Carolyn Brownell, head of Chippenham's BID, the Business Improvement District, gives an update on progress so far

FIVE years is a long time and a lot will be achieved from the £1.5m invested by the Chippenham BID levy payers into management and promotional activity for the town.

At any time during that five year period Chippenham could rightfully claim the BID a success once the return-on-investment has been met and the BID area has received £1.5m of improvements, services and promotion.

But the reality is; the cumulative value of all the planned activity will be worth a great deal more to the town and the business community, thanks to a ‘greater than the sum of the individual parts’ effect.

As with all Business Improvement Districts, improvements and benefits for individual businesses will take a little time to be felt, and some will notice these sooner than others. But on average, businesses in BID areas enjoy savings of around 20 - 45 per cent on their annual energy, waste and telecoms bills, thanks to initiatives and schemes put in place with utilities suppliers. The Chippenham BID is already looking into these.

As part of an effort to make Chippenham as welcoming and safe as possible for visitors, the BID team is currently recruiting uniformed Town Hosts who will present a welcoming meet-and-greet service to visitors, as well as being the face of the BID to businesses.

The team is also pursuing the Purple Flag initiative in a joint approach with Wiltshire Police and Wiltshire Council. This is an accredited scheme that ensures the town is a safe place to spend an evening.

The BID will also implement a real-time, online scheme, similar to Pub Watch to ensure businesses are better connected and informed.

Chippenham has a widely recognised problem with car parking capacity. To address this the BID is working to better manage what parking we have at our disposal.

A new town centre car parking scheme for low income workers in partnership with Chippenham Borough Lands is being launched that will help relieve some pressure on the town’s lowest paid workers, while also helping businesses keep their employees.

The BID team is also looking at other schemes, such as ‘Free After Three’ and free parking days for events that will also help encourage footfall.

These are just some of the initial activities being undertaken by the BID team and they will certainly help to give an immediate return on investment to many businesses in the town. Other schemes and initiatives will be announced in due course. We are confident that; by the time the initial five year period comes to an end, all levy payers will have seen noticeable returns on their investment into the Chippenham BID.