SKIPTON BID
NEWS Issue 7 | June 2018
KEEPING YOU IN TOUCH WITH YOUR BID Follow us on Twitter @SkiptonBID and via Facebook @SkiptonBID, or take a look at our website www.skiptonbid.com which is updated regularly with our latest news and blog. If you are still receiving a printed version but would prefer it electronically, then please get in touch: info@skiptonbid.com or call 01756 799033.
CCTV We’re moving forward now at a reasonable pace, CCTV should be installed in our town centre and immediate surrounding streets by the end of July.
We’d love to hear your stories about how Skipton BID has benefitted your business. Please email info@skiptonbid.com to share your news. The next edition of Skipton BID News will be published in July 2018.
WE’VE BEEN BUSY! We are so excited to tell you about our recent marketing and PR initiatives. We’ve engaged with some really talented individuals to produce several short films and create a new Cycle Skipton website (www.cycleskipton.co.uk), recognising that Skipton has cemented its place as the heart of Yorkshire Dales cycling.
The Tour de Yorkshire has passed through Skipton twice and we’ve featured on the race route for the fourth year running; we also played host to the 2014 Grand Depart of the Tour de France. This site promotes Skipton, set on the very edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, provides easy access to some of the best cycling and mountain biking routes in the country and offers a wide range of cycling-friendly businesses from hotels and cafés, to cycling shops and sports therapists. We have so much to be proud of in Skipton, our award-winning Skipton Market that has been in operation for more than 800 years, medieval Skipton Castle, and boat trips on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. The proviso for getting your business on the Cycle Skipton site is that you must have a cycling-friendly element to your business — otherwise we just repeat what is already on Visit Skipton (www.welcometoskipton.com). So B&Bs would need a secure lock up for instance, a restaurant somewhere for people to park their bikes, or a special cycling offer etc…
The series of short films capture the sights and sound of this vibrant town and the people who visit, work and live here. So far we have filmed, edited and produced a taste, a pilot if you like, of some possibilities for further marketing during our third BID term. Already available for view are 2 short films from May Bank Holiday weekend, the Tour de Yorkshire as it passed through Skipton, and “Festival Fun in Skipton” with the Waterway Festival. These can be located from our Blog page on www.skiptonbid.com and / or You Tube — just type in Skipton BID.
Coming soon are two further films showcasing some of our food and drink establishments, “Simple Irresistible Skipton” …and a film promoting “Skipton voted Britain's Happiest place” [Source: The Independent and findings by Office for National Statistics 2017.] We hope you enjoy them!
Help Skipton to be the next viral video superstar, Re-Tweet and Share
#VOTESkiptonBID
SKIPTON BID NEWS Business Improvements Districts When Skipton BID formed ten years ago, there were less than 100 BIDs in the UK, today there are over 300. The number of BIDs are escalating every year having increased by approximately one per week during the last two years. As more of our neighbouring towns and cities either already have a BID, or are developing BIDs, without securing the third term for Skipton BID, our town will be surrounded on all sides by business improvement districts helping their towns and cities to prosper. DON’T LET THIS BE AT SKIPTON’S EXPENSE. Is it fair that the pressure is put on the businesses to pool their wealth for the benefit of their town? — possibly not. But with government spending out of our control, council budgets being cut back every year — what are the alternatives? JOURNEYOF OF BIDs BIDs THETHE JOURNEY 2004
BID
2005
Regulations (England) Approved
KINGSTON
2006
SWANSEA WINSFORD
BID in the
Welsh
UK
DUBLIN
2007
Irish
BID
industrial
BID
BID
1ST NATIONAL BID SURVEY PUBLISHED
2007
2015
PROPERTY
2014
OWNER
BID
Northern Irish
BID
BID
LEEDS
2016
Scottish
BIDs
becomes the
LONDON’S
BID
BID
200th
50th
2013
MHCLG
BID
CITY CENTRE
Regulations (England) Approved
Regulations (England) Approved
BALLYMENA
BATHGATE & INVERNESS
CROSS BOROUGH
LOAN FUND
launched in association with Bb
2017
100th BID
NORTH NOTTS
2018
area-wide
BID
2010
2009 SKIPTON BID
PENRITH INDUSTRIAL ESTATES BID
becomes the
300th BID
Do you want to build a future where you work in a town with less visitor footfall, an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour, a rise in unemployment and many empty retail shops! If you want to keep Skipton secure with CCTV and the Business Crime Reduction Partnership, attractive with services such as Skipton in Bloom floral displays and the Christmas lights, keep the town thriving on the success as a tourist destination, keep the warm welcome from the Town Ambassadors, afford to continue with the Christmas Markets, continue with bigger and better festivals and events, keep Skipton vibrant, a town where all businesses benefit because people want to visit here, live and work here and spend money in all your businesses then you need Skipton BID. On your doorstep this is the reality! Existing BIDs in North & West Yorkshire & East Lancashire: Keighley, Otley, Halifax, Leeds, Wakefield, Northallerton, York, Blackburn, Lancaster, Morecambe, Preston. Developing BIDs in North & West Yorkshire & East Lancashire: Colne, Burnley, Bradford, Morley, Brighouse. Steering Groups formed for BIDs in Yorkshire: Ilkley, Harrogate, Knaresborough, Richmond.
Information dependent on public knowledge we have been made aware of at time of release and may be subject to change
FORTHCOMING EVENTS These are the events specifically supported by Skipton BID! www.welcometoskipton.com lists many of the other events taking place in Skipton throughout the year. Please email info@skiptonbid.com if you would like to add your business’s event to the website. Skipton Sheep Day July 1st Flock to the High Street for this free event which celebrates Skipton’s ‘Sheep Town’ heritage. Skipton Cycle Races July 11th For the fourth year running Skipton town centre will be closed to become a 1km closed road cycle racing circuit. Races for children, teenagers and some of the best riders in the UK will ensure another great crowd-puller for the town centre. Junior fun races start at 6pm followed by the Youth Racing and finishing with the Elite race. Skipton BID Annual General Meeting September 18th This will once again be held at Alexander’s Bar and Kitchen. All BID businesses welcome from 6pm.
Santa Fun Run and Skipton Christmas Lights Switch On November 25th The Christmas fun doubles as Skipton Craven Rotary Club’s epic Santa Fun Run which last year saw nearly 2000 ‘Santas’ running a course around the town centre, is brought together with the BID funded Christmas Lights Switch On. Christmas Markets December 2nd and 9th The Christmas fun continues with our award winning markets, Best Large Speciality Market 2018 and Best Small Outdoor Market 2017. Over 20,000 people attend on each of these two Sundays, the opportunities are before you. The Ballot January 2019 Unless you vote and say YES in the ballot, Skipton will lose the BID and all the events, services and initiatives it brings to the town.
BCRP - BUSINESS CRIME REDUCTION PARTNERSHIP In case you missed it, this was published last month in Skipton BID’s blog!
“We only signed up six weeks ago but have already identified two people who are known shoplifters who we thought were customers! Without the information provided by the scheme we wouldn’t have recognised the threat they posed.
• •
“The scheme would work even better if more businesses were part of it.”
FIGHTING SHOP THEFT AND BUSINESS CRIME
Is shoplifting a problem for your business? Has your organisation been the victim of fraud through the receipt of fake bank notes?
Kevin Woods – Boyes If the answer to either of these questions is yes then read on, as the BID funded Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP) could help you tackle these issues. Here are some testimonials from Skipton retailers, revealing why being a part of the BCRP scheme has made a significant difference to the profitability of their business:
“We’ve actively caught several shoplifters over the last few months thanks to the intelligence sharing between other retailers in the scheme, and the tremendous back up BCRP gets from community liaison officer, Judy Probst and PCSO Gillian Seed. “If more shops and stores were part of the scheme then more intelligence could be shared which would make it even better!
Charlotte Ryder − New Look “It’s been a huge benefit to New Look as the app, which comes as part of the scheme and which you can upload to your phone, enables you to quickly see if there’s any new faces to look out for. It also helps you check if you think you’ve spotted someone on the shop floor who is a known shoplifter. If you do identify someone from the app’s gallery on your premises, then you can alert other businesses via the app or the radio. “Being part of the BCRP scheme has reduced our stock loss massively – we are now losing less than 1% of what we were losing before we got the radio and the app!”
Robert Schofield – Sports Direct “The radio has really helped us to stay alert about potential theft, as soon as we hear that someone suspicious or known is in town we make sure we have a strong front of house presence. And, if we suspect anyone in our store we immediately alert everyone else in the scheme. “We actually arrested someone who had stolen from another retailer in town – they didn’t come into Sports Direct, but because our staff were on high alert and were stood at the front of the shop, they recognised and detained them. “If we get an alert we always go to the front of the shop to see if we can spot anyone, as a sighting can help you relay back to other members in the scheme how certain individuals are moving through the town and which stores they might be targeting.
“There’s also been quite a bit of fraud with fake bank notes and its helped a lot in identifying who has those too. The app and the website are both quick and easy to use and provide really useful and regular intelligence updates.”
THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS by PCSO Gillian Seed While on patrol, I received a call on the ShopWatch radio stating a male had been in store and stolen some items, shorts and aftershave. At least he would smell nice! I did an area search and kept my beady eyes open for anyone matching the description. I spotted him but quickly lost sight of him, so using my top detective skills I found him again on Broughton Road. The male was big, stocky build and rather grumpy when I stopped him, he took one look at me and fancied his chances of a foot chase. A heroic member of the public joined the chase, the now rather breathless shop lifter decided to stop a car waiting in traffic, but unfortunately for him, it was an off duty police officer in the car. I believe that is what you call ‘karma’. Remember together we can make a difference – email bcrp@skiptonbid.com or call 01756 799033 for more information or to apply to join the scheme.