Unfortunately we’ve come across many people, Councillors and BID Directors included, that mistake British BIDs for an official Government backed independent body for the UK Business Improvement District (BID) industry, but they couldn’t be more wrong!
British BIDs like to give the impression that they are the guiding authority for all things BID, and we even hear BIDs justifying their actions by saying “British BIDs told us, so it must be right and lawful”.
Fact is, BBIDS Limited (trading as British BIDs) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Savills Place-shaping & Marketing Ltd, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Savills Management Resources Ltd, and the ultimate parent of these companies is Savills Plc, a £2 billion turnover public company providing real estate services.
Now when you look at the British BIDs website, Savills Place website section describing their BID services or even their nice glossy services brochure, you won’t find any published mention that British BIDs is connected to or owned by Savills, they know how controversial it is. The fact there’s no such fanfare about the connection of British BIDs with Savills speaks volumes in itself, if they were really proud of the fact they’d be shouting from the rooftops that they are behind British BIDs, but they’re not. British BIDs is nothing more than a profit making members club set up by and ran by Savills, because at the end of the day it helps them meets their Corporate Aims.
Savills’ profitability depends on the commercial real estate sector, for it’s assets under mangement fees and place-shaping services it sells, including funnily enough, BID development and management. So what a better way to get businesses to “invest” in areas you have interests in, than to promote and support Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) eh? And of course on the back of it there loads more cash swoshing around to be spent on their place shaping & marketing services! Very clever when you think about it, set up a “body” as in British BIDs, which is there to promote and support private investment into towns and cities, from which your core business will benefit from!
British BIDs isn’t an official independent organisation doing all the right things in the best interests of BID companies and their levy payers. It’s there only to serve the self interests of Savills by encouraging money to keep rolling into our high streets through a private tax on unsuspecting businesses, which subsequently helps fill Savills’ own pockets.
The UK BID industry has grown so much out of control and there’s so much bad practice, it really does need an independent body / regulator, to raise standards and stamp out the bad practices of both BID Consultants and BID companies, in addition to ensuring levy payers (both Yes and No voters) are afforded the rights and respect they deserve.
In the best interests of all UK BIDs and their levy payers, BID companies should channel their current British BIDs membership fees into a new independent industry body, whilst kicking aside British BIDs who have nothing but the profit making self interests of Savills at heart.
BIDs help Savills increase their profits!
British BIDs is a wholly owned subsidiary of Savills, but they don’t like to advertise the fact.
BIDs should consider the businesses in the town they are employed by, and do what they feel is "right" during these harsh covid times for all, not just act on the words of the Fat Cat British BID quango worried about it’s own profits!!
Autumn 2020.
“our members remain our number one priority”