Essential Edinburgh Business Plan 2023-2028

INTRODUCTION

We have the privilege of operating in a brilliant, vibrant city that punches way above its weight. A city with a historic past and, we firmly believe, an exciting future. We met the news that Time Out ranked us 2022’s “best city in the world” with delight, but not surprise.

While Edinburgh already boasts world class shops and the globally definitive Fringe Festival, new developments have created — and will continue to create — increased magnetism to draw people to our city centre.

The recent expansion in flagship retail at St James Quarter will be complemented by the ongoing huge investment and diversification of the offering on Princes Street. These include the ex Debenhams and BHS developments, change of use for the Jenners, Topshop and Royal Overseas League sites and the combining of the prior Russell & Bromley, Zara and Next buildings. All will expand and enrich our already excellent hospitality offering and bring tourists and residents into the heart of the Business Improvement District (BID).

We are in a time of massive change. The introduction of the Low Emission Zone and continuing work on the public realm for George Street make it essential for businesses to act together, representing their interests with unity and clarity to decision makers at all levels.

“If you’ve not yet decided how you’re going to vote, my vote is definitely a yes. I think they are essential and I can’t imagine what we would do without them. Who would pick up all the work that they do? I think it would be quite a disaster.”

Lynzi Leroy, Scottish Design Exchange

Emerging from the challenges of the pandemic, we know the uncertainties that face consumers and businesses where increasing costs will mean making discerning choices. We are proud to be an independent, unified voice that fiercely advocates for our levy-payers’ best interests and delighted to be one business expense that delivers tangible benefits far in excess of cost.

These benefits manifest in the outstanding work of our Clean Team and in the tireless efforts of our staff to promote the city centre and attract footfall through exceptional events — and in the powerful partnerships with organisations that deliver value for our members. We look back with pride of achievement, and, with your YES vote, we look forward to a further five years of working on your behalf to deliver the very best for Edinburgh City Centre.

Chair

Roddy Smith, CEO Denzil Skinner,

we didn’t have Essential Edinburgh people would miss everything that they do for the city. Their work behind the scenes to drive events, to drive footfall, to lobby for the city centre, to provide really good data we can analyse as businesses –that doesn’t come from anyone else, just one source, Essential Edinburgh.”

Thomlinson, Johnnie Walker Princes Street

“If

Alan

Essential Edinburgh team with the Wee Herd

WHO WE ARE

Essential Edinburgh was established in 2008 to run Edinburgh’s city centre Business Improvement District (BID); a defined area where businesses vote to collectively invest in local improvements that are in addition to those provided by the local authority and police. For our next term, we are delighted to be welcoming the Waldorf Astoria and Rutland Hotel to the BID family.

This document outlines the successes delivered over the last five years and the projects you have asked us to deliver in our fourth term. To secure the support and expertise of Essential Edinburgh for the next five years you must now vote Yes in the renewal ballot.

All the important details about who can vote, the ballot process, how to vote — and why it is critical that you do — are at the back of this document.

Voting opens on the 9th February and closes at 5pm on the 23rd March 2023.

Your YES vote will ensure Essential Edinburgh and the services we deliver continue.

Your vote is essential!

“Essential Edinburgh do a great job of promoting Edinburgh and making sure there is a safe, clean environment for business and visitors. The team are always very helpful and approachable.”

WAVERLEY STATION

VISITOR INFORMATION

ST.ANDREW SQUARE

ST JAMES QUARTER

PRINCES STREET

GEORGE STREET

PRINCES STREET

ROSE STREET

LEITH STREET

ROSE STREET

GEORGE STREET

CASTLE STREET

HANOVER STREET

FREDERICK STREET

CHARLOTTE SQUARE

Jill Henry, Meander Apparel

A full list of the streets in the BID can be found on page 28.

The city centre is cleaner for a reason.

Time and again our Clean Team are singled out for praise by our member businesses. Their commitment and hard work make a massive difference to the area where they undertake improvement services that do not fall under the remit of the local authority.

Without them, there’s no-one to take responsibility for hazardous waste, be it drug paraphernalia or animal (and human) waste. Nobody to bust 32,048m2 (or about 26 Olympic swimming pools) of chewing gum, to take down fly posting, to clean out basement spaces. If that’s not enough, they retrieved over 913 tonnes of recycling during their routine operations. Going above and beyond to make our city centre clean and attractive, their on-call, rapid response service has come to be seen as an intrinsic part of doing business in the city centre.

praise Essential Edinburgh’s Clean Team highly enough. I’ve called upon their services on numerous occasions. They are always extremely polite and courteous. The work done behind the scenes during COVID was amazing. Well done guys, you are making a real difference.”

“Not all superheroes wear capes! I can’t

Louise

Oliver, The Treasure Trove

The Clean Team, Rose Street

Martina Hlinkova, Royal Society of Edinburgh

Rather than see these services disappear, a successful renewal will enable us to continue and enhance our commitment to a clean and attractive city centre in a number of ways:

• We will invest in upgraded gum busting and graffiti removal equipment to further enhance the Clean Team’s efforts.

• Our partnership with Changeworks Recycling will continue to provide levypayers with a group-buying discount for waste removal and recycling, offering substantial savings for these essential services.

• We will bring forward plans to make enhancements to paths and lighting as we continue our stewardship of St Andrew Square Garden.

• We will complement the vitality and ambiance of the city centre with tasteful floral displays, seasonal planting and new city dressing.

Gum busting, St Andrew Square

“Thank You Essential Edinburgh, for all your hard work. You deliver a brilliant service as usual. A particular massive thank you to your superb Clean Team. They always arrive to us quickly and do an amazing job!”

Change really does work

Our continued partnership with innovative recyclers Changeworks Recycling allows us to create group buying discounts for BID members (the more who sign up, the greater the saving). They’ve diverted 1163.4 tonnes of carbon from landfill and collected 2,159,743 tonnes of waste this term.

A Square deal

It’s our privilege to manage the most versatile outdoor space in the city. Whether a free outdoor cinema, performance venue, exhibition hub or just a serene space in the sunshine, the immaculate greenspace of St Andrew Square Garden is enjoyed by around 4 million people a year. It forms an essential connection between the new St James Quarter development in the east and the rest of the BID and we are committed to its upkeep.

We will engage with owners to bring forward a programme of investment and enhancement to ensure high standards of presentation and safety, including funding for essential upgrades to infrastructure.

Christmas decorations at the west end of the BID

“As a responsible business, the environment is a big factor. Our relationship with Changeworks has got us into good habits. We benefit from a discount through Essential Edinburgh and, overall, the planet benefits too.”

Paul Hilton, ESPC

PROTECTING

businesses, customers & staff 2023-28

spend £400K

We champion a number of strategic partnerships all aimed at ensuring our city centre is a safe and secure place to do business at any time of day — and the safest place to enjoy Edinburgh’s night time economy.

And it makes a huge difference.

At our last renewal ballot, we were delighted to report that theft was down over the previous five years by 23%. The reduction this term was a staggering 47%*.

Shoplifting is down 39% and all reported crime down by 21.4% for the same period.

With your YES vote, our BID Cop project with Police Scotland will continue, providing an enhanced police presence, effective business training and a single point of contact.

We will work with local organisations, such as Street Assist, to provide advice and practical support for evening patrons within the BID area. We will build on the success of our

partnership with homelessness charity Cyrenians, funding outreach workers to support vulnerable individuals as they move away from a street-based life.

We will continue to operate our successful Check Out initiative as an active deterrent for shoplifters by utilising the digital enhancements we developed for Check In, which supports our accommodation providers. Both share vital information on suspicious persons, credit risks and potential criminal activity, supported by Police Scotland.

*We acknowledge how unusual the pandemic period was, with several months of lockdown and atypical footfall in 2020/21. But the better than 100% improvement is not accounted for solely by this impact.

The BID beat

Now in its fifth year, we fund an enhanced police presence in the city centre through our BID Cop partnership with Police Scotland. Building relationships with our businesses, PC Ehssan Sanii is easily reached and provides support as a single point of contact, practical advice and reassurance for our levy-payers.

“We are delighted to benefit from the provision of a BID area police officer, through Essential Edinburgh. PC Sanii is an excellent resource who has made a tangible and valuable contribution to the safety and security of St James Quarter’s businesses and guests.”

Nick Peel, St James Quarter

Security’s a shared responsibility

Check Out circulates vital information around connected retailers to support vigilance and provide a practical deterrent to shoplifting. Reductions in circulations correlate to a reduction in shoplifting behaviour and this term we have seen a drop of 46%.**

Serious support for rough sleepers

Since our partnership with Cyrenians began in 2018, we have helped to support some of the most vulnerable individuals in society, with a focus on finding long term solutions to the challenges of homelessness. They work oneto-one with rough sleepers, providing support by developing relationships and responding to the person’s specific priorities.

Help on hand

Specific to the night time economy, Street Assist provides support to those who find themselves in crisis. Whether this is through disorientation, overindulgence, assault or injury, the judgment-free volunteer service uses its resources to keep those on a night out safe, reducing visits to Accident and Emergency. We will provide financial means to support their activity within the city centre, ensuring that it is the safest place for a night out.

**During the pandemic, figures halved against yearly averages for this term, however, this variance does not account for the scope of the 46% reduction in circulations and alerts over the whole time period.

Street Assist, Rose Street

Nick Harrold & Mark Diver, Cyrenians Outreach Workers

“Our partnership with Essential Edinburgh has gone from strength to strength over the past 5 years. It’s a real example of business and charities together creating real, positive change for the people facing tough realities in central Edinburgh. The partnership is a shining example of the power we have when we come together to create a safer, more welcoming city for all.”

Ewan Aitken, Cyrenians

“I’ve worked with Essential Edinburgh for many years, the team are always cheerful and full of engaging initiatives for us to get involved in to promote the store. The annual Film Fest in the City is one of my personal favourites.”

Ewan Laing, Miele

PROMOTING

the BID area 2023-28 spend £2.55m

Bringing footfall into our city centre is everyone’s top priority. 2021’s George Street ice rink alone brought over 260,000 people into town. Giraffe About Town saw people walk a grand total of 13,000 miles on safari around the city to see all the premises hosting the themed sculptures. Our BIDfunded pedestrian counters tracked a 9.8% increase during our Sign of a Great Time marketing campaign.

Sustained recovery from the impact of the pandemic makes it more important than ever to attract people to enjoy Edinburgh’s exceptional offering.

Successful partnership working has been a hallmark of our approach to marketing and promotion. Film Fest in the City draws in around 13,000 annual visitors into the heart of the BID, spending in excess of £1.8m over the last term in our shops, restaurants and bars — a return on investment of 1814%.

Edinburgh Cocktail Week served £844,000 of sales benefitting our BID businesses in the licensed trade, drawing in over 47,000

customers while 30,000 people clicked through to our innovative foodie campaign Eat Out Edinburgh.

In our next term, we’re adding to the mix. We will practically and strategically support the creation of a new structure to manage and promote Edinburgh as a world-leading visitor destination, collaborating with them to drive innovation and imagination in representing our city centre to the widest possible audience, at home and abroad.

As well as maximising summer and winter festival activity in our area, we will maintain our commitment to a spread of footfall driving and circulating activities across the year. We’ll partner with exciting organisations to continue our programme of engaging events and reimagine screenings in the square to build on the success of Film Fest in the City.

Christmas decorations in St Andrew Square Garden

Hannah McConnachie, Signature Group

Shout it from the rooftops

Though nominated ‘best UK city to visit’*, we must not rest on our laurels. The visitor economy is crucial to Edinburgh’s economic success.

Our district’s capacity to welcome and entertain visitors continues to grow. Cities around the world are upping their destination marketing game — we can’t afford to be left behind.

We will work with partners across Edinburgh to manage and promote our year-round tourism offer, engaging with decision makers to leverage the structural reforms needed to deliver effective tourism management and marketing for the city.

*National Geographic 2021 Travel Awards

“Post-COVID Essential Edinburgh came up with Eat Out Edinburgh… We had five venues taking part and they saw a great drive in footfall. It wasn’t just locals, but out of towners too –people who are now coming back just because of that initial campaign.”

Seasonal events and activations

We’re invested in Christmas

Essential Edinburgh is the only provider of festive lighting and Christmas decorations in the city centre. Those trees on George Street? That’s us. The lights in Rose Street? We hung them. We’re committed to Christmas as a critical component of our member’s annual revenue.

More than skating by

The ice rink on George Street has been a massive success, driving significant footfall into the city centre with a substantial spend from visitors who go on to eat, drink shop and enjoy everything our businesses have to offer.

Not just on the Fringes

We bring the benefits of the world’s most famous festival into the heart of the city centre. From creating free performance spaces in the sumptuous surroundings of St Andrew Square to supporting Assembly Festival on George Street we will continue to spread festival spend through our area.

Support for all seasons

We will make sure there is year-round interest in exciting initiatives for our members. Our screenings in St Andrew Square will spread the summer love by bringing footfall in June as we work with partners to reimagine what’s possible with this highly successful event. Springing into a celebration of our foodie offering, Eat Out Edinburgh will make March memorable for our restaurants, while we shake up Autumn with Cocktail Week.

“Without the imagination and innovation that Essential Edinburgh is bringing to these projects, I just don’t quite know what would be happening in the city centre right now. It’s nice to know we have an organisation that really cares. Christmas was saved for us by the ice rink, which made such a tremendous difference.”

Karol Rzepkowski, Victor Hugo

ENGAGING

with all relevant bodies

2023-28 spend £262.5K

A thriving city centre is listened to by leaders.

For three successive terms, we have provided a strong collective voice, advocating for the best interests of our members, forging invaluable relationships with policy groups and opinion leaders and lobbying at every level of government. We’ve spent fifteen years building influence and cementing key relationships on your behalf — and we have their attention.

We will continue the support and engagement that has vitally strengthened business recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. We will lobby on your behalf around crucially important issues including rates reform, the redevelopment of premises and additional public waste bins.

In consultation with the city centre accommodation providers and hospitality businesses we will drive the discussion and take forward a collective policy response to the city’s Tourism Visitor Levy proposals, ensuring our businesses voices are heard.

We will boost our ability to gather essential business intelligence, increasing the number of new AI footfall cameras in our area to give a clearer than ever picture of pedestrian movements in Edinburgh City Centre.

Data which is only available to our businesses and not funded or provided by anyone else.

Catalysed by the unprecedented changes of 2020/21, the much needed transformation of Princes Street has begun. We will support this reimagination and the opportunities it will create for our city centre. On George Street, we will press the council for clear communication, effective signage and for appropriate mitigations to be put in place as the layout of the street is redesigned.

We will maintain training and recruitment support at zero cost through our partnership with FUSE, while our communications team will continue to amplify and promote messaging in support of our members.

Our commitment to value will remain unchanged as we seek out group-buying discounts, cost-cutting initiatives and environmentally sound innovations that deliver benefits which far exceed their cost.

Empowering employees

Our new partnership with SeedL will grant access to over 200 live and interactive crosssector webinars available at no cost to all staff in member businesses. So whether you are in an office based business, hospitality or retail there are courses suitable for you and your team to help career and personal development.

“What I really love about Essential Edinburgh is the community feel. Through Gillian and Grant’s engagement and all the communications and updates we receive, you can tell that they really want us to do well. The more you get involved, the more you get out of it!”

Ewan Laing, Miele

Gillian James and Grant Roberts, Business Engagement Managers

Staying China Ready

With over 128K loyal subscribers and over 332m content views, the official Edinburgh Weibo and WeChat channels remain top of the world. They continue to outperform all other European destinations, putting Edinburgh and local businesses in an exceptionally strong position. Through our continued collaboration we have a platform to promote our area and engage with this ever growing audience.

Creating careers

Our innovative partnership with FUSE will continue, providing high quality recruitment and training for retail, leisure and hospitality sectors. Through our investment we can offer our levy-payers training opportunities for all their staff, and support their recruitment needs at no cost.

George Street Project

Having an organisation representing your needs at the heart of projects within the city centre has never been more essential. Work is due to begin on the George Street Redesign Project in 2024 and we will continue to ensure your interests are represented and views heard before an operational plan for the street is agreed by the council ahead of the project commencing. We will ensure advanced communication from them is forthcoming and we will be your united voice for appropriate mitigation and compensation to be provided.

Feet on the street

We will enhance provision of footfall cameras in the BID, doubling the number currently in service. These will use the latest AI imaging technology to ensure the most accurate data is captured while preserving the privacy of city centre visitors.

Pitching up in person

Our Business Engagement Managers are essential. Familiar faces to all our levy-payers, they’re not just a key communication conduit — they are there to support you in any way they can, building a personal connection between you and your BID.

Plenty to shout about

Our small but dedicated communications team work hard to keep everyone in the loop. Whether listening to your concerns, or amplifying your activities and initiatives, we employ every channel at our disposal to ensure that our partners, our levy-payers and their customers are as well represented as they are well informed.

“It is hard for businesses to have our voices heard, but Essential Edinburgh gives us that opportunity. They represent our views and are listened to by local and national government. Without their support we would not have secured planning permission for our new George Street building.”

Mario

Gizzi, Amarone, Cadiz and Café Andaluz

City centre wayfinding totems, funded by Essential Edinburgh

Knowledge is power

We’re committed to providing insights that are fundamental to your forward planning. From footfall data to vacancy reports and hospitality sales, we provide metrics at a depth of detail that isn’t available from anyone else.

Up for a challenge

Our members are our only priority. This means we’re unafraid to challenge local or national government about the things that matter most. Be it business rates reform, pedestrianisation plans or pushing back against reductions to baseline services, our job is to advocate on your behalf. We don’t answer to anyone else.

Princes Street’s potential

The move to mixed use is long overdue. We will continue our strategic and successful work with reimagining Princes Street, unlocking unique opportunities that can benefit all businesses in the BID. It will create new destinations to attract visitors, extend footfall into the evening hours and enhance Edinburgh’s exceptional offering. We will proactively work with landlords and developers to support regeneration, bringing our commitment and imagination to seizing the opportunities this influx of investment will create.

Opportunities for Offices

We will implement a support package for our office sector including cost-saving initiatives utilising our collective purchasing power to reduce key operational costs. With commercial partners we will obtain exclusive offers and discounts for staff of levy-paying businesses, and provide free or discounted access to some of the hottest tickets in town.

The George Street Redesign Project

A GREENER CITY

Edinburgh and Scotland have set some of the most ambitious targets for emissions reduction in the world. Scottish Government have set a net zero target of 2045, while the City of Edinburgh Council aim to achieve the same by 2030.

Our partnership with Changeworks Recycling has led the charge towards meeting sustainability targets for many businesses in the city centre. We will continue to support businesses towards their recycling and environmental goals.

We will sign up to the Edinburgh Climate Compact — a commitment to take action to help significantly reduce the city’s carbon emissions — and support our businesses to do likewise. We will share and promote examples of best practice, practical case studies and resources to support our businesses on their net carbon journey.

We will only use low energy LED lights for our extensive Christmas displays and when we upgrade and replace lighting within St Andrew Square Garden, massively reducing power consumption.

Essential Edinburgh will also commit to the following during the period of our business plan:

• Produce a full BID area sustainability plan during 2023

• Support the City of Edinburgh Council in the implementation of the Low Emission Zone in the city centre

• Advocate and support our members to get to Net Zero Carbon by 2030

• Support our businesses to create a sustainable retail, leisure and dining experience

• By 2028, encourage 75% of our members to be signed up to the Edinburgh Climate Compact

“We’re in a real time of change… with the Low Emission Zone and George Street Pedestrianisation – two big schemes where we need to make sure our voices are heard. The environment is such an important subject matter for us all individually and for any responsible business. We all have to play our part.”

Paul Hilton, ESPC

KEY FACTS

The BID levy

A BID levy is an equal and fair way of funding projects and services that the Council and other statutory bodies are not required to provide.

A revaluation of rateable values is in progress that will come into force from 1st April 2023. In line with Scottish BIDs legislation — part 9 of the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006 — the levy will be calculated based on the rateable value of the property on the day of ballot (23rd March 2023) for the five-year term. Essential Edinburgh’s levy calculation is one of the lowest percentage BIDs in the UK at 1% of the property rateable value. The average rate being charged in the UK is 1.5% and the highest 6%, our 1% calculation has remained the same since our inception in 2008 regardless of increased delivery costs.

There will be no increase in the levy amount throughout the term of the BID or because of a non-domestic rateable revaluation occurring during the BID term.

All eligible non-domestic properties with a rateable value of £25,000 or more within the BID will be liable for the full 1% levy* for the duration of the five-year term including properties of the local authority, other statutory bodies and charities.

Properties with a rateable value under £25,000, alongside Places of Worship, will be exempt from the levy and will not have a vote. These premises and premises bordering the Essential Edinburgh BID boundary can apply to pay

a voluntary levy and become an “associate member” should they wish. To obtain further information on Associate Membership please contact info@essentialedinburgh.co.uk.

Any temporary rates relief granted will not be considered in the calculation of the levy.

The BID levy will be paid by the occupier (the eligible person liable to pay the non-domestic rate), however, the property owner will be liable to pay the levy where a property is vacant on the day the levy invoice is issued and for all the period thereafter when the property is vacant.

All eligible occupiers (of eligible properties), i.e. the eligible person liable to pay the nondomestic rate that is listed on the Local Assessors Valuation Roll on the ballot date, will be liable to pay the levy.

The levy payments are not linked to what businesses actually pay in rates but are based on the rateable value of the property.

The levy must be paid annually in one payment within 28 days from the date of the levy invoice.

If there is a change in occupier to a property, until a new occupier is found the property owner will be responsible for paying the levy.

Any new commercial development, subdivision of existing properties or merging of properties or new business with a non-domestic rateable valuation coming into the area during the 5-year term of the business improvement

district will be liable for the levy. If a property is vacant on the date the levy is issued and for any subsequent vacant periods, the property owner will be liable for the full levy amount, which must be paid within 28 days.

Self-catering holiday accommodation which is not the sole or main residence of any person and which is available (or intended to be available) for letting on a commercial basis, with profit in mind, for short periods totalling more than 140 days in the financial year remain liable for non-domestic rates for the whole year and will be included.

The City of Edinburgh Council will continue to collect the levy on our behalf ensuring complete transparency, security of money collected and auditable collection procedures.

Any non-payment of the levy will be strongly pursued and statutory powers will be enforced to ensure fairness to those levy payers that have paid.

The BID Revenue Account and levy can only be accessed by Essential Edinburgh.

*Properties located within St James Quarter will be charged 0.4% levy for the duration of the BID term to reflect the duplication of services provided.

The Voting Process

On the 9th February 2023, the eligible person with the authority to vote in each business will receive a ballot paper and the Business Plan.

Voting papers are easy to complete, simply place a cross on either “yes” or “no” to the question “Are you in favour of the Business Improvement District?”. The ballot paper(s) must be signed by the person eligible to vote and returned in the pre-paid envelope, or hand delivered to the City of Edinburgh Council, Waverley Court, 4 East Market Street, Edinburgh.

All votes must be cast by 5pm Thursday 23rd March 2023 to count. If you have multiple voting papers ensure you complete, sign and return them all. Papers received after this date and time will be deemed null and void and not be counted.

If a ballot paper has not been received, or has been lost, you may apply to The City of Edinburgh Council for a replacement paper in writing from 7 working days before the ballot is due to close (Tuesday 14th March 2023). Full details on how to apply are available in the FAQs on www.essentialedinburghrenewal.co.uk.

The BID ballot is a confidential postal ballot conducted by the City of Edinburgh Council on behalf of Essential Edinburgh and in accordance with Scottish BID legislation.

Where an eligible property is vacant the voting papers will be sent to the property owner.

For the ballot to be successful there must be a minimum turnout of 25% (the headcount) by number of eligible persons and by combined rateable value; and of those who turnout, the majority must vote in favour by number and combined rateable value.

All eligible persons (i.e., those persons liable to pay non-domestic rates) will have one vote or where a person is liable for nondomestic rates for more than one property, that individual shall be eligible to cast more than one vote and they will be required to pay the levy for each of the properties that they occupy.

The ballot papers will be counted on Friday 24th March 2023 and the results announced by the City of Edinburgh Council within one week.

Following a successful ballot, the fourth BID term will commence on 1st April 2023 and will run for a period of five years until the 31st March 2028.

Full details on our governance, ballot procedures and relevant legal information are available via our website at: www.essentialedinburgh.co.uk or a request in writing.

“Essential Edinburgh has supported us, and our business here has benefitted greatly from being part of the BID.”

James Tutton, The Brogue Trader T/A Loake Shoemakers

Alteration Statement

The BID Board of Directors will have the authority to adapt or alter the projects and services from year to year to reflect any change in economic circumstances or any new opportunities that may arise. This will be in the best interests of the levy-payers without recourse to an alteration ballot.

Assessing and Minimising Risk

The Board will take all the steps necessary to minimise any risk associated with the BID (financially or otherwise) by only using reputable contractors to deliver BID projects. The Board will also adopt best practice in governance and operational procedures whilst being open and transparent in its operations, and Essential Edinburgh will undergo a full annual audit.

“The Essential Edinburgh team are very good at communicating, we get regular updates of what’s happening in the city centre but also what’s happening in local government as well. It’s essential for us to receive those updates.”

Lynzi Leroy, Scottish Design Exchange

Measuring Success

The Essential Edinburgh Board of Directors will monitor and oversee the efficient delivery of projects throughout the lifetime of the BID to ensure they achieve a high impact and are progressing to the satisfaction of levy-payers.

The BID will undergo an independent evaluation and/or Assessment and Accreditation Interim Review (AAIR) of its activities at the halfway point and towards the end of the fourth term.

The AAIR:

• Is a bespoke review, which recognises and accords with the Scottish BIDs legislation and the public and private sector environment in Scotland.

• Gives confidence to businesses and the Board of Directors that the practices of the BID Company are robust and accord with good practice and

• Supplies an audit trail to support any future evaluation of the BID Company.

In developing the Interim Review, a consultation was undertaken with,

• Key stakeholders and organisations

• Independent businesses

• Key UK national businesses

• The Scottish Retail Consortium and reviewed existing assessment and accreditation frameworks, including existing documents used to assess BID Proposals in the UK, to identify key lessons.

Essential Edinburgh will formally measure performance through the following Key Performance Indicators:

• Marketing and promotional campaign evaluations

• Footfall data and insights

• Retail and hospitality sales monitoring

• Annual environmental audit

• Resident, visitor and employee perception survey

• Levy-payer feedback surveys

• Vacant property report

• Crime statistics from Police Scotland

• Event evaluations, both public and business

The level of progress made on these projects will be assessed during each year of the BID term. This will be reported back on a regular basis to levy-payers through all channels available.

Contact with levy-payers

Essential Edinburgh has and will continue to have an open and transparent approach to all aspects of the business and have an agreed communications strategy to ensure our levy-payers are fully informed, including:

• One-to-one meetings, business briefings and B2B networking opportunities

• Digital media campaigns

• Press releases and local newspaper columns

• On-going website and social media updates

• Regular city centre information by email

• Weekly e-newsletter

• Annual Review

• AGM

Baseline Service Agreement

Statutory services (Baseline Services) are currently delivered by the City of Edinburgh Council and Police Scotland. Essential Edinburgh has a Baseline Services Agreement in place that identifies precisely what the statutory authorities provide in return for business rate. This ensures that the levy investment enhances and does not duplicate the services already provided.

Example Baseline Services include: Lighting, maintenance, highways, car parking, estate management, public transport services, traffic enforcement, trading standards, public conveniences, street furniture, police.

Streets included in the BID Castle Street, Charlotte Square (between George Street and South Charlotte Street: No 33 – 39 only), Elder Street, Frederick Street (South of George Street), George Street, Hanover Street (South of George Street), Hope Street Lane, James Craig Walk, Little King Street, Lothian Road (No 4 only), Meuse Lane, Multrees Walk, Princes Street, Rose Street, Rose Street North Lane, Rose Street South Lane, Rutland Street (No 1-3 only) South Charlotte Street, South St Andrew Street, South St David Street, St Andrew Square, St James Quarter, St James Square, Waverley Steps, West Register Street, West Register Street Lane.

All company information, including the full BID Proposal, is available at www.essentialedinburgh.co.uk

“Business” or variations of the word “business” are used throughout this document. The word “business” in this context refers to property owners or tenants and occupiers of properties who are liable to pay the non-domestic rate (NDR), whether they pay business rates or not. This includes all properties listed on the Scottish Assessors Association Portal (website) with a non-domestic rateable value, many of whom may be a charitable organisation, public sector organization, social enterprise or community group who may not consider themselves to be a business.

“We’ve worked with Essential Edinburgh for the last 10 years, the footfall that their campaigns bring to the city is just amazing. There are so many projects we love to be involved in, my particular favourite is Edinburgh Cocktail Week.

Last year we produced 10,000 cocktails over a 2-week period.”

Hannah McConnachie, Signature Group

INCOME & EXPENDITURE

It is anticipated that we will generate an additional £1.3m over the course of the five-year term.

This additional income will cover the core operational costs of Essential Edinburgh, ensuring all your levy will be invested into the projects detailed within this business plan.

The voluntary contributions are currently not secured or committed by others. Therefore, in the event any or all this funding is not realised then the scope of some of the projects outlined will be adjusted correspondingly, to ensure that they remain within budget.

INCOME YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3 YEAR 4 YEAR 5 TOTAL

LEVY 98% £1,156,000 £1,156,000 £1,156,000 £1,200,000 £1,200,000 £5,868,000

VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION £15,000 £15,000 £15,000 £15,000 £15,000 £75,000

St Andrew Square £63,000 £63,000 £63,000 £63,000 £63,000 £315,000

TOTAL BID INCOME £1,234,000 £1,234,000 £1,234,000 £1,278,000 £1,278,000 £6,258,000

EXPENDITURE

Promoting £510,000 £510,000 £510,000 £510,000 £510,000 £2,550,000

Enhancing £215,000 £215,000 £215,000 £215,000 £215,000 £1,075,000

Protecting £80,000 £80,000 £80,000 £80,000 £80,000 £400,000

Engaging £52,500 £52,500 £52,500 £52,500 £52,500 £262,500

Contingency 5% £61,700 £61,700 £61,700 £63,900 £63,900 £312,900

Operating costs £258,658 £258,658 £258,658 £258,658 £258,658 £1,293,290

CEC levy collection charge £34,000 £34,000 £34,000 £34,000 £34,000 £170,000

Renewal ballot - - - £35,000 £45,000 £80,000

TOTAL EXPENDITURE

£1,211,858 £1,211,858 £1,211,858 £1,249,058 £1,259,058 £6,143,690

SURPLUS £22,142 £22,142 £22,142 £28,942 £18,942 £114,310

“Essential Edinburgh represents fantastic value for money. Their communication is fantastic, the work they do in the city centre is fabulous, the lobbying the do on behalf of everybody is tremendous. They have made a real difference to the city centre.”

Alan Thomlinson, Johnnie Walker Princes Street

THE BOARD & TEAM SOURCES

Crime Police Scotland

The Board of Directors

Denzil Skinner, Chair

Alan Thomlinson, Johnnie Walker Princes Street

Barry Blamire, The John Lewis Partnership David Stewart, Abrdn David Stewart, DM Stewart

Derek Brownlee, Royal Bank of Scotland Councillor Jane Meagher, Convenor: Housing, Homelessness and Fair Work Committee, City of Edinburgh Council

Kieran Quinn, Kimpton Charlotte Square Louise Maclean, Signature Group Lynzi Leroy, Scottish Design Exchange

Nick Peel, St James Quarter Edinburgh Richard Morris, Harvey Nichols David Lindgren, Company Secretary

The Team

Roddy Smith

Chief Executive & Director

Emily Campbell Johnston, Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications

Gillian James, Business Engagement Manager

Grant Roberts, Business Engagement Manager Grant Stewart, Senior Manager: Projects Mark Farvis, Digital Media Manager

Essential Clean Team

James Reilly, Contract Manager, Mitie (sub-contracted)

Retail & Hospitality Sales

Due to the drastic statistical outliers caused by the pandemic and associated government measures, we have excluded data for the financial year 2020/21 to allow useful comparison. For representative analysis we have provided median values from the remaining data.

Scottish Retail Sales

Scottish Retail Consortium

UK Retail Sales

British Retail Consortium

Footfall Springboard

Copyright

This work is produced in collaboration with various partner organisations for whom it represents intellectual property. No part of this work may be reproduced in whole or in part without express written consent of Essential Edinburgh on behalf of these partners.

Image Credits

Van Gogh Alive - Richard Blake

Victor Hugo