Expansion of Leeds city boundary could lead to creation of a second business improvement district

The Citu development would link two sections of the city.

A feasibility study is set to be carried out by LeedsBID to see if there is scope to create a secondary body over the next two to three years as development and regeneration of these areas of the city begins to gather pace.

Over the last few years Holbeck has become home to a new wave of start-up and creative businesses, such as Northern Monk Brewery which set up in 2013, and the likes of Urban Wilderness, Elmwood and Matt Healy x The Foundry.

Northern Monk alone has seen sales almost double each year since inception and has had a 123 per cent staff increase from April 2018 to April 2019.

The Southbank regeneration will boost Holbeck.

The Arts Council and Welcome to Yorkshire also have offices in Marshall’s Mill while the £125m Climate Innovation District is being created at Leeds South Bank, on the edge of the city centre. Set to be the largest sustainable development in the UK, it will include 515 eco-friendly homes, offices, leisure facilities and a pioneering home-building factory.

Andrew Cooper, chief executive of LeedsBID said the organisation is increasingly getting calls from other businesses about getting involved with the LeedsBID scheme.

He said: “We have had a lot more businesses saying they get what we are doing now and can we do this because it will help. What you put in, you get out?”

He said extending the current LeedsBID boundary was not feasible due to the way the levy is raised and that some areas of the city centre had different priorities and issues to address.

Russell Bisset and his firm Northern Monk is flying the flag for Holbeck.

Mr Cooper explained: “There would be similar things like public realms and festivals, Welcome Ambassadors wouldn’t be relevant but, maybe river wardens would. It stops us trying to be all things to all people but saying, even if we only do three things there, let’s do it well.

“A BID can do exactly what those businesses want and a lot of the ideas come from the businesses themselves - they know what the area needs in order to improve.“That is what happened in BID 1. Having people to show the public around and rangers to clean the streets came from the businesses - we just facilitated that. That is the beauty of the BID and the growth of BIDs in Yorkshire is testament to that.”

Northern Monk alone has seen sales almost double each year since inception, has had a 123 per cent staff increase from April 2018 to April 2019 and from Holbeck now exports its beers to 23 countries. The firm says it would welcome moves to help businesses in that area but adds the needs are different to that of the city centre.

Founder, Russell Bisset said: “The fact that Holbeck is being recognised as a hub for business growth is a really positive indicator for the area. Holbeck is our home, and we’re incredibly proud to call it that. “There are a number of thriving businesses here, and it’s important that they feel supported. However, Holbeck faces very different challenges to those of the city centre, and it’ll be important to see this reflected in a localised BID strategy. We don’t need people to act as guides for the area, we need a plan that can really help the businesses here to grow.’

How the BID works?

There are 4,500 businesses within the current LeedsBID catchment area.

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

Currently 970 businesses pay the levy and 85-90 per cent of it comes back into LS1.

There are 314 BIDs across the UK.