BID Consulting has become an industry in it’s own right, and companies such as those listed below have developed their businesses off the back of the Council money gravy train available to help develop BID proposals. Each BID proposal costs tax payers anything between £20,000 to £105,000+, and that’s whether it gets a YES mandate or not, so as you can see there’s big money to be made irrespective of success. Ultimately these BID Consultants are paid for just one thing and that’s to help secure a YES vote no matter what, and they have no interest in a town once they leave (apart from upselling additional services to a BID), it’s not their worry.
The BID Consultant leads the Council and Steering Group through development of the BID and they really don’t care about explaining both sides of the voting argument, they are there to lead a carefully orchestrated campaign to mobilise YES voters, whilst ignoring and sidelining NO voters. One particular tactic we’ll explore in our BID Consultant spotlights is how they aim for low voter turnout, because with Council votes and YES voters informed and mobilised, that’s the best chance most BIDs have of getting in, whether the true majority of businesses want a BID or not.
BID Consultants are hired guns, mercenaries paid to fight for only one thing, a campaign securing enough YES votes no matter the cost or collateral damage to a town!
However, the Against BID movement is simply tired of seeing poorly conducted BID development processes led by BID Consultants geared towards ballot wins by any means possible; the dirty tricks, boundary manipulations, lies & mistruths, discounts to multi-nationals, lack of real consultation, poor business engagement and debate, happy with low ballot turnout and numerous other immoral stealth tactics in an attempt to push a BID in at any cost. These tactics are unfortunately all too common and are played out by all the BID Consultants. When one thinks about it, it’s sad that employing these tactics seems the only way a BID YES vote can be gained, but the NO voice is fighting back.
So BID Consultants be warned, you have a new wave movement of experienced, pro-bono NO BID Consultants across the UK willing to share their knowledge and tactics, arming up and supporting local NO BID voters, in order to even the fight …...
There’s much more to follow on BID Consultants in due course.
Closed down in 2020?
As this published letter shows, these outside BID Consultants can at times even insult the local businesses they are meant to be bringing together. In this instance Lucy Ball from Destination Marketing & Management branding a section of the local businesses “freeloaders”. This was in 2011 and in the Taunton BID ballot she was still pushing around the term freeloader in an attempt to convince people to vote yes. These BID Consultant really will say anything!
What do 18 out of these 20 High Streets have in common? A BID. In the same survey the town that came out as the top High Street in the UK does not have a BID. All just further evidence that BID is not the saviour of the High Street BID Consultants like to “sell”.