Backing for £14.2m city centre plan as LeedsBID voted in for another five years

Almost 95 per cent of voters backed renewing LeedsBID for a second term, as the renewal ballot results announced on Friday showed.

It means LeedsBID's second term will run from April 2020 to March 2025.

Businesses that pay more than £60,000 a year in business rates contribute to the levy which raises £2.5m a year for BID funds.

The funds are used for activities, events and projects in the city centre, such as the Welcome Ambassadors and Street Rangers, as well its delivery of projects with direct business benefits.

There are 4,500 businesses within the current LeedsBID catchment area, which was set up in 2015 and is the largest outside of London.

LeedsBID plans to invest £14.2m back into the city centre over the next five years.

Chief Executive Andrew Cooper said: “We are delighted to see the businesses we represent resoundingly support another five years of our work and endorse an investment of over £14m to improving Leeds for the better. And we thank all of those who have pledged their support by voting yes for our plans for the next chapter of LeedsBID.”

“We now look forward to continuing to work across the city centre with all businesses and organisations on a diverse range of innovative, exciting and collaborative projects in line with our business plan, as we continue to enhance the city for all those who live, work and thrive in it.”

The priorities for term two are focused on five core themes: Ambition; Curation; Animation; Collaboration; and Innovation.