Membership Update

Accommodation BID

2023-2027

Liverpool could become the first city in the UK to establish a dedicated Accommodation BID (Business Improvement District) for its hotel and serviced apartments industry. This Autumn, businesses across the sector in the city centre will be asked to vote in a ballot to decide whether to establish the BID which would see a dedicated investment of £4.3m over five years.

The Accommodation BID is designed to support the industry over the coming years as it reduces its reliance on public sector investment for destination marketing, but yet faces increased operating costs and a decline in city-wide Revenue per Available Room. This last factor saw a reduction begin pre-pandemic in 2019, where the hotel trading performance decreased by 5.6% between 2018 and 2019 with the number of available rooms rising by an average of 6%. There are almost 2,000 AirBnB homes and private rooms available in Liverpool (Jan 2022) and this has an impact on hotel performance.

The proposed Accommodation BID would be a joint effort between Liverpool Hospitality, Liverpool BID Company and Growth Platform - Liverpool City Region Growth Company. Liverpool BID Company would run the Accommodation BID day to day, alongside the city’s two other BIDs, Culture & Commerce and Retail & Leisure. With over 80 hotels and apartments in the proposed BID area, there would be a five year investment of £4.3m with a return estimated to protect over 1,400 jobs and an average GVA of £15m a year. Bill Addy is the CEO of Liverpool BID Company and is Chair of Liverpool Visitor Economy Network. “As the first city to explore this option to support the visitor economy, this is a bold strategy by Liverpool that confronts the issues the hotel sector is facing head on”.

Core to the proposal is the need to futureproof the city’s visitor economy, ensuring it is still able to succeed and provide vital economic investment to the city as public sector investment is reduced.

“Liverpool’s visitor economy is a towering strength, but without investment its growth could make it a victim of its own success. With the public purse shrinking, there simply isn’t the level of public sector investment to support the industry and provide what it needs; specifically that targeted investment of a subvention fund to attract major sporting events, business conferences and other programmes that draw visitors to the city.”

Before the pandemic, there were 37.06m day visits and overnight tourist trips to Liverpool. These visitors helped to create a visitor economy worth £3.35bn, supporting over 36.9k jobs. Since then, including the pandemic, Liverpool has lost its UNESCO World Heritage Status, subvention to support the growth of the ACCL has been reduced, and the current SIF (Strategic Investment Funding) is a short term solution.

Despite this demand, destination marketing is required to target large conferences, business and sporting events. With the public purse shrinking, an Accommodation BID enables the private sector to invest more in the local economy, while providing a targeted approach to support the sector. It would also give the sector a greater say in the city, its connectivity and how it works to attract visitors.

It is vital, says Bill Addy, that the private sector helps to support the city’s economy.

“It is time for business to pull together to help the city continue to be an international draw.

Without this, Liverpool risks relying on a less economically advantageous visitor market that relies on lower spend and cheaper costs. For a balanced visitor economy, and for the city centre’s mixed use economy, we need to be able to attract the higher spending conferences, major events and similar that will have a beneficial impact on the city’s bottom line”. Marcus Magee is Co Chair of Liverpool Hospitality and General Manager of Hilton Hotel Liverpool

“Speaking to the hotels and serviced apartments in Liverpool we know that there is a desire for change. We cannot rely on the economic models of the future, and we know that without intervention we risk Liverpool’s competitiveness and buoyant visitor economy. Over the past five years we have explored different models and this is the one with both support and endorsement, but also works in terms of investment, confidence and long-term impact”. Liverpool BID Company is a private, not-for-profit organisation, representing the interests of 1,000 levy paying businesses in Liverpool city centre, across two BIDs (Business Improvement Districts) - Retail & Leisure BID and Culture & Commerce BID. Those hotels who are current members of a BID would switch to the Accommodation BID.

LIVERPOOL CHAMBER LEADS WITH THE

BOOMERANG BENEFIT

The City of Liverpool is a leader in international trade, manufacturing, and innovationdriven start-ups. Liverpool possesses a fully modern worldclass infrastructure that includes the expanding Port of Liverpool and John Lennon International Airport near The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce (LCC). Vision meeting challenge is part of the fabric of Liverpool.

In 2015, LCC had the foresight and daring to meet the challenges of the region’s needs by partnering with boomerang carnets UK. The Chamber recognized that, through this partnership, they could offer easy and affordable ATA Carnets to anyone in the U.K. The partnership introduced a new and easy online application process for ATA Carnets, and access to expert customer service available after-hours, on weekends and holidays. The LCC had already been issuing 30 – 40 ATA Carnets annually to a small group of exporters but in 2022, to date, have issued 3,433 due to the advanced technology of boomerang carnets. All are expanding into new markets and growing their businesses while saving money and time.

The ATA Carnet is an internationally accepted unified customs document for temporarily exported merchandise or goods. It allows cross border movement of those goods import-duty and -tax free into 87+ carnet countries and territories for up to a year. The ATA Carnet is known as the Merchandise Passport and ideal for professional equipment, goods, or commercial samples moving in and out of countries. It is a flexible trade tool proven to have a successful impact on business growth in many sectors.

Companies with a presence in both the U.K. and the U.S. can utilize The Boomerang Benefit to coordinate and expedite their ATA Carnet needs in two countries while overcoming the often complex and challenging realities of exporting. It saves time, money, and creates ease in tight deadline situations. The Boomerang Benefit can include assistance with logistics and insurance by providing convenient access to boomerang carnets’ strategic partners.

The LCC and Boomerang look forward to many more years of collaborating, innovating, and meeting the challenges ahead with success.

NEXT STOP BANGKOK

Liverpool Chamber’s ERDF funded New Markets 2 project has recently helped Tom Reynolds, Director of EdenFiftyOne™, attend the Bett Global event in London. Tom, hailing from the West Midlands and having also lived in Manchester and London, moved to Liverpool in 2008.

Having previously held Head of English roles across the country, Tom has taught 100’s of students across the Liverpool City Region though more recently is now the solofounder of an international award-winning ed-tech SME, based in the city centre, EdenFiftyOne™.

With the next stop being Bangkok, Tom is on an ed-tech mission to make English language teaching, learning and assessment easier for all, everywhere: one skill and one step at a time. Bett Asia, the global community for education technology returns to Thailand on the 11th October, New Markets2 funding helps businesses to have presence at such incredible shows.

‘Bett Global is the biggest education technology show in the world! Attending as part of the Northern Powerhouse New Markets 2 campaign is a real honour and to be chosen to represent the LCR tech community at this event is one of the greatest achievements of the business so far.’

Follow Tom’s ed-tech journey to Bangkok on Linked In @edenfiftyone and Learn more about the EdenFiftyOne™ platform at www.edenfiftyone.com

Are you looking to grow your business into New Markets? Contact

Ian.bulmer@liverpoolchamber.org.uk

and see how we can support you with your overseas plans!