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    19

    Oct 2021

    Last Updated: 19/10/2021
    Business
    Business

    Knaresborough chamber president hits out at 'anti-BID activists'

    by Suzannah Rogerson

    | 19 Oct, 2021
    Comment

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    In a strongly worded letter, Steve Teggin says the failure to establish a Knaresborough Business Improvement District has left the town's traders divided and says he feels 'totally shamed and embarrassed' by a group that worked to undermine the scheme.

    steve-teggin-in-kbro

    Steve Teggin has criticised "anti-bid activists" as he steps down as president of Knaresborough Chamber of Trade.

    In a letter he described as "frank and honest" to businesses ahead of the chamber's AGM tomorrow, Mr Teggin said he felt "totally shamed and embarrassed" by the activists in the wake of the vote against setting up a Business Improvement District.

    He said he had "failed" the town by not delivering the BID and said a small minority opposed to it had infected others.

    The letter said:

    "I should have steered the BID working group and task force in a much more positive way particularly when it came to dealing with trolls and anti-bidders, allowing this very small minority of businesses that only want to take and not give back to infect others."


    Mr Teggin, who has been chamber president since 2015 and a member since the 1970s, said he had delayed his retirement as president in the hope of helping to establish a BID and securing a "great trading future" for Knaresborough.

    Instead he said he would leave the chamber "with a divided business community who will have no representation for the whole of the businesses in our town."

    80-73 votes against BID


    The vote to create a BID, which would have seen businesses pay a compulsory levy to support initiatives that increased footfall in the town, was lost by 80 votes to 73. Harrogate and Ripon traders have both voted in favour of setting up BIDs.

    The benefits of a BID, said Mr Teggin's letter said, would have included:

    "Not just saving our market but to expand it, help finance our now extinct tourist information hub, support our endangered library etc, all of which and much more for the cost of which is the equivalence to a couple of cups of coffee a week."


    He said the voices of those against it were louder than those in favour and other businesses were taken in by them. He added:

    "I have been totally shamed and embarrassed by this group who along with fellow business owners we will have to depend on to represent our town traders so what does the future hold?"


    "Not the way to bring the town together"


    Natalie Horner, from printers Sid Horner and Son, had previously raised concerns about the BID. In response to the letter she said:

    "That letter was not the way to bring the town together to move forward.
    "Knaresborough did not want a BID and we are not a struggling town as it is made out we are, business is better than ever and we will be perfectly fine moving forward and have much more to offer as a town than those with Bids so personally I am not concerned."





    Read more:



    • 30,000 poppies to cover Knaresborough castle for Remembrance Day

    • Green Shoots: Knaresborough mum sells eco alternative to clingfilm





    Ian Gill, owner of independent bar Six Poor Folk, said:

    "I'm committed to this town, and I voted for the BID because it was my contribution to see the town develop further. I am sad we didn't get it, but business will continue and the town will go on as it did before."


    Mr Teggin had been due to retire two years ago but stayed on during the pandemic, but now, at 67, he said he felt it was the right time to step down.

    He insists he will still be involved in the town and the Chamber but will take on a "behind the scenes" roll.