We offer business support to local businesses through a variety of measures and assist on a range of topics. Support offered to date includes:
- Training Sessions – Cyber Crime; Window Dressing; Social Media etc,
- Job Forum Partners in 2020 – we actively supported the government Kickstart scheme, furlough queries and re-employment.
- Registered Government Kickstart Gateway which supported local businesses to gain additional workforce and help local young people gain employment.
- The BID board of directors assisted businesses with free advisory services, helped with business interruption claims, lease/landlord issues, alternative financing options, connecting with key business partners including STANTA (St Albans Enterprise Agency) for assistance with business plans.
- St Albans Business Against Crime incorporating the ShopSafe Radio scheme providing support for over 60 businesses.
- Mass Business Rate Appeal
BUSINESS
Our mission is to ensure St Albans continues to thrive as a premium place to do business, for residents to live and for visitors to enjoy as a destination. We continue to support and unite our local business community, from negotiating collective preferential terms for professional services that make bottom line savings for levy payers to launching a shop local gift card to drive local spend.
We make a measurable difference, increasing visitor footfall and working tirelessly to support our business community during the most unprecedented of times. Post pandemic, St Albans has emerged a thriving city with big brand names and new independents choosing it as a destination to open and footfall that is above the national average.
To find out more about the support St Albans BID offers local businesses, see our Business Support page or click here
Please get in touch to be added to our mailing list or to discuss any thoughts, comments or concerns you may have.
Shop St Albans
Repurposing the website and facilitating businesses to trade online, providing them with an online presence and increasing awareness through the Shop Local campaign as a Covid-19 response when businesses would otherwise have been closed. Reinvigorating Shop St Albans to enforce the importance of loving locals.
We are working with Place Dashboard to collate visitor behaviour analysis for our businesses. To see the latest footfall reports, click here
Speaking and Promoting
St Albans BID has presented to numerous organisations including St Albans Civic Society, St Albans Chamber of Commerce, St Albans Council Scrutiny Committees and Westminster Briefing.
If you would like us to present to your members about our work in place management, tourism, business liason, waste management and more, please get in touch.
ONGOING CORONAVIRUS SUPPORT
St Albans BID undertook key activities during the Covid-19 lockdowns and recovery periods to ensure ongoing support and guidance was available for all businesses in the BID area.
Covid 19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF)
In December 2021 the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) announced the Covid Additional Relief Fund (CARF) as a means of providing National Non-Domestic Rate (NNDR) / Business Rate Relief to Ratepayers who have been adversely impacted by the Covid19 pandemic but who were not eligible for other previously announced reliefs, such as the Expanded Retail Relief scheme.
Businesses which have been significantly impacted by Covid19 and National / Local Restrictions over 2019/20 and 2021/22 and who have not been eligible for the Extended Retail Discount (covering Retail, Hospitality & Leisure), Nursery Discount or the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme can apply to St Albans City and District Council for business rate relief for the financial year 2021/22 via the Covid Additional Relief Fund. However, we cannot award this relief in respect of unoccupied hereditaments, other than those which were temporarily closed due to the Government’s advice on Covid19.
St Albans City and District Council will be directing support to those businesses who have been severely impacted by Covid19 and who have been unable to adequately adapt to that impact. We will award relief equivalent of up to 50% of the businesses net business rate liability for the financial year 2021/22. However, it is not necessary for the business to be in arrears with their business rates for this year to qualify.
To make an application for support from the Covid Additional Relief Fund, please visit https://stalbans.force.com/guest/s/covid-19-additional-relief-fund-carf
Before you start you are advised to have your business rate account number (from your most recent bill), your VAT Registration Number (as registered with HMRC) and Company Number (as registered with Companies House) to hand. You will also need to know your high level Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code. We reserve the right to request evidence of anything you declare on this form, including evidence of the impact Covid19 had on your turnover.
Our CARF Policy is available to view here. Please note we reserve the right to bring these scheme to a close without prior warning.
Working with Government and Local Authority:
- Interfaced with St Albans City and District Council COVID Business Response team and helped write the reopening St Albans safe city plan.
- Part of a multi-agency team tasked with managing the emergency pedestrianisation, including appointing street representatives and running groups to ensure views were reflected to the County Council.
- Became the interface between the district council and BID levy payers to ensure they fully understood the legal requirements for businesses during the pandemic.
- The BID lobbied and had parliamentary questions answered on business grants and permitted development for Grade II listed hospitality premises which resulted in changes that positively impacted our businesses.