and what can they give me for that? Absolutely nothing. The best thing they can do is not charge me the £280.

“The problem with the BID is that it is decided by how many votes are cast and if they get a block vote from the council, KC, Prospect Centre, St Stephen’s and Princes Quay, they will be adopted by default.”

Footfall counters posted by the BID round the city show a mixed picture. Best by a long shot are figures for St Stephen’s which recorded 1,230,880 people in May, nearly 30 per cent up on the year.

In January, figures using the mall had nearly doubled from 2009, from 563,411 to 1,067,008. Prospect Street was bottom of the class with figures down over 25 per cent for each of the past three months.

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According to Mr Johnston, the counters produce “Mickey Mouse figures”: “If you walk across the city you are counted six times. The reality is whether footfall is up or down it doesn’t translate into sales in the shops.”

Last year’s accounts show that of the £458,000 raised from businesses, around £106,000 was spent on wages and administration, with just under £118,000 on events and marketing, £41,000 on cleaning and maintenance and £70,000 on security. The counters cost £18,560.

Andrew Allison, from the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “If Business Improvement Districts are so good businesses will voluntarily opt in – but they should not be forced to. What businesses really need is lower taxes.”

Sad reality of empty shops

Like every city Hull’s High Street has taken a battering.

The latest figures from the Local Data Company show that 24.5 per cent of shops in the city are empty – far higher than the national average of 14.5 per cent. In the second half of 2010 the figure was 24.3 per cent, and in 2009 it was 20 per cent, demonstrating a gradual decline.

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The survey conducted in March by the Local Data Company tracks the fortunes of shops in more than 700 town centres.

Director Matthew Hopkinson said city centres nationally were under pressure with 10 per cent of retail sales now on the internet. He said in the future “24 per cent is likely to be the norm, or certainly 20 per cent going forward.”