September 2018 Update

Otley BID Ballot

September 2018 Update

By the time you read this the Otley Business Improvement District (Otley BID ) renewal vote will be underway. If you are a part of Otley BID you will have received your voting instructions from Leeds City Council’s Electoral Services who run the ballet on our behalf.

You can vote anytime between 8th October and Friday 9th November 2018 up to 6pm.

544 individual ballot papers have been sent to business owners and landlords within the BID levy area of Otley. Some businesses will have more than one ballot paper because they pay business rates on more than one property.

OTLEY BID BALLOT

The BID Board and BID Champions (drawn from Otley levy paying businesses) have managed to speak face to face to many of our businesses about our plans for 2019-24. If we have been unable to speak directly we have posted the Business Plan to them. We have also posted almost 200 envelopes to the head offices of our national companies and charity shops.

Our feedback from our face to face meetings has been, on the whole, very positive and we are hopeful of a positive outcome.

If you are in favour of the BID and want it to continue please make sure you send back your ballot paper.  Every positive vote is needed to ensure we keep £375,000 of investment in the town. Don’t let the BID ballot fail because your voting paper is still on your desk or you were unsure how to vote.

If you have read our 2019-24 Business Plan and still need further clarification, please contact us in one of the following ways:

  1. One to One Meeting : By contacting our part-time BID Manager Tim Wilkinson from Dowgill House on email at wilkinson@otleybid.co.uk or by telephone 07481 891 686.
  2. Online : or via our website otleybid.co.uk.
  3. Social Media ;
  4. We have set up a Facebook group where you can ask questions and keep updated with all the information about the ballot at http://ow.ly/OMVG30lpVru
  5. Or via our social media at facebook.com/otleybid, or www.twitter.com/otleybid.
  6. By Post : Otley BID Ltd, c/o The Old People’s Welfare, Crossgate, Otley, LS21 3AA.

To view our 2019-24 Business Plan go to http://otleybid.co.uk/business-plan-2019-24/

Otley BID Business Plan

I have an Otley business, what is the voting process?

The ballot will run for 28 days from 8th October to 9th November 2018 at 6pm. Please complete the form as instructed by Leeds City Council and return your form before the end date of 9th November 2018, otherwise your vote will not be counted.

For the vote to go ahead, three voting ‘hurdles’ must be passed:

  1. More than 20% of the eligible businesses in the proposed BID area must vote.
  2. More than 50% of those voting must vote YES.
  3. Those YES votes have to represent more than 50% of the total rateable value of all votes cast.

If these conditions are fulfilled, payment of the Levy becomes mandatory for ALL eligible businesses, regardless of how they voted. As the vote takes place on 8th October 2018, the Rateable Values used for the aggregate calculation will be based on those in force at the time.

What happens after the ballot?

Your vote will decide how £375,000 over the 5 year period of the renewal BID, will be spent. If we are voted in, Otley BID Ltd will once again be run by a voluntary board of directors drawn from people with the same business aspirations as you.

Why should I vote YES?

The BID is an investment scheme where local businesses can collectively agree on the priorities for Otley and how to invest your money to benefit yourselves, your staff, your customers and your town.

Otley must continue to adapt to the increasing changes in the way people live, work and spend; shopping trends and the increasingly uncertain economic times are just two key factors.

The choice for Otley’s businesses is clear. It is between:

  1. Continuing with a proactive and cohesive approach involving the whole business community, where collaboration brings with it the benefits of shared experience and common objectives. This pooling of resources brings the required economies of scale to have much more impact at a lower per capita cost;

Or

  1. Reverting back to a reactive and piecemeal approach reliant on the goodwill of a handful of individual businesses, taking action on an ad-hoc basis as time and resources allow, and where planned investments are almost entirely dependent on the availability of increasingly scarce public resources.

Order your VOTE YES stickers today!

If you will be voting YES on 8th October 2018, we’d love it if you can show your support by placing one of our stickers in your window.

To order your sticker, please contact Tim Wilkinson at tim.wilkinson@otleybid.co.uk.

Join us and together we will make a difference – VOTE YES!

 

New Business Registration

Register today and a member of the BID team will be in touch to book in an onsite visit.