Worthing is competing against the large enclosed Shopping Centres, such as Churchill Square, County Mall and Swan Walk. These centres are clean, well maintained, safe and welcoming but to achieve this each trader pays a contribution to the costs via a service charge. The BID levy will work in a similar way to a service charge, it will enable Worthing to compete more effectively with Shopping Centres and other towns by providing visitors with an enjoyable experience that will encourage people to return and enable the town to actively promote itself to a wide range of potential customers. 

To see the BID brochure click here
To see the BID Map click here

What the BID will deliver - its aims, objectives and service plans 

The Aim: "To deliver a series of initiatives and services within Worthing town centre that will raise the quality of experience for businesses, customers and visitors."

The objectives: 

• a cleaner and well maintained town centre
• a safer and welcoming town centre
• a vibrant and well marketed town centre 

The following service plans outline how the WorthingBID will deliver these objectives and achieve its aim. All BID initiatives and activities will be entirely additional to those that are already delivered by the local authorities.

A cleaner and well-maintained town centre

The BID will implement a programme of deep cleaning throughout the BID area which will be centred around a bi-annual steam cleaning programme of the pedestrian areas to remove chewing gum from paving and clean around bins and street furniture. There will be enhanced levels of graffiti and fly-posting removal services to ensure the environment looks welcoming.

A safer and welcoming town centre

The BID proposes to implement a series of activities to tackle this and to change visitors' perceptions thus providing a "feel safe" factor within the BID area. A high visibility presence will be achieved through a team of Wardens; these will be in addition to the existing Police Community Support Officers. These Wardens will also offer a welcome to Worthing, helping visitors and residents find their way around and provide information to encourage shoppers to explore the area more extensively and increase dwell-times in the town centre.

A vibrant and well marketed town centre

The WorthingBID will invest in promoting Worthing town centre and encourage visitors from the hinterland who have a choice where to shop. An independent shopping and food and drink guide will be launched, promoting the variety of shopping and eating in the town encouraging visitors to move around the town and stay longer. More activities will be staged in Worthing to create a positive experience for customers and to enhance town centre vibrancy.

Measuring the benefits

Increased footfall - the key target for the BID is to attract more people to Worthing and to increase their dwell-time. With the increase in internet shopping it is important for town centres to offer more to continue to make them attractive to visitors.

Improved business performance - we will measure this through a trading index subject to the participation of WorthngBID levy payers. We will also provide reports on car parking performance data, vacant property counts, and tourist information.

A safer environment for visitors and employees - will be measured through the number of incidents recorded by CCTV and by the Business Information Crime System.

A more attractive environment - we will measure the standard of the public realm for visitors and customers through customer surveys and through ENCAM Local Environmental Quality Standards.

The BID ballot

The Worthing Ballot took place on 5th July 2008 and each business that would be contributing was entitled to vote in the BID ballot. In order for the BID to be approved, the ballot had to meet two tests. First, a simple majority of over 50% of those voting must vote in favour. Secondly, those voting in favour must represent a greater total rateable value than those voting against. Worthing achieved both tests and the BID was approved. The first BID levies were raised in April 2008 and the BID will be valid for 5 years.

The levy, liability and collection

A nominal levy equivalent to 1% of the non-domestic rateable value will be charged on all business rates listed in the 2005 Non-Domestic Rating List that have a rateable value of £10,000 or more and that are within the BID area.
 
To see the full WorthingBID business plan click here