Radical new plans to help businesses in Knaresborough

Historic Harrogate pub to become flatsThe Chamber of Trade is working with The Mosaic Partnership, an international consulting team specialising in BIDs, to create a Business Improvement District project that works for the town.

The project is now in the second phase of development, drawing up a business case, after issuing a survey to local businesses.

Bill Taylor, who is leading the Chamber of Trade working group for BID, said the first stage had been very positive.

He said: “It’s been really good to get input from businesses and find out what matters to them. We really want this to be a collaboration, so that we can identify what it is that they want and make sure they are represented. We want benefits for the town and the wider community.”

The survey highlighted what businesses in the area think about Knaresborough and what they think needs to be done in order to progress.

Harrogate care home to make way for new housingThere were lots of positive things identified, such as the friendliness and beauty of the town, which BID would work on maintaining.

It also highlighted some places where things could be improved, such as cleanliness and the idea that the town is ‘undersold’.

Mr Taylor said: “There are lots of things that BID could do to help improve these things for people in the area. We know how great Knaresborough is, but it would be great to push it even more.

“We would definitely look at more marketing and helping to really push the businesses in the town in a nice, easy and digestible way. We want to get the word out there.”

Mr Taylor also said that BID would look at the visitor experience and making sure the town is presented in pristine condition, with methods such as chewing gum or grafitti removal.

He said that local security would be a huge priority for the BID.

Harrogate Borough Council chasing debts as developer who failed in Crescent Gardens plan hits backHe added: “We really want to work together to make this work for everyone. There are so many things that we could do to make sure that business is booming for everyone, so it would be great to have people supporting us. We’ll really looking forward to chatting to businesses even more and it’s looking like an exciting future.”