Good Afternoon

A quick update for you on all matters BID, including below

· Grant matters

· Planning and development

· Marketing and promotion

Grant Matters

Please double check your email inbox and junk folders (as you may miss a top up grant if you don’t complete and submit the relevant form):

Important message for all businesses who have received a payment through the Additional Restriction Grant (ARG) scheme.

We intend to make final top-up payments to all existing recipients of the ARG scheme.

We are currently calculating the ARG top-up payments for businesses. In order to complete the process, we need some further information from you.

If you have previously received an ARG payment, you will receive an email from us with a link to a short application. You need to complete and submit the form within 5 days of receiving the email.

The link is unique to each business and must not be forwarded.

You should receive the email by the end of this week, 12 June. In case of non-receipt, please check the junk folder of the email address submitted with your original grant application.

If you have any questions please email declan.murphy@bristol.gov.uk.

Planning and development

Bedminster Green – another development is in the pipeline and will bring very substantial fresh demand to East Street from local residents and consumers. For details of the scheme please see www.bedminstergreen.info. This is in addition to https://littleparadisebedminster.info/ and https://www.stcatherinesbs3.com/ which have already passed through the planning process and we hope will be on site soon. Further down the line is the Whitehouse Street Area Regeneration, see is https://whitehousestreet.com.

East Street Vision – this is our top priority to find the £10m funding for the public realm and buildings upgrades. We are in discussion with the city council and West of England Combined Authority to try to accelerate this essential but challenging process.

Love our High Street Grant Scheme for East Street – this continues to perform well with grants agreed for a variety of building refurbishments and new businesses. We have seen several openings including café bakery, clothes shop, and bottle shop (bar) and shortly will welcome a makers studio and jazz bar. If you know anyone seeking a grant of up to £10,000 to open a new business on/near East Street please encourage them to check out https://www.bedminster.org.uk/loveourhighstreet

Marketing and promotion

Promotional Activity - On East Street we are looing to develop a promotion around shoppers positive experiences of different outlets on the street particularly in terms of price/value aspect. This will be supported by social media. Meanwhile on North Street we note that the hospitality sector is doing well however retail less so and we are exploring initiatives around how one sector may support the other during these challenging times. Ideas include a Tops Trumps Traders set of cards!

Bedminster Trains station will be the main arrival point for all travellers arriving from the SW for part of the summer and so we have met with relevant train companies to discuss directing people to the city via East Street with notice boards and trails etc.

Loyalty cards? What do you use if anything? We are aware of a number of businesses using different digital and physical loyalty schemes such as LoyalZoo – we would like to hear what’s working well?

North St Arts Trail Event – North Street Art Gallery is planning a trail event in September and is interested to hear from businesses on North Street in particular that may wish to be involved. Please email Miche if you wish to become involved michetoots@yahoo.co.uk

Wildlife Photography Exhibition - The Bedminster BID and BS3 Wildlife Group will be working together on a Wildlife Photographic Exhibition which will take place in the first two weeks of November. The BS3 Wildlife Group, one of several across the city, comprises about 1000 local people and their families. They aim to raise public awareness about the wild animals and plants that live in Greater Bedminster and encourage people to improve habitats in domestic gardens, parks and other green spaces. Many of their members are currently taking pictures of birds, beetles, bats, buttercups and every other types of local wildlife form. They would like to exhibit these pictures in shops, cafes, bars and other venues within the Bedminster Business improvement District. The idea is to create a Wildlife Trail to encourage people to visit these businesses, perhaps for the first time. It’s a way of encouraging new people to visit your premises. The Wildlife Group and the BID will be creating a ‘trail guide’ to tell people which businesses to visit in order to see the photographs. Bedminster BID and the Wildlife Group will be publicising this event across the city, although probably most of the visitors will be more local. If you think that you might like to be involved as one of the venues, please contact mywildbedminster@virginmedia.com

Other maps and trails – we are finalising details around digital history and street art trails

Finally in other news, the East Street ‘DISC’ system is being relaunched to combat anti social behavriour which has started to rise again on East Street. This was very successful two years ago when we ran it and so we are hopeful of a similar impact this time. Once again Olivia will be running it and can be reached at eastst@bedminster.org.uk.

BID Meetings

If you wish to become involved in the BID please do get in touch by email or call or alternatively come along to a meeting. Our next meetings:

o Marketing – First Mondays at 6pm, via videocon

· Board – second Tuesdays at 6.15pm start at Kask