Croydon BID Annual Report 2017-18

reflecting on a colourful year Annual Report 2017-2018

Croydon BID making a difference

Contents 06 Chairmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Statement 07 Chief Executiveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Statement 10 Investing in your safety 14 Creating a great impression

by raising your profile

18 Creating a great impression

with festivals and events

22 Delivering brighter streets 26 Helping you in and around 30 Bringing businesses together 34 Financial Summary 35 Structure

making a 02

Annual Report 2017-2018

difference

raising 04 4

05 5

Created, funded and managed by the town centre business community since 2007, our aim is to make everyone’s experience and impression of Croydon town centre a better one so that it is regarded as one of the premier destinations in south London in which to work, live, visit and do business. Geographically, we are one of the largest Business Improvement Districts in the country, covering virtually the entire town centre. We represent around 550 levy-paying organisations which include many well-known brands and businesses in the retail, office, leisure, hospitality and public sectors. All our work is funded through a mandatory 1% levy collected from businesses in the BID area with a rateable value of £40,000 or more. In 2017-2018, this generated an income

of £945,000. This income was supplemented by additional cash and in-kind contributions, worth around £301,000, bringing the total invested in the town last year to approximately £1.25 million.

We represent around

550 levy paying

organisations

Annual Report 2017-2018

the town centre’s profile and enhancing people’s experience of it

Chairman’s statement

Chief Executive’s Statement

Despite difficult trading conditions, over the past year we have seen confidence and optimism over Croydon’s future economic growth gather pace as regeneration and redevelopment of the town centre continues, resulting in a fundamental shift which Croydon BID is at the heart of, providing a strong representative voice for businesses.

In a year of continuing uncertainty over the future economic climate and the likely impact on businesses of the UK’s departure from the EU, Croydon is nevertheless making positive progress towards realising its potential, not only through its large-scale redevelopment but through expansion of its cultural offer, bringing more businesses, residents and visitors to the area.

Our focus across our third term is to make sure Croydon BID is in a strong position to provide effective representation and solutions that meet your needs and demands as a business community. Our commitment and direction to provide you with continued value through our delivery principles remains unaltered. Working with our partners to improve feelings of safety in the town centre, offering improved intelligence and information as part of our ongoing business engagement activities and, more significantly, creating strategies and plans designed to improve the resilience of the town centre are all at the heart of our business activities. We have continued to invest in numerous projects over the past year to support the growth in Croydon’s reputation as one of the premier destinations in south London in which to work, live, visit and do business. Our efforts have once again focused on making our town centre a safer, cleaner, more attractive, more accessible and vibrant place to be and our activities and

The impact of the arts and culture on our wonderfully diverse community is something that Croydon BID understands and values and they therefore form the centrepiece of several of our current and future activities, creating opportunities for innovation, experimentation, success and activities for all to enjoy. BID Board members devote a considerable amount of un-remunerated time to ensure that effective and challenging strategies are formulated to deliver against our pledges to make a positive difference to the environment in which we all operate. I would like to take this opportunity to thank both them and members of the executive team for their dedication and notable past performance and look forward to its continuance in the year ahead. Under the stewardship of new Chairman, Neil Chandler, Croydon BID will provide, develop and deliver the necessary solutions to address the challenges ahead, working closely with you and your teams to realise the numerous opportunities yet to come. Together, we look forward to working with you, continuing to add value to the town centre and ensuring that you have all the support and assistance needed as Croydon continues on its journey to become a primary economic powerhouse for south London, working with partners such as Coast to Capital, the Gatwick Diamond sub-region and central London on the issues that matter to your business.

Andrew Bauer Chairman

The £5.2 billion regeneration of the town centre continues to be at the core of many of our discussions as we work towards supporting the local business community and developing innovative solutions that proactively add value. There are strong indications of the progress already made with numerous developers on site, rows of cranes on the skyline, lines of hoardings alongside large sections of our pavements and an increase in construction workers coming into town. Investing in your safety remains a prime focus of our activities as we strive to improve the security and safety of your businesses and employees. The value gained from our collaborative and supportive relationships with the Metropolitan Police, Croydon Council and other key partners cannot be overstated and will undoubtedly help in future to deliver even greater improvements across a multitude of areas that have a bearing on safety in our town centre. We have demonstrated our commitment to adding extra colour and vibrancy to the town centre by appointing new contractors to deliver a series of truly impressive planting schemes that further enhance the appearance of our streets, while two major street art installations that we have funded are set to become

new landmarks in their own right. Through these initiatives, coupled with our deep cleaning of the town centre and the welcoming services provided by our Street Ambassadors, we continue to be mindful of the customer journey and the first impressions that our town centre creates. Following this year’s highly successful and ground-breaking ‘Warhol Croydon’ street art event, showcasing everything Croydon has to offer in an exciting and innovative way, Croydon BID is determined to play a significant role in developing future cultural programmes to help paint the town in a different light and encourage more people to come here and to stay longer. For all the positive improvements made on your behalf, it is important to recognise the challenges that businesses face. In that regard, we are working with all sectors across our varied business community to create new opportunities while acting as a strong, independent voice during a period of significant transformational change. I would like to place on record my thanks to you for your continuing support as we strive to deliver initiatives designed to make a difference. My team works hard to achieve the single objective of ensuring Croydon is seen as one of the best places in south London to work, live, visit and do business. We look forward to working with you in the coming year.

Matthew Sims Chief Executive

07 Annual Report 2017-2018

Annual Report 2017-2018

Change on the scale envisaged undoubtedly brings with it numerous challenges. It also creates exciting opportunities and we firmly believe that the opportunities already being realised are steadily helping to unlock Croydon’s potential for growth.

achievements are described in more detail in this report.

Representing the interests of businesses and keeping 9 them informed Annual Report 2017-2018

Promoting Croydon’s accessibility and helping people find their way around

Maintaining a clean and attractive environment

Raising the town centre’s profile and enhancing people’s experience of it

Annual Report 2017-2018

Ensuring everyone feels comfortable and safe

Our activities focus on the five priority areas that businesses tell us are important for ensuring Croydon’s success.

investing in your

safety

15.8%

3.1%

reduction in reported thefts from a person

reduction in reported shoplifting

reduction in reported robberies

2.0%

14.2%

29,000

reduction in assault with injury offences

increase in CBCP membership

business-critical CBCP communications issued

35%

190+

crime prevention training and workshops delivered

decrease in crime during ‘Back to School’ safety week

late night revellers assisted by Croydon’s Street pastors

Annual Report 2017-2018

In a year that saw knife crime and terrorist and cyberattacks increase in London, the UK and much further afield, the importance of safeguarding the interests and wellbeing of everyone in our town centre has never been greater.

23.2%

Our match-funding arrangement with the Metropolitan Police continued for the tenth successive year and enabled 21,000 additional hours of policing.

CBCP members regarding prolific offenders, security issues and crime prevention matters in order to deter and cut crime and help support business continuity in the event of terrorist or cyber-attacks. •

Through our close working relationships with the Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police, Croydon Council and other key stakeholders, including our very own intelligence-led Croydon Business Crime Reduction Partnership, heightened focus was placed during the year on providing businesses and their employees with advice, assistance and security training as part of the wider drive to deter and cut crime.

•

Increased by 14% the membership of our Croydon Business Crime Reduction Partnership, providing a significant boost to the business community’s collective efforts to deter and crack down on crime in the town centre and deal head-on with prolific offenders. Greater use of the CBCP’s secure,

intelligence-sharing website resulted in over 6,000 log-ins by members over the course of the year and led to greater awareness and exchanges of information on known offenders. •

Issued over 29,000 business-critical communications over the course of the year to

13 Annual Report 2017-2018

To improve feelings of safety and well-being in the town centre, we:

Supported the delivery of a multiagency ‘Back to School’ safety awareness week in September, providing information and advice to younger members of the public on how to keep themselves safe and avoid being targeted by street robbers. The initiative involved around 80 representatives from 13 different public and private sector organisations, including the Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police, Tram Neighbourhood Officers, Neighbourhood Safety Officers plus security teams from the town’s two main shopping centres in a drive to reduce the fear of crime and reassure the public that Croydon town centre is a safe place to be. The high-visibility

Continued with our efforts to ensure safe nights in Croydon through our on-going sponsorship of the Croydon Street Pastors. The team of three volunteers undertook 38 night-time patrols during the course of the year, lending a friendly ear and practical support to those on a night out in the town centre. Through our funding, the team was able to assist around 192 people who were either worse for wear or who had fallen victim to crime by handing out 181 items including flip flops, bottled water and foil blankets.

23.2%

W H AT W E D E L I V E R E D

•

drop in reported thefts

Annual Report 2017-2018

Our match-funding arrangement with the Metropolitan Police continued for the tenth successive year and enabled 21,000 additional hours of policing to be provided in the town centre, while a similar funding arrangement with British Transport Police led to 32 additional officers patrolling the tram network and stations over 20 key dates, including at Christmas.

Supported the successful delivery of a two-week anti-knife crime initiative staged in the town’s two main shopping centres to raise awareness of knife crime and draw attention to the far-reaching implications it has on individuals and the wider community. The event saw Croydon BID join forces with the Metropolitan Police, Croydon Council, The London Ambulance Service, Victim Support, Croydon College, School Pastors, local businesses and various faith and outreach organisations, to deliver a range of events highlighting the severe consequences of the crime as well as providing advice and information which included a question and answer session with Police Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Jeff Boothe.

police and security presence was also designed to deter would-be offenders and reduce street robbery during the period and resulted in crime in the town centre falling by 35%, compared to the same period the previous year.

creating a great impression by

raising

your profile 14

1.26m

1.28m

reached solely via national and local press coverage

tweet impressions for our two Twitter feeds

Facebook impressions of our Check Out Croydon campaigns

780k+

47,000

51,000

communications promoting Check Out Croydon offers

people reached via our digital campaigns

combined number of visitors to our two websites

business benefited from our loyalty card scheme

dedicated marketing campaigns promoting the Check Out Croydon loyalty card offers

Annual Report 2017-2018

As the focal point of one of the biggest regeneration schemes seen in nearly six decades, Croydon increasingly is being regarded as a good place to invest even though, for some, its redevelopment cannot come soon enough.

43m

•

Redesigned, extended and relaunched checkoutcroydon.com, our interactive website in order to provide visitors with an even more comprehensive and easy-to-navigate guide to what’s on and where to go in Croydon. As well as detailing all the shops, bars, cafes, restaurants, nightlife and entertainment available in the town centre, the site now incorporates helpful tools to assist those planning a trip here as well as a free events’ listing facility, enabling anyone planning an event or activity in the heart of Croydon to have the details added.

To that end, therefore, our efforts this year have focused on highlighting many of the exciting changes taking place in Croydon as well as the transformation that is yet to come, through the increased use of high impact marketing, advertising, PR and digital media campaigns to help people see the town in a new light.

W H AT W E D E L I V E R E D To help people think differently about Croydon and see it in a new light we: •

Generated 36 digital marketing and promotional campaigns to highlight the exciting changes taking place in the town centre and what this means for all those working, living and doing business here. The

campaigns reached in the region of 47,000 people and achieved an average unique opening rate of 24%. •

Produced 26 individual media relations campaigns to raise

•

A total of 94 dedicated marketing campaigns were issued on behalf of the 87 shops, bars, restaurants, clubs, hotels and service providers supporting our Check Out Croydon loyalty scheme.

17 Annual Report 2017-2018

Devised and co-delivered a comprehensive programme of marketing, advertising, PR, digital and social media activity to support our sponsorship of Warhol Croydon. The promotional activity resulted in 54 press articles including Time Out, Visit London and Visit England and there were 29,000+ page views of www. warholcroydon.com of which 8,000+ were unique visitors.

•

43m

Annual Report 2017-2018

•

new section was added this year to support business continuity in the event of terrorist or cyber-attacks.

reached

Take a close look though and the distinct signs of change are already evident. Amidst the hoardings and cranes that tower across the skyline, new shops, bars, cafes, restaurants and entertainment venues have opened, boosting the significant number of businesses already operating here. Add to that, the evidence of Croydon’s growing cultural offer through the introduction of new art installations and landmark events are helping to attract new audiences into town, giving them more reasons to visit and spend longer making the most of what is on offer.

awareness of our progress and the various initiatives under way in the town centre to help people see Croydon in a fresh light and improve perceptions of it. The resulting print coverage alone reached in excess of 43 million over the course of the year.

via print media alone

We are helping to attract new audiences into town, giving them more reasons to visit and spend longer making the most of what is on offer.

creating a great impression with

festivals and events 18

£1m

14,500+

days of events programmed throughout the year

extra spent in town through Warhol Croydon

Warhol Croydon visitor numbers

90%

39%

said Warhol Croydon event painted Croydon in a new light

of visitors to Warhol Croydon came from outside the area

days of Festive Fantasia animations

300,000 estimated audience passing our festive animations

Annual Report 2017-2018

While large-scale regeneration will trigger Croydon’s transformation over the long-term, it is vital that those already in our town centre have as enjoyable an experience of it as possible, to ensure Croydon’s reputation continues to gather positive momentum.

Devised and delivered 87 days of lively, family-focused entertainment across the year, embracing a host of events. Through the delivery and sponsorship of an action-packed programme including some truly ground-breaking events, we pushed the boundaries this year in terms of the scale and type of entertainment provided in the drive to create something new, fresh and memorable and add extra vibrancy to the town centre.

artists paying tribute to Warhol. Film screenings, lectures, tailored walking tours and workshops all helped to bring the American artist to life and such was the interest generated that in excess of 14,500 visitors are estimated to have come to Croydon to take part, one-third of whom were from outside Croydon. As a result, the town centre saw a 3.5% rise in footfall over the month of September while London Trams reported an uplift of between 5% and 7% in the number of passengers using trams in that time. •

•

Devised and delivered 87 days of lively, familyfocused entertainment across the year, embracing a host of music, sporting, cultural and festive events in addition to our ever-popular continental markets. Sponsored and delivered ‘Warhol Croydon’, a ground-breaking street art exhibition and month-long

series of over 100 free events, celebrating the life and work of iconic American artist Andy Warhol. With an exhibition of original Warhol artworks as its centrepiece, the trail-blazing event also featured daily guided tours of twelve speciallycommissioned street art installations created by well-known contemporary

•

Heralded the start of Croydon’s festive season with the launch of our first ever Festive Lights Street Feast just ahead of the Christmas lights switch-on in conjunction with the town’s two main shopping centres.

•

Threw the spotlight once more on Croydon’s long and distinguished heritage through our on-going support for the Croydon Heritage festival and sponsorship of the attention-grabbing Crocus Valley art

Tempted visitors once again with a mouth-watering array of food, delicacies and other delights from around the globe as up to 30 stall holders set out their colourful and exotic wares during our three 4-day continental markets.

£1m

•

boost

To create a vibrant and memorable atmosphere we:

Brought a party atmosphere into town with more free ‘CROWD’ pop-up live music events, designed to bridge the gap between work and leisure time and give people even more reasons to come into town or stay longer after work. Featuring an exciting combination of well-known artists performing live, delicious street food and cocktails, the outdoor events which were staged in May and September together succeeded in attracting an audience of around 800 people.

to the local economy through Warhol Croydon

W H AT W E D E L I V E R E D

•

21 Annual Report 2017-2018

Annual Report 2017-2018

With its trail-blazing street art exhibition and an innovative programme of over 100 free events, Warhol Croydon month set a new benchmark in entertainment, bringing modern art to the masses, attracting new audiences into town and throwing a spotlight on Croydon in an entirely new way. Giant street art installations, cultural and sporting celebrations and our dazzling 3-D animations added a whole new dimension to this year’s activities while popular favourites, including our colourful continental markets and Street LIVE! music events all helped to create a positive lasting impression.

Launched a series of six spectacular animations to light up the night sky in Croydon throughout the festive season with the introduction of ‘Croydon’s Festive Fantasia’ as the dazzling centrepiece of our Christmas celebrations. Each of the speciallycommissioned films showcased the talents of local performers – dancers, street artists, street theatre and spoken word specialists – projected up to 120 feet in height on three key sites in North End and High Street. Embracing the twin themes of ‘light’ and ‘celebration’ the five-minute films were broadcast over 32 days in the run-up to Christmas, providing passing audiences, estimated to be some 300,000 in number, with a stunning backdrop against which to enjoy everything Croydon has to offer.

installation created by artists Aether & Hemera. The colourful canopy of origami crocus flowers provided a stunning backdrop on North End for all of the activities taking place as part of the fifth festival which this year had ‘Evolution’ as a theme.

delivering

brighter

streets

1,700

1,150

square metres of pavement deep-cleaned

extra hours of deepcleaning

pieces of graffiti or flyposting removed

5,400

500

plants purchased for our award-winning floral displays

hours spent maintaining year-round colour

hours of volunteers’ time provided to spruce up Croydon Minster

51%

4 million 1,200

increased expenditure on brightening our streets

potential views of our ‘Welcome to Croydon’ art installation

hours of Christmas illuminations

Annual Report 2017-2018

Ensuring our town centre maintains its appeal and leaves people with the best possible impression is one of our on-going commitments and one that will become increasingly important as Croydon’s redevelopment gathers pace.

31,000

Provided an additional 1,700 hours of cleansing in the town centre by maintaining our twice-weekly deepcleaning and gum removal programme.

In the uphill battle to keep our streets looking their best, therefore, we have focused much of this year’s efforts on providing significant visible improvements to a number of strategic locations across the town centre, introducing extra colour and vibrancy and using innovative ways to bring new life to neglected areas to supplement the hundreds of floral displays we install annually along the main thoroughfares.

underpasses connecting principal parts of the town centre to improve their appearance and make them more pleasant to use. •

•

Provided an additional 1,700 hours of cleansing in the town centre by maintaining our twiceweekly deep-cleaning and gum removal programme in the continuing effort to rid the town of dirt and rubbish and keep its busiest thoroughfares looking clean and fresh.

•

Continued to target some of the town’s worst soiled areas by delivering a regular ‘grot spot’ wash-down and disinfection service and responding to specific business needs. In addition to washing down street furniture and bins, key areas of focus for the cleansing team included Surrey Street and the

Increased by 51% our budget for installing and maintaining the appearance of hundreds of hanging baskets and six planted areas across the town centre in support of on our mission to brighten up Croydon’s streets. Reeves Corner, Thomas Turner Path, Wellesley Road, Dingwall Road, St Anne’s House and George Street benefited from a complete floral makeover, helping to soften the busy urban landscape and introduce a welcome blaze of colour.

•

Transformed Croydon’s streets into a twinkling festive wonderland for the eleventh consecutive year with the installation of a brand-new energyefficient Christmas lights scheme, illuminating15 of the town’s main streets for a total of almost 1,200 hours during the festive season.

31,000

•

For the third consecutive year, lent our support to the national ‘Love Where You Live’ campaign, partnering with 20 volunteers from McDonalds Croydon and Croydon Council to deliver a series of improvements to the grounds of Croydon Minster. Almost 100 bags of rubbish and garden waste were collected by those taking part who together gave up a total of 80 hours of their time to help transform the appearance of the area.

square metres

To add vibrancy to the streets and keep the town centre looking its best, we:

•

of pavement deep-cleaned

W H AT W E D E L I V E R E D

Introduced a dazzling blaze of colour at one of the principal gateways into the town centre with the construction of our huge ‘Welcome to Croydon’ art installation opposite East Croydon station. Few of the thousands of commuters who travel into Croydon daily can have failed to notice the 70-metre-long rainbow-coloured artwork welcoming them to town and encouraging them to ‘Explore Croydon’ further. An estimated 4 million people had an opportunity to see the installation which provided an attention-grabbing welcome in an area otherwise ripe for development.

Picked up a Silver Award in the Royal Horticultural Society’s prestigious 2017 London in Bloom competition in recognition of our efforts to enhance the visual appearance of the town centre and make what the judges described as ‘the much-needed improvements Croydon needs’.

25 Annual Report 2017-2018

Annual Report 2017-2018

Keeping the streets as fresh and clean as possible also continues to be a priority and our specialist cleaning team has worked tirelessly across the year to tackle the daily grime, rubbish and graffiti that regularly accumulate, cleaning up an area equivalent in size to four and a half football pitches in our continuing efforts to supplement the work carried out statutorily by Croydon Council.

Commissioned the first of two major new artworks to grace the streets of Croydon, helping to expand the town’s public art collection and further enhance its position as the capital’s new home of street art. The artwork, entitled ‘Her hometown’ by Chilean artist Otto Schade, is located on Katharine Street opposite the Spread Eagle and has already received almost 14,000 likes on Instagram.

•

helping you in and around 26

7,200

6,300

people welcomed by our Street Ambassadors

detailed interactions with the public â&#x20AC;&#x201C; up 139% year on year

additional hours providing information, advice and guidance

7,100

1,500

1,175

interactions between our Ambassadors and the business community

cleansing and environmental issues reported

graffiti and flyposting issues reported

3,124

657

intelligence reports completed

anti-social issues reported

Annual Report 2017-2018

Assuring people of a warm and friendly welcome and helping them to find their way around and make the most of their time in the town is one important way of leaving them with a favourable impression.

66,000

Over the year, our team of friendly Street Ambassadors have continued to create a niche for themselves in the public’s eye, welcoming visitors into town and offering information, advice and guidance. Dressed in their highly distinctive, pink “I’m here to help you” uniforms the team are a familiar sight meeting and greeting visitors at key locations and engaging with and supporting businesses in their day-to-day operations.

Provided practical support to the local business community through day-to-day liaison by our Street Ambassadors who offered help to tackle operational issues and assist with the promotion of business events and activities.

•

Meantime, we relaunched our redesigned and expanded interactive website, checkoutcroydon.com to provide visitors with an even more comprehensive and easy-to-navigate guide to what’s on and where to go in Croydon. As well as detailing all the shops, bars, cafes, restaurants, nightlife, entertainment and latest offers available in the town centre, the website provides helpful tools for those planning a trip here, whether travelling by road, rail or on the tram.

Helped to tackle a number of security and anti-social issues in the town centre as a result of our Street Ambassadors acting as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the business community to ensure matters could be quickly reported and dealt with.

•

Distributed way-finding maps, guides and information to people in the town centre, highlighting everything that Croydon has to offer and help people make the most of their time here.

W H AT W E D E L I V E R E D

•

Continued to develop our interactive website www.checkoutcroydon.com to provide browsers with an exciting ‘one-stop-shop’ for those wanting information and guidance on where to go and what’s on in Croydon. Packed with information and the latest news and offers, the website is designed to help visitors make the most of their time here and provides helpful tools on how to get here.

•

Promoted scores of great offers from some of the town’s best-known shops,

To provide a warm welcome and assist people in and around the town centre, we: •

Continued to deploy our Street Ambassadors nine hours a day, five days a week, offering 6,300 additional hours of information, advice and guidance and providing general assistance to those who need it.

•

Provided a warm welcome to people at key gateways into town via our highly visible team of Street Ambassadors who greeted around 66,000 visitors over the course of the year, providing help where required.

29 Annual Report 2017-2018

•

bars, restaurants, clubs, hotels and service providers through our Check Out Croydon website and loyalty card scheme, encouraging shoppers to try something new and give them even more reason to visit. During the year a new free events’ listing facility was introduced onto the site, enabling anyone planning an event or activity in the heart of Croydon to have the details added to the 3,300 events already listed.

66,000

Annual Report 2017-2018

Ensured that swift remedial action was put in place to deal with numerous environmental and cleansing issues across the town centre, through day-to-day monitoring by our Street Ambassadors which led to 1,500 cleansing and environmental issues being reported and reports of 1,175 cases of graffiti and flyposting.

people welcomed

•

by our Street Ambassadors

Dressed in their highly distinctive, pink ‘I’m here to help you’ uniforms, our street ambassadors are a familiar sight meeting and greeting visitors.

bringing

businesses

together 30

420

newsletters distributed

digital communications issued to around 47,000 people

delegates attended our three key events

300+

131,000 87

businesses engaged with via our business groups and partnership working

unique engagements from our Check Out Croydon loyalty card communications

51,000

130,000

combined visitors to our two websites

combined page views of our two websites

business benefited from association with our loyalty card scheme

Annual Report 2017-2018

As our town centre faces a lengthy period of disruption and levels of change on a previously unprecedented scale, the benefits to be gained from businesses and all key stakeholders working closely together cannot be overstated.

3,000

Our regular newsletters, e-bulletins, social media and face-to-face meetings have provided businesses with more opportunities to air their views.

•

To keep businesses updated and ensure their interests are represented, we: •

•

Maintained a regular flow of communications with businesses via our newsletters, monthly e-bulletins, social media and stakeholder meetings programme to keep them up-dated on developments, progress and issues of common concern. Staged three business briefing events during the year to provide levy

payers with an insight into topical and businesscritical issues affecting the town centre and to create an opportunity for businesses to raise questions, provide feedback and network. •

Continued to provide a strong collective voice for the local business community on key strategic groups as well as organising stakeholder

Saw an increase in the number of businesses supporting our Check Out Croydon loyalty card scheme, as more and more organisations realised the benefits to be gained from the scheme through increased trade and wider promotion of their products and services. Shoppers took advantage of the numerous offers available from the 87 shops, bars, restaurants, hotels and service providers signed up to the scheme. As part of this year’s programme, an additional series of promotions was introduced to incentivise businesses to increase the number of cards scanned.

Continued to monitor new baseline agreements drawn up with Croydon Council to ensure that Council services are routinely delivered, standards are maintained and projects and services delivered by Croydon BID are always additional to, rather than replacing, local authority services.

33 Annual Report 2017-2018

•

W H AT W E D E L I V E R E D

•

780,000+

Annual Report 2017-2018

Our regular newsletters, e-bulletins, social media, face-to-face meetings and networking events have provided businesses with a regular flow of information and opportunities to air their views to help us shape our future direction and ensure we continue to meet business needs.

Further developed and refined our croydonbid.com website to underline our commitment to keep businesses up-dated on all the latest news, developments and policy changes taking place in Croydon and to highlight the progress being made by the BID against its pledges to make a difference. In response to national and international events, an entirely new section was added this year to support business continuity in the event of terrorist or cyber-attacks. During the year the website attracted 35,000 visitors and achieved over 76,000 page views.

Organised a series of targeted Check Out Croydon card ‘Employee Activation Days’ with some of the town’s biggest employers in order to raise awareness of the scheme and the benefits that being a card holder can bring.

communications

To ensure the views of the business community are heard and their interests are robustly represented, our continuing aim has been to keep our levy payers up-dated on all of the strategic, development and day-to-day policy issues affecting the town centre and the importance of this will undoubtedly increase as the pace of change in the town centre accelerates.

Supported campaigns to improve Croydon’s infrastructure, resilience and growth, through our backing for the Brighton Mainline upgrade programme and the introduction of a Public Space Protection Order in the town centre.

•

promoting Check Out Croydon offers

meetings and attending a wide range of strategic forums, including the Safer Croydon Partnership and the Local Strategic Partnership Board.

Financial Summary Croydon Town Centre Business Improvement District is a not for profit company limited by guarantee. It operates in a transparent way within the regulations set up by the government on Business Improvement Districts.

INCOME 2017/18

Croydon BID is funded by a combination of the BID levy from local businesses and voluntary contributions.

EXPENDITURE 2017/18

Bid Levy

£944,960

Croydon Council additional contribution

£ 38,500

Other income

£18,329 £1,001,789

Investing in your safety

£235,177

Delivering Brighter Streets

£102,460 £108,038

Bringing Business Together

£ 49,649

Festivals & Events

£176,933

Levy collection

£ 21,000

Professional fees

£ 4,185

Management costs

£150,236

Operating costs

£120,490

Total

£62,452

Helping you in and Around

£1,030,620

Net profit/(loss) for the year before tax

(£28,831)

Net profit/(loss) for the year after tax

(£28,851)

Net surplus brought forward from 2016/17

£52,595

Net surplus carried forward into 2018/19

£23,744

A copy of Croydon BID’s audited accounts may be obtained by contacting 020 603 0050 or via email at info@croydonbid.com.

and types of business in the town centre and consists mainly of BID levy-paying businesses or statutory service providers as dictated by the BID Regulations 2004. The Board held seven meetings during the course of the year. The Chief Executive of the BID leads a small dedicated team responsible for planning and delivering all of the BID’s projects and activities.

Members of the Croydon BID Board as at 31st March 2018 were: Andrew Bauer Whitgift Shopping Centre

Brian Hart Unicorn IB

Cllr. Manju Shahul-Hameed Croydon Council

Neil Chandler Fairfield Halls, BH Live

Graham Reeves House of Reeves

Cllr. Steve O’Connell AM Greater London Assembly

David Ordman Centrale Shopping Centre

James Lancaster – Carpenter House of Fraser

Tom Collins Croydon College

Janet Borrow Company Secretary Martin McDowell Boots Nigel Evans Stiles Harold Williams Don Niven Natwest Bank Simon Kirby Allianz Jeremy Gray Evolve Housing + Support

Neil Meredith Schroders Martin Corney The Whitgift Foundation

Stephen Coker Mott MacDonald Nick Baker London Tramlink

Dominic Glanz The Croydon Partnership

Chief Superintendent. Jeff Boothe Metropolitan Police

Jonathan Sharrock Coast 2 Capital

Graham Bennett Marks & Spencer

Heather Hosking Ministry of Justice David Parry Body Shop

The following directors resigned and/or were replaced during the year: Cllr. Mark Watson Croydon Council

Trevor Morgan Marlowe Investments

Carolyn Spencer Home Office

Frances Wadsworth Croydon College

Karen Summers Croydon Park Hotel

Steve Yewman The Croydon Partnership

Max Menon Croydon Cathay Development

To find out more about Croydon BID and the benefits of membership, please call 020 8603 0050 or email info@croydonbid.com

35 Annual Report 2017-2018

Annual Report 2017-2018

Creating a Great Impression

In addition to the income highlighted in the financial summary, substantial ‘in kind’ support was received from businesses during the year which enabled Croydon BID to deliver an enhanced programme of activities, estimated to have a value of around £301,000.

The BID Board provides strategic direction and input and is responsible to stakeholders for the conduct, performance and due governance of the BID Company. It is also responsible for setting the annual budget and monitoring finances throughout the course of the year. Membership of the Board is voluntary and directors are unpaid. The Board’s structure reflects the number

Total

Structure

ECF pulp sourced from carefully managed and renewed forests ISO 14001 certified manufacturer FSC Mixed Credit

Front cover by Otto Schade, ‘Her Hometown’

Croydon Town Centre Business Improvement District Saffron House Third Floor 15 Park Street Croydon, CR0 1YD T: 020 8603 0050 E: info@croydonbid.com W: www.croydonbid.com