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The Jewellery Quarter Development Trust (JQDT), which is leading the BID in conjunction with Birmingham City Council, welcomed local business owners, stakeholders and council dignitaries to a launch event last week to mark the start of the ballot process.
The JQ BID aims to attract investment, increase visitor numbers and encourage a more vibrant economy, while making the area a better place in which to work, invest and live.
Around 550 local businesses are being asked to vote to support the initiative, which will see businesses with premises with a rateable value of £10,000 or above pay an extra annual levy of two per cent to fund additional investment for the benefit of the whole area. Over the past six months the JQDT has hosted a series of consultation meetings and a ‘drop-in day’ to enable business owners and potential levy payers to find out more.
Dave Mahony, chair of the JQDT and managing director of PCPT Architects in Spencer Street, said: “We were delighted that the Lord Mayor, members of the City Council and local business owners attended the launch event to show their support for the BID.
“If ever an area was tailor-made for a BID it is the Jewellery Quarter, with its unique blend of business and heritage, manufacturing, private investment and ownerships and its skilled, creative people who take great pride in the place. The JQDT is determined to succeed in getting a positive BID outcome for the area.”
Following the launch event, which was hosted by University College Birmingham, the prospectus will now be distributed to all businesses in the Quarter with a rateable value of £10,000 or above. The ballot – managed and organised by an independent organisation, the Electoral Reform Society – will take place over five weeks, starting on 17 April.
