Liverpool becomes latest UK city to introduce a ‘tourist tax'
Liverpool will introduce a £2 per night charge for hotel and serviced accommodation stays from June.
The charge, resulting from a vote by Accommodation BID, aims to generate £9.2m over two years to support the city's visitor economy.
Unlike a traditional tourist tax, this charge is a modification to the existing BID levy, shifting the cost from business rates to guests.
The initiative follows Manchester's similar approach in 2023, utilising Business Improvement District legislation.
The funds will be used to enhance the visitor experience, attract larger events, and boost tourism in Liverpool.
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Daily Record
5 days ago
- Daily Record
Stirling city centre streets in bloom thanks to business group's planter scheme
There are now a total of 73 planters outside businesses across various streets in the city centre - with a local garden centre helping to provide the blooming boost. Vibrant flowers and blooming planters have added a welcome splash of colour across Stirling city centre. Pollinator-friendly plants, funded and organised by Go Forth Stirling BID (Business Improvement District), can be seen brightening up the city in Station Road Square, Murray Place, Pitt Terrace, King Street, Wellgreen Road and Melville Terrace. The number of planters has been gradually increasing each year and there are now a total of 73 across the city which are regularly maintained by Stirling Community Enterprise. The planters and the city's ground-level flower beds are filled with plants and flowers from Stirling's Homesteads Nursery. William Johnston, who runs Homesteads Nursery, said: 'We've picked a lovely selection of colourful plants and flowers which look fantastic as they liven up Stirling for everyone. 'We're pleased to work with the BID each year to do our best to improve the look of the city centre.' Meanwhile one of the flower beds, in the Top of the Town, has been adopted by Stirling Baptist Church who have planted it out and are maintaining it. Fiona McMillan, Community Engagement and Business Improvement Officer at Go Forth Stirling, said: 'Ensuring Stirling looks wonderful with beautiful planters and flower beds to welcome visitors and residents is an important part of our remit to make the city a more inviting destination for shoppers and business owners. 'The floral arrangements help give the city centre a vibrant appearance and feature pollinator-friendly native species which promote biodiversity.' The Go Forth team have also been busy spearheading a drive to clean up the city's streets through a series of 'Friends of the BID Spring Clean' litter-picking sessions over the last few months. The initiative, designed to inspire pride in Stirling, saw BID Street Ambassadors Gail Lamb and Josie Brown, Stirling Council archaeologist Murray Cook and volunteers from the city's business and residential communities join forces to pick up litter and remove graffiti. They are now continuing the clean-up drive by hosting monthly maintenance days where volunteers can join the BID team to improve Stirling's environment. And they will have some extra help with their efforts thanks to the donation of equipment for removing stickers and graffiti from the Wickes Community Programme which supports local initiatives aimed at maintaining and renovating community areas. Ms McMillan said: 'We're so pleased to have this support from the Wickes Community Programme. Having the right gear for city centre maintenance, especially tricky tasks like graffiti and sticker removal, makes the job so much more impactful. 'It's great to kit our volunteers out properly and we thank Wickes for helping us to keep Stirling gleaming!' She also encouraged anyone interested in lending a hand to come along to the next Maintenance Day which takes place on Wednesday June 25 from 10am until noon. She said: 'Anyone who would like to help is more than welcome to join our efforts to make a visible difference to the city centre. Collectively, we can do so much more to make our beautiful city a welcoming place for everyone.'
The Courier
11-06-2025
- The Courier
Dundee hotel boss on why he's backing a Business Improvement District
Plans to introduce a Business Improvement District (BID) in Dundee have been resurrected. Attempts to create a BID in Dundee have fallen short previously, in 2015 and 2017. In 2019 the idea was floated again, but did not materialise after the coronavirus pandemic. An improvement district is a business led and funded scheme which sees a community pot shared out to help build and 'improve' areas like a city centre or high street. The pot contributes towards things like shared marketing projects, installing furniture like benches and planters and bins, to hosting events to encourage people in to shops. Businesses pay into the scheme, based on a percentage of their rateable value, usually between 1-4%. Owners with businesses located in the BID area will vote on whether to approve it in March 2026. And a steering group, chaired by Apex City Quay general manager Paul Mooney, has been established. There are 37 BIDs in Scotland, including in Aberdeen and St Andrews. Mr Mooney decided to get involved after seeing how the scheme benefitted other Apex hotels in the UK. He said: 'A business improvement district is essentially an additional resource that's going to be business led, that's going to have strong transparency and a stakeholder voice to really focus in on the areas that we see as challenges as a trading environment in Dundee city centre. 'One of the first things we will be doing is going out with a survey to all businesses in the proposed catchment area to ask them what the big things are they worry about on a day-to-day basis.' He said business owners have already raised concerns about anti-social behaviour and security, and enhanced cleaning provision over and above what the council already provides, with him. 'We would be looking to see what events and exciting initiatives would help drive footfall into the city centre,' the hotel manager said. 'We want a better environment that brings people into the city centre. 'It sounds crude, the more people there are the more they will spend with the businesses in the improvement district. 'I've only been in Dundee eight years and I love it. There's so much goodwill and collaborative working already in Dundee across businesses. 'And the BID is almost a natural evolution of that, of us all coming together, being able to pool resources in an equitable way where the bigger businesses will pay more into the pot, (but it's spread across all businesses and everyone benefits from it. Dundee businesses have tried three times previously to pull together a BID. In 2015, 106 businesses voted in favour of a BID compared to 80 against it. But the rateable value of those in favour did not meet the figure needed to allow it to go ahead. Plans for a Dundee BID reappeared in 2017 and again in 2019, but failed to gain traction. Critics of BIDs claim the schemes can be 'undemocratic' with transparency issues. In 2021, businesses inside the Crieff business improvement district voted not to renew it.
BBC News
31-05-2025
- BBC News
York Council backs call for increased business levies
Hikes in levies paid to York's Business Improvement District (BID) are necessary in order to allow the business-led body to continue its services, events, and efforts to attract investment, according to a York Council has also backed plans to expand the BID area by a further 10 streets, raising the number of levy-paying businesses to drawn up by the BID's board would see annual levies rise from 1% to 1.6% of the rateable value of each eligible commercial property. A further 2% yearly increase would be applied to cover inflation, with a cap of £20, report called BID's current financial framework "unsustainable" arguing it had not changed since 2016. An increase in levies, and expanding the BID's area to include more streets, would help fund essential services provided by BID, such as street cleaning, security personnel and cycle proposals by the BID board are set to be discussed by the council's executive on 3 June, ahead of a ballot on whether to renew the body's term for a further five members, including the council, are set to be balloted in October - with the new arrangements taking effect from April next year, if they are will also be asked to endorse the BID's business plan - due to be drafted by late summer - which will set out its plans and priorities until 2031. Under new proposals, 10 new streets would also be added to the area covered by York BID, taking in those included in its Purple Flag safety campaign and other are: Blossom Street, Bootham, The Crescent, Eboracum Way, Esplanade Court, Frederic Street, Heworth Green, Layerthorpe, Marygate and Marygate additions would increase the number of levy-paying businesses from 892 currently - which together contribute about £800,000-a-year - to 974 the report stated business revaluations, which took place in 2023, lowered rateable values by £4.16m, compared to 2017 - meaning the overall amount of levies collected is expected to fall. Rising footfall Services provided by York BID include daily street cleaning, street rangers, taxi and riverside marshals and cycle storage, along with seating and floral body also helps to organise events, including York Restaurant Week, the annual winter illuminations, the Colour and Light display and Ghosts in the also provides subsidised skills training for businesses, in partnership with York St John University, and monitors city-centre footfall, visitor numbers and spending report stated the BID had invested £7.6m into York city centre since it was established, with footfall rising by 7.5% from 2023 to vacancy rates were at their lowest rate in almost 18 months at 7.4% at the end of last year, under the BID's tenure, the report claimed that progress would be jeopardised if the BID's term is not renewed and levy hikes do not go report stated: "The current financial framework of the BID is unsustainable as arrangements have been in place since 2016."The BID Board is clear that changes must be implemented to secure its operations for a further five-year term."The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted York BID for further comment. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
