Nairn BID looks back at successful years as it prepares to enter renewal ballot
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A NAIRN business organisation is getting ready to face its first renewal bid after its first five years.
Nairn BID (Business Improvement District) was born in 2018 to support local businesses.
During the past five years, the membership organisation has grown to represent 350 businesses and is now looking for feedback from members to set the trajectory for a future mandate.
Lucy Harding, manager of Nairn BID said: “I am really confident that we will be successful at the renewal ballot.
“We’ve had a really successful three years – of the time of five years, the first two were quite difficult because it was just about getting established, getting it off the ground. And then Covid came along. I joined about one year and a half into the life of the BID, and it’s been going from strength to strength. We have really improved the physical environment – for instance, the notice boards were very run down and we have renovated all of them, as well as putting new maps around the town.
“Things that appear quite ‘boring’ as seagull clearance or street cleaning, or watering the flower baskets, we are there to provide that service – it makes a huge difference to the appearance of the town and if we can organise it for more businesses, this helps cutting down the costs. We take care of things that then people don’t need to worry about and taps into mass purchasing power.”
The renewal ballot papers will be sent out this July and then the result will be declared on August 25.
Ms Harding said they are working closely with the elections department at Highland Council to make this happen.
She said: “My main job at the moment as far as the renewal ballot is concerned is to engage with members and ask them what they want to be doing in the next five years and to use that feedback to write a business plan.”
She added they will also keep orgainsing three main events – Taste of Nairn, Wheels of Nairn and Christmas as well as street markets, applying for funding and supporting local businesses through changes in legislation.
On the horizon is a new project in partnership with Nairn Museum and other stakeholders: “We are applying for major funding for a new heritage trail, which will be one of our main projects in the near future with the museum, with walking tours of Nairn...it will be a big project when it takes off!
“We will be maintaining the same levy for next five years, catchment area will be the same, very little major change, we are going for renewal.”
