Agenda item

            The Committee was provided with an update on the work to support local commercial districts through the Supporting Vibrant Business Destinations programme. This programme aimed to work with business/traders associations to develop and deliver interventions that could drive footfall and create vibrancy in those areas.

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 9th February, Members were provided with an overview and update of the approach to supporting local business associations to develop and deliver interventions to drive footfall and create vibrancy in those areas.

            The Director of Economic Development advised that the overarching purpose of the pilot initiative was to strengthen the competitiveness of our local business destinations, focusing on actions which aimed to:

•      Support the development of shared and safely accessible commercial areas;

•      Support the diversification of business destinations outside of the city centre;

•      Bring together key stakeholders to benefit business destinations outside of the city centre; and

•      Improve the quality of urban design, distinctiveness, and townscape quality.

            He informed the Committee that, following feedback from a range of businesses and traders associations across the city and through engagement with the Department for Communities (DfC), an opportunity had been identified to secure resources through the DfC Revitalisation programme. Vibrant Business Destinations was identified as a pilot programme and was in keeping with the work which had been undertaken by the Ministerial Advisory Group (MAG) to develop a “Living High Street Toolkit”. He confirmed that the Council had successfully secured funding of £475,000 from the DfC, which would be supplemented by a contribution from the Council’s resources to enable the delivery of advice and support to assist businesses to access the scheme. The scheme was intended to complement a wider programme of support and activity that was taking place within the city centre, including the targeted interventions to address vacancies and previous business support interventions through the Covid Revitalisation Programme.

            He reported that the pilot initiative aimed to support up to 10 business associations to a maximum of £40,000 each, for expenditure on a range of eligible activities, and the objectives were to:

·        Increase engagement and partnership working between statutory partners and local business associations;

·        Support the development of area-based actions plans which addressed specific local concerns and deliver specific, measurable benefits over the short/medium and long term;

·        Increase footfall and sales as a direct result of marketing and promotional activity; generating new customers or sustaining customer loyalty through increasing sales revenue, increasing the number of new customers or developing repeat business;

·        Enhance the profile of the area with a view to stimulating economic activity;

·        Support the growth and development of businesses engaged in associated activity; and

·        Support the sustainability of businesses and local business associations.

He highlighted that the initiative had a two-stage application process. Stage one involved the completion of an Expression of Interest (EoI) by 31st May, 2023. The basic eligibility criteria included the following:

•        Groups or established associations must be led by the business community (including social enterprises and cooperatives) to address locally based issues and be committed to becoming a constituted association;

•        Groups or established associations must be made up of retail/hospitality/consumer facing businesses located on road frontage/local high streets;

•        The priority focus was on arterial routes and routes with a minimum number of 15 confirmed businesses located on road frontage;

•        Group membership should be representative of the businesses in the eligible area – both by volume and by business type; and

•        Business membership must represent predominantly owner-occupiers and independent traders, however, could involve representation from community organisations.

            Following successful completion of an EOI at stage 1, groups were supported to become formally constituted, where they weren’t already, and to develop area-based action plans. The action plans would provide an analysis of the locality, the physical environment, existing provision and key challenges and opportunities. It would identify priority issues to be addressed to improve the business environment through engagement with existing businesses and stakeholders in the area. The action plans would form the basis for moving to a stage 2 application.

            The Director of Economic Development advised that, to date, there had been 47 requests for an Expression of Interest which covered a range of areas across the city and there had now been 6 formal expressions of interests submitted. He confirmed that work was currently underway to support these groups to become constituted and to develop area-based action plans. Following completion and approval of action plans they could progress to stage 2 of the process. A successful Stage 2 application would enable the groups to draw down funding to support their action plan delivery.

            He highlighted that a number of requests for expressions of interests had not met the initial criteria of the programme and had not progressed. Work was underway to support those groups who would be deemed eligible, however, there had been a number of issues that have resulted in delays and non-progression to date including: Closure of businesses and concern for the future of some businesses given the current energy prices; Timeframes and effort for businesses to develop constituted associations with the adequate number of members; and Internal issues within business associations and disbandment. He advised that the team had been working closely with businesses to try and overcome these issues and support the process where possible and had also been working to ensure there was an adequate spread of applications across all parts of the city.

            He outlined the range of communications and marketing activity to raise awareness of the pilot project, which included Council social media platforms and e-shots, City Matters, direct intervention via officers and email circulation to Council Members.

            He confirmed that the activities outlined within the report would be resourced through the existing Enterprise and Business Growth budget for 2022/23 and funding secured through the Department for Communities.

The Committee:

·        Noted the Council’s update and work which had been undertaken to support the delivery of area-based Vibrant Business Destinations; and

·        Noted that the pilot initiative was currently open to Expressions of Interest from local business/traders groups located outside the city centre and Business Improvement Districts.