Why BIDs matter right now (and why Newcastle-under-Lyme needs ours)

The Newcastle-under-Lyme BID reballot is open, giving local businesses the opportunity to shape the future of their town centre. In this month’s blog, Charlotte Pearce, BID Manager for Newcastle-under-Lyme, shares insights into the role of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), highlights recent achievements in the area, and explains why it’s so important for businesses to get involved and have their say.

When people ask me what Business Improvement Districts are and why they matter, the honest answer is simple. BIDs put local people like me on the ground with a clear and sometimes challenging mandate from businesses to get things done. Not talk. Not endless strategy papers. Delivery. Ironmarket, High Street, Bridge Street, King Street. Day by day.

There are now over 340 BIDs across the UK together responsible for more than £1 billion of investment into towns and cities over the past twenty years. That network is powerful. It means we don’t operate in isolation, we share best practice, swap ideas and learn from one another. If one town cracks a great approach to safety, street dressing or nighttime support, the rest of us can adapt it quickly. That means faster progress and better value for the businesses who fund us.

Locally you can see the difference BIDs make. Stoke-on-Trent City Centre BID has pushed hard on safety and street management working alongside the city council and police. Each has its own personality but the same principle, local people who know the area, the businesses and the challenges, trusted to act. That’s us.

Here in Newcastle-under-Lyme, we’ve spent over a decade backing businesses and breathing life into the town. High streets have changed and Newcastle is no different, but we’ve evolved with it, meeting challenges head on and finding new ways to attract people in and give them reasons to stay. Our events calendar has exploded, Lymelight Festival, Castle Classics, Light Up Castle, Castle Food & Drink Fest and Jazz & Blues Fest, all driving footfall and putting Newcastle on the map for the right reasons.

We’ve grown our network which means we’re in the right rooms with the right people and having the right conversations to bang the drum for Newcastle-under-Lyme. Through partnerships with Keele University, Newcastle & Stafford Colleges Group, Appetite and 6 Towns Radio we’re bringing students, artists and new audiences into town while strengthening safety for our nighttime economy with enhanced CCTV, training, joint working and clear comms. Much of this simply couldn’t happen without a BID.

As a team we’re fiercely passionate about pushing through the noise and negative narrative online, the clickbait and doom posts that don’t reflect the real Newcastle-Under-Lyme. Towns have changed, of course they have, but instead of debating that endlessly we’re out there having real conversations face to face. We build local connections while businesses do what they do best, business. We’ll take the meetings and sit on the calls so the positive stories of our town and the fantastic people behind them are the ones that shine through.

We LoveNUL (sorry, couldn’t resist!). Being a part of Newcastle means we’re the go to for businesses on the ground as well as walking encyclopaedias and tourist information guides. I’ve worked in Newcastle for over ten years in different roles and businesses. I’ve seen closures that have genuinely hurt and openings that have breathed new life into the town for completely new and uncatered for audiences. Through it all I’ve seen hard graft and determination, business owners backing their teams, levelling up their shopfronts, trying new ideas and showing up for the town.

Newcastle-under-Lyme BID exists to match that graft and determination with capacity and resource. We write the plans. We coordinate partners. We bring in extra funding.  We deal with permissions. We push the promotion. We measure the impact.

If you strip a town of that resource, you feel it straight away. The momentum goes. What matters is having people who wake up thinking about how to lift the place, notice what’s working elsewhere and ask, ‘how could that work here’?   We go to other towns, see ideas and bring them back because we want Newcastle to keep learning and evolving. It’s not about ownership or credit, it’s about pride and progress. And for those of us who care deeply about this place, with or without the BID hat on, that’s what drives us every day.

Newcastle has its own character. We’ve got owners who graft, venues that punch above their weight and a community that not only shows up but is fiercely proud of doing so. With a strong BID in place we can keep channelling that energy into things that make a difference, more reasons to visit, more reasons to stay and more reasons to invest. Those investments we’re now seeing through the likes of Capital&Centric show confidence in our town and belief in its future.

We’re now in our re-ballot and this is not a yes vote for a perfect town. It’s a yes vote for continued investment, collaboration and care and for the next five years of practical delivery that keeps ‘Castle moving in the right direction.

Two We Are Staffordshire Place Board members are playing key roles in both Newcastle-under-Lyme BID and Stoke-on-Trent’s BID, helping to shape vibrant, resilient town centres through collaboration and innovation.

Kirsty Watts-Rollings, Head of Corporate Communications and Marketing at Keele University and a member of the Newcastle-under-Lyme BID Board, shared her thoughts on the BID’s impact:

Kirsty said, “The Newcastle-under-Lyme BID has brought huge benefits to the town and the wider area. Its varied and vibrant programme of events attracts thousands of visitors each year, encouraging them to spend time – and money – with our fantastic local businesses.

“For students who come to Keele to study and make Newcastle their home, the BID helps create a lively, welcoming community and a thriving social scene.

“It’s clear that the BID plays a vital role in supporting business growth and making Newcastle-under-Lyme a strong, dynamic, and exciting place to live, work, and study. That’s why I believe it’s so important we vote ‘Yes’ to continue the great work it does for our town.”

Paul Williams, academic and Stoke Creates Board member, as well as a Board Member of the Stoke City Centre BID, also highlights the growing importance of culture in the success of BIDs:

“In my role as lead director for the Stoke-on-Trent City Centre BID I have seen first-hand how the popularity of BIDs as a mechanism for boosting the economic potential of the area in which they are active has grown.

Since its launch in 2015, Newcastle-under-Lyme BID has been a force for positive change, ensuring local businesses have a voice in issues affecting the area as well as helping to bring about desirable, transformative place improvements.

As culture is increasingly recognised as key to the success of BIDs and their wider role in shaping their local area, it’s been good to see Newcastle-under-Lyme BID take the lead in organising an ever-growing range of landmark events and experiences in the shifting policy landscape which have helped to promote the character and identity of the loyal and ancient borough, foster improved business resilience and positively impact on the town’s wellbeing and prosperity.”

Watch Newcastle BID’s Campaign Launch video here.

The Newcastle BID Ballot runs until 13th November 2025. Find out more here.