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28
Apr 2020
New BID manager sets to work at 'exciting time' for Harrogate
The new interim manager of Harrogate BID wants to turn conversations and plans into real action over the coming weeks.
Simon Kent believes the money put into the BID by its levy payers – businesses in Harrogate town centre – should be put to good use in making the organisation one of achievements, not just ideas.
“It’s difficult in any organisation where you have got a board of people all with their own businesses to run,” he said. “It’s easy to sit around agreeing things, but getting things done is another matter."
In his previous role as director of Harrogate Convention Centre, Mr Kent (pictured above) said he was an advocate of setting up a BID in Harrogate from the outset. It was first proposed in 2017 by John Fox, at the time leading a group of volunteers to fundraise for the annual Christmas lights, and Mike Procter, president of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce.
Mr Kent said:
After he helped to get the BID established in late 2018, Mr Kent was vice-chairman for the first few months while the board at the time was working on getting the organisation established and setting up its ways of working.
Only three of the current 15 board members have been in place since this time last year, with resignations including then-chairman John Fox, who stepped down at the end of 2019 and was replaced by Bob Kennedy in March. The manager appointed last July, meanwhile, left the post within four months.
Now, having had his first meeting of the current board via video last Thursday, Mr Kent says it is a happy group:
List of priorities
For the next three months, Mr Kent’s part-time role will be to help move some of the BID’s upcoming projects forward. Although the coronavirus crisis makes it difficult to set up events, the board has a list of priorities which it will be carrying out as soon as it can. These include:
- joining other BIDs to lobby for the coronavirus grants scheme to be extended to any business with a rateable value up to £150,000, rather than £51,000 as it currently stands.
- Investing “significant sums” in deep cleaning the town centre
- emphasising Harrogate’s floral reputation with more displays
- planning for improved Christmas lights
- making the run up to Christmas “really magical” with events and activities in the town centre to help businesses recover from the coronavirus shut-down
With questions raised about whether levy-payers' contributions should be spent on work like street cleansing, Mr Kent argued that although it is a Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) responsibility, the BID’s money could complete cleansing work over and above the levels done routinely by the local authority.
Asked about the many groups in Harrogate and their overlapping work, such as Think Harrogate, Independent Harrogate and the proposed new destination management organisation with links to HBC and Harrogate Convention Centre, Mr Kent said the BID would play its part alongside others.
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