The Byres Road & Lanes Business Improvement District (BID), also known by its brand name Visit West End, is seeking to be re-elected for a third five-year term.
A BID is set up by a group of businesses in a defined geographical area who come together and vote to invest collectively in local improvements which are additional to those provided by the local authority.
The Byres Road & Lanes BID began work after an initial vote in 2015 and was renewed for a further five years in 2020.
The BID is funded by a levy paid by all the businesses in the BID area. The amount varies in accordance with the rateable value of each property.
The BID runs events, such as the Vinicombe Street Christmas Gala and the Byres Road Book Festival and works closely with other organisations in the area such as WestFest.
It has a very active social media presence promoting the area, which in 2024 received over 1.5 million views.
Behind the scenes, the BID Team works tirelessly to assist its business members in many ways, and campaigns on their behalf at local, national and UK Government levels over such subjects as parking charges, public transport and business rates.
The BID is also able to apply for funding at a local and national level for various projects to improve the area, and in the last five years has successfully raised over £129,000 in grant funding.
The BID’s new Business Plan was presented to its members at a meeting on the 5th March. Local business owner John Turner, who has chaired the BID since 2019, highlighted the main concern which local businesses had said were most important to them and that would form the core of plans for the next five years:
- Parking and parking charges – these are very topical at the moment with the Council recently announcing increases of 20p per 15 minutes to on-street parking charges, and an increase of almost 24% to a business parking permit coming into force on the 1st April.
- CCTV – the BID would seek funding for the installation of CCTV throughout the BID area.
- City Deal Phase 2 – works to install the new pavements and cycle lanes from University Avenue to Great Western Road are due to begin in May 2025. The BID has been successful in obtaining funding from Glasgow City Council to pay for the cost of a major marketing campaign and the employment of a Liaison Officer who will work with the Council and their contractors to minimise the disruption that will be caused by this work over the next two years.
- Event space – there has always been a problem with the lack of a space to hold events in the section of Byres Road between University Avenue and Dumbarton Road. A potential new event space has now become available outside the University’s Clarice Pears building. John was delighted to confirm that the BID had reached an agreement in principle with the University to make use of that space for new events, and it was hoped to develop those over the next few years.
- Business to business collaboration – the BID would work on ways to improve collaboration between businesses in the area, including relaunching a Staff Discount scheme where businesses can offer special discounts to those who work in fellow businesses within the BID area, and would encourage more businesses to accept the Visit West End Gift Card.
John said, “I am immensely proud of the work that the BID Team has done over the last decade to improve and promote the area.
“I have always said that Byres Road and the Lanes can be held up as a positive example of a thriving modern high street, with its eclectic mix of independent businesses, superb award-winning hospitality venues, health and wellbeing businesses and a busy professional services sector. The fact that over 95% of business premises in the area are currently occupied speaks volumes.
“The BID Team is looking forward to the opportunity of serving our members and the local community for another five years.” Voting for the new five-year term of the BID takes place by way of a postal ballot which opens on the 13th March and closes on the 24th April 2025
Check out Visit West Ends 2025-2030 business plan here.
