Isle of Bute Business Improvement District (BID) Update
Argyll and Bute Council · 7 February 2023
Back to Bute and Cowal Area Community Planning Group — 7 February 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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BUTE BID NEWSLETTER Visit Bute is now a paid member of the Argyll and the Island Tourism Cooperative (AITC) and their website Wild About Argyll (WAA). The advantages of this annual membership had Bute being put front and centre in national and international promotional activities over social and print media, including a number 2 'Places to Visit' in Scotland in a recent 'Times' advertorial paid for by VisitScotland! The Bute BID have also updated its ‘microsite’ within the Wild About Argyll (WAA) website. AITC is both funded and supported by VisitScotland, Argyll and Bute Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and is the most active and successful tourist vehicle for this area. Membership with AITC exposes Bute to over 34,000+ social media interactions and the (WAA) website attracts over 253k unique visitors annually, allowing Bute to reach audiences outside the scope of our regular marketing activities. After attending a number of industry events, Bute BID now have close working relations with several cruise ship agents, including Majestic Cruise Liners. In our first year we gave a warm musical ‘Bute’ welcome to no less than three busy cruise ships with footfall ranging from 400 to 800 people coming ashore. BID plans are now underway to increase our business relationships with cruise ships and small to medium sized coach operators. In September 2022, 30 tour operators/agents from around the world were taken on a fun filled and preplanned fact-finding trip around the island to entice those companies in future destination visits to Bute. The BID will now have a calendar of cruise ships that will berth for the following year. This prior knowledge will give businesses and entertainment groups and dancers the opportunity to welcome this new footfall around the whole island! 77 Victoria Street, Rothesay, Bute PA20 0AP Through the BID, Bute’s businesses are now in full control of the Visit Bute website and all its social media outlets. All the island’s promotional activities, events and business offerings are equally represented for BID Levy payers within the VB website. Every business paying the Levy is entitled to be part of Visit Bute promotions should they wish to. We have updated the website to ensure a much more inclusive directory with well received daily postings on Facebook and Instagram. Non-levy paying businesses who wish to join or retain Visit Bute membership and its many benefits can pay an annual fee of £85. Email us at info@butebid.com for an application form Branding with VISIT BUTE ARGYLL AND THE ISLES TOURISM COOPERATIVE (AITC) AND VISIT BUTE Cruising news visitbute.com / butebid.com The BID board has monthly media zoom meetings with Visit Scotland’s Regional Director, David Adams-McGilp, as well as regular meetings with our local VisitScotland office at The Discovery Centre. Firming up these relationships ensures the Bute BID is informed and involved in ongoing campaigns to increase awareness and understand the footfall to the island. November 2022 | info@butebid.com | 01700 50 3971 better marketing and promotion of Bute with a stronger place in the tourism sector, holding local events and visible branding. Bute business community understood that environment and image of the island attracts independent investment, further tourist footfall and can increase visitor and live-in population. that working with the Bute BID will deliver increased business support, business facilitation and business advocacy that would be unavailable individually. The Bute BID is a collective business voice for all island matters. At the outset of establishing the Bute Business Improvement District (BID) the businesses identified 3 key areas to address and prioritise. 77% 78% 65%wanted of the expects
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The most popular of Scottish tourist destinations can only compete effectively by giving priority to their customer facing image. Creating an island destination that looks enticing to visit, and is varied enough to revisit, is what Bute needs to focus upon. All Bute business owners are extremely aware that a clean, tidy and well presented island benefits everyone - islanders and visitors alike. A huge amount of behind the scenes work has been collated by the BID to understand and document our street and island infrastructure for projects we will continue to announce in the future. This year Bute businesses took on and paid for the responsibility of tackling the islands streetscape. Understandably this will be an ongoing project over the 4 more years of the BID and we will only give attention to the scope of works that are OUTWITH our council remit. In 2022 the BID used an efficient team of local tradespeople to commercially powerwash many of Rothesay’s streets, Guildford Square, and the Amphitheatre area, as well as paint the promenade railings, Guildford Square railings, public flower boxes and main street bollards. A new Bute map was erected at the Port Bannatyne facilities, the cleaning of bus shelters and fixing historical signage was also done. This may seem to be a mundane task to some; however, much maintenance and cleaning of street furniture is no longer within the council’s annual scope of works. Bute businesses realise that it must be managed, as maintenance is by far more achievable for the island than losing infrastructure, only never to be replaced as there simply isn’t the budget allowed. Bute street scene Beautifying Bute Businesses working together advertising BUTE Bute’s businesses had their very first paid joint advertising promotion nestled in a six-page Autumn/Winter marketing campaign in ‘Holiday West Highland’ which will be in readership circulation until March 2023. The advert shows all the island’s bars, eateries and top ten seasonal ‘things to do’ for visitors. Distributed through The Oban Times, over 50,000 printed copies are distributed in over 500 outlets including airports, high footfall retail outlets and ferry ports across Scotland. Going head to head alongside other popular Scottish holiday destinations, Bute businesses have now booked a Spring/Summer insert in the same paper which will focus this time on retail outlets, accommodation and Bute based seasonal events as the main theme. The Bute BID also negotiated preferential group rates for these inserts. Flowering hanging baskets were installed and maintained throughout the tourist season from June, and we intend to have this done annually in partnership with Bute in Bloom, earlier in the 2023 season. The other very successful provision in the town was that of the alfresco seating within the Amphitheatre on Montague Street. New ‘bird proof’ litter bins were purchased for the Amphitheatre which will assist our seated guests to use this area throughout its operation (March ‘til October). The popular outdoor chairs and tables managed by the BID on Guildford Square and at the Amphitheater will have their new contract submitted to the ABC for its seasonal return in 2023. The erection of the permanent canopy (council funded) allows its use even when it rains. It was again beautifully decorated at Easter with permanent faux flowering wreaths and a small family focused Easter event kicked off Bute’s seasonal months. These decorations were removed and stored for the winter and the BID Christmas plans will bring in the winter months. The purchase and build of two giant deck chairs and some smaller Visit Bute deck chairs have begged for many a photo opportunity! Their bright presence in the town alone created a number of ‘Bute’ stamped photo opportunities that will only spread our ongoing message; Bute is open, Bute is always fun and Bute welcomes everyone who can climb on and off a giant deck chair – turns out not such an easy task... Take our seat
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Working with Project Playpark, Bute BID submitted plans last year for a small children play area at Children’s Corner. Excitingly, the ABC announcement of £44,000 to fund the much-needed play facility for small children is the beginning of a longer term focus the business community actively want to support. We will explore other options and grant opportunities from funders for the young people living on the island and our many young visitors. This is a priority for the Bute BID. Shop front grants Our recent investment in 12 outdoor commercial projectors will answer the call for an event based illuminated island at various dates of the calendar Bute wants to promote. Be ready for our ‘Bute BID Christmas Switch On’ event at the end of November which will signal the winter season with creative use of lighting and pictures on various areas around Rothesay, new Christmas trees and even an augmented reality APP for the kids to try! The businesses now own the projectors and they will be used year round, with an idea for some revenue generation to be announced for local businesses in the future. Bute’s local council Amenities Team have been extremely supportive of our many ideas and wants for our island. Always on hand for discussion and action, Joe McCabe and his team have supported and, in many cases, explained the nuances and frustrations of projects and workings around the island. Partnering with his team and the input of local councillors has finally confirmed a £15,000 ABC grant to get the Rothesay Fountain flowing operation again. Illuminating NEWS!Child's play? team work makes our dream work To further enhance the towns retail appeal, a small budget (up to £750) was offered to Levy paying shop keepers should they wish to update, paint or install better signage to their shop fronts. Over 20 businesses have applied for this grant and 8 have been completed. The scheme was popular, using only local tradespeople and island based businesses to complete the works. This scheme will be ongoing. BUTE BID BOARD MEMBERS The Bute BID staff must be given recognition for managing and working with the huge variety of people, companies, community groups and regulatory bodies day in and day out. Not an exhaustive list, the BID staff are pleased that it now has open communication with many working groups over the last 10 months from; CalMac,VisitScotland, the Scottish Towns Partnership, Argyll and Bute Council, the Bute Community Council, Mount Stuart Trust, Bute Advice Centre, Rothesay Joint Campus, Beachwatch Bute, Bute Community Forest, Bute Kitchen, Bute Yard, the Isle of Bute Trust and Police Scotland to name but a few! Always with a listening ear On the Bute BID website for our second Bute BID business satisfaction survey. This will be online survey however, printouts will also be available at the BID office: 77 Victoria St., Rothesay. Keep an eye out...
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The BID Board and staff meet monthly with Argyll and Bute Council and Visit Scotland at a senior level. It’s this relationship that will give the BID opportunities to apply for funding and grants that only established government backed legal bodies, such as Business Improvement Districts, are able to access. Ongoing cooperation with the Council will mean developing ideas and funding opportunities for key areas such as Albert Pier and Children’s Corner, which will only serve to enhance the tourist experience of the island. There will be no slowing down for us and the Bute Board are already planning a number of exciting events and projects for Spring, Summer and Autumn 2023. However, we would love to hear from YOU! The second business survey of Bute BID’s points to action will be given out prior to our AGM, and this is where we need to hear from you. What do you think needs attention? Are there opportunities you think Bute BID should explore? Have you time to spend helping, or do you need help from us? Give us your thoughts, insights and ideas as soon as you receive the Bute BID Survey – we look forward to your input! The BID office is at Victoria Street and is open during office hours Monday to Friday. The staff want to encourage its use as a place for co-operation, information and a cuppa when needed! All the projects and actions mentioned have been achieved only through the financial support of over 300 Bute BID members. We thank you for that. The BID Board are all seasoned business owners who understand now more than ever is the time to fight harder for the island’s business success. Taking on ideas and working project by project, fostering good relations and building positive relationships with a whole array of key stakeholders is at the forefront of minds. Owning and operating an island business is complicated, and there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to making everyone successful, especially in the current climate, however, collaborative working and a team approach certainly opens more doors and gets more support from external bodies, funders and our council than any solo effort. We will be announcing the date for our inaugural AGM as soon as the accounts have been made ready for the board. John Glen Chairman of the Bute BID LETTER FROM OUR CHAIR