The Bid Zone

08 April 2019
April Newsletter

For more than ten businesses, Post Office Lane is the only place they can store their bins, and with four of those being restaurants, cafes and coffee shops, that’s a lot of rubbish and food waste.  It’s no wonder then, that it has made its way onto Alex Chalk’s ‘grot spot’ list. You would sometimes be hard pressed to distinguish it from a local landfill site.

Well, not anymore! As part of our Tidy Up Cheltenham campaign, the BID has been focusing on this area for a long time. Working with Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC) and local businesses, our ambassadors arranged a litter pick and general clean up of Post Office Lane.

Deb, Carolyn and Phil, three of the BID Ambassadors, would like to say a massive thank you to Clive Evans, Community Protection Officer at CBC; Sophie Scarrott, owner of Keith Scarrott Shoes (and BID Board Director); Claire Harrison and Sarah Locke from Yates Wine Bar, who got down and dirty to help clear away rubbish, food waste and pallets.

09 April 2019
April Newsletter

Being a BID Director means you get to have a say in the future success of Cheltenham.

Board membership is only open to those who represent a business in the BID area and whose levy payments are up to date.  This means that sometimes, because people don’t stay with the same business all their working life and move on to pastures new, they have to resign from the Board.

Mel Tubby, former Food Commercial Manager of Marks and Spencer in Cheltenham, has been appointed Store Manager of the Swindon branch.  We are sure you will join us in wishing Mel every success in her new role.

Mel’s resignation from the Board means there is now a vacancy for a representative from within the national retail sector. 

If you work for one of the many national businesses in Cheltenham and would like the chance to make a real difference and add to what we have already achieved, please contact BID Director Kevan Blackadder on 01242 571123 or email him at kevan@cheltenhambid.co.uk.

An election will be held among national retailers after nominations are received.

March Newsletter article 2019

Cocktail Week has become an integral part of the Cheltenham calendar and this year we’d like to see every bar, restaurant, club and hotel in the town getting involved. There are more than 60 venues in the BID zone who could participate.

So, instead of holding branded events in selected venues, we’ll be encouraging cocktail fans to visit some of their favourite venues – and try new ones.  

Running from Friday May 10 through to Saturday May 18 there’s an opportunity for every establishment to offer something different and there’s a huge audience to draw on. Whether you choose to hold an event, offer some exclusive cocktails or one-off discounts, we’d love you to be involved in some way.

We will promote the event across all our social media channels, provide every participating venue with marketing collateral and showcase your event on VisitCheltenham.com.  Across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Cheltenham BID, OurChelt and Visit Cheltenham have more than 20,000 followers.  That’s a huge potential audience you could reach and free if you’re a BID business.

All we ask is that you offer at least one £6 cocktail throughout the week or hold at least one event.  That could be a cocktail mixing masterclass, a live music event, a gin tasting evening or an afternoon tea with champagne. Or you may have a completely different idea of your own.

We’d love to hear what ideas you have and how you’d like to get involved. So please email Belinda Hunt at belinda@cheltenhambid.co.uk to let us know what your plans are.

Cheltenham BID has worked with the Cheltenham Borough Council and Evenlode Films and Productions to produce a large Digital Arts Film and Animation that will be spectacularly projected onto the Cheltenham Municipal Offices on Sunday 11 November from 5pm to commemorate 100 years since WW1.

Evenlode Films says –

“We have produced a sensitive and impressionistic artistic vision of WW1 which will play in a 15 minute loop giving the opportunity for all to see. Without giving too much away, we have had the pleasure of filming local child star actor Mark Lester, the Royal British Legion and our local Artillery Re-enactment players. We have used local people for most of this huge project including the beautiful award-winning horse ‘Cord en Bleu’ from the Cotswold Trail Riding Center, who symbolically represents the demise of 8000 horse

This is a huge and exciting production and there is much behind the scenes work in producing a project of this scale. We have a team of animators working on various parts of the storyboard alongside five of the very best students from the University of Gloucestershire. This Trailer is just 30 seconds of something that will blow your mind for 15 whole minutes and brought to you in immersive, surround sound giving you that 3D experience.

The music has been composed and produced by Tim Mountain who has really thought about it being accessible to people of all ages. After all,100 years ago, WW1 was about young men going to war, and so as an appreciation of that, he has composed a rap sequence to the spoken word of local voice artist JDPL, a big cinematic Hollywood score and an emotive classical piece for string quartet and piano and includes our very own Cheltenham Ladies College Choir. Also, in consideration of our Cheltenham born composer Gustav Holst, and it being WW1, we have included a short section of Mars, the bringer of war to represent his musical contribution which was written before, but released just after the war.

For more information about Evenlode Films please visit Evenlode Film and Productions

The Cheltenham Paint Festival brought together a collective of international artists to create large-scale, public art pieces throughout Cheltenham.

With a mixture of permanent and temporary pieces, the two-day event aimed to provide engaging, thought-provoking paintings and pieces.

Take a walk around Cheltenham to experience these wonderful works of art.

Cheltenham BID sponsored their very own mural by artist Samer located in Lower High Street Car Park.

Other locations include The Frog and Fiddle, Williams Cycles, The Brewery Quarter and Honeybourne Lane.

 

Funding also came from the Arts Council England, Cheltenham Borough Council, and The Brewery Quarter.

For more information see www.cheltenhampaintfestival.co.uk

 

New information to visitors and locals alike on how to get to and around Cheltenham is now available at the click of button, thanks to the BID.

We have supported the creation of new website pages packed full of facts on the wide variety of transport available. The series of travel pages are available here.

The BID worked with the Sustrans charity to develop the pages on Visit Cheltenham to help support employees of BID businesses as well as residents and visitors to the town.

The pages are full of useful information and suggestions for more sustainable and enjoyable ways to travel to and around the town, including bicycle, on foot, public transport and the park-and-ride schemes.

Kevan Blackadder, BID Director at Cheltenham BID, said: “It is important that detailed information is readily available about how to get to and around Cheltenham. This applies as much to locals as it does to visitors to the town.

“In the past, the information has been both confusing and lacking in detail. I’m delighted that by working with Sustrans, we now have easy-to-understand travel information available online which will help you plan your journey to and around Cheltenham.”

A Sustrans Active Travel officer ran a number of travel information sessions for employees working at House of Fraser, Marks and Spencer’s and the Regent Arcade in the centre of town.

The sessions helped to identify individual barriers to active travel and provided bespoke advice and solutions to help overcome these. The sessions were very well received by staff and the businesses.

Sustrans have also worked with Cheltenham BID to make recommendations around car sharing schemes that can be used by employees in the town.

James Cleeton, Sustrans England South Director, said: ‘‘At Sustrans we recognise that the daily commute can have a significant influence on staff’s mental and physical wellbeing, as well as their finances and time.

“We welcome the opportunity to work with the Cheltenham BID and commend their efforts in actively supporting their members to have a healthier and happier workforce.

© Gloucestershire Echo

The wide-ranging projects proposed for the Cheltenham Business Improvement District have been featured prominently in the local press.

The Gloucestershire Echo highlighted the projects in an article, here.

Punchline ran a story under the headline “Exciting projects could be in the pipeline for Cheltenham businesses”. It went on to say: “Punchline thinks that this extensive list of suggestions highlights the faith businesses have in a proposed BID for the town centre. If implemented, the improvements would certainly market the town well and help businesses function better.” See here

Full details of the projects are available here.

Do you agree with Punchline? Let us know at info@cheltenhambid.co.uk

© Visit Cheltenham

© Visit Cheltenham

Cheltenham’s businesses have identified the projects they would like to see happen if a BID is approved in Cheltenham. They centre on business support, marketing and promotion, parking and accessibility, town centre events and public realm improvements.

However, we also need the views of as many businesses as possible – tell us which projects you like and which you don’t and give us your own ideas. Your feedback is really important to us and will directly shape the BID Business Plan.

Business Support:

Marketing and Promotion:

Parking and Accessibility:

Town Centre events:

Public realm improvements:

Who to contact:
Martin Quantock – BID Project Manager
T: 07900 905236
E: info@cheltenhambid.co.uk

further details on the proposals are available on the Cheltenham Business Partnership website at www.cheltenhambp.org.uk/news
further information on Business Improvement Districts are available from the British BIDs website at www.britishbids.info

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