If successful in being established, Newport BID will form a non-profit business-led and business funded organisation, formed to improve the commercial area within Newport city centre.

The campaign to achieve BID status has commenced and the brand has been launched, known as Newport Now has been revealed.

After a lot of consultation with local businesses a BID proposal, detailing the services which the BID propose to deliver has been put together and is already being distributed amongst businesses within the proposed BID area. A launch party providing further information and the opportunity to raise questions is taking place on the 7th October. A ballot of all those business within the BID area will take place in November / December and if successful the company will I’ve been involved with Newport Now since the very beginning, and I am delighted with the plans and goals which have been put in place by Newport Now to change Newport for the better.

If Newport Now is successful, it will bring up to 450 businesses together giving them the power to make real changes in the city centre, not rely on the council or WAG to make the changes for them.

Collectively, the businesses within Newport Now will also have a much stronger voice and negotiating position.

Friars Walk will provide a great boost for the city centre economy, but it will not be the answer to all of our problems.

For us, we see Newport Now as a key tool in bringing businesses together and empowering them to make a real difference for their own business and for the city as a whole.

The brand Newport Now is very important as it encapsulates what the BID stands for and are looking to achieve. Newport has had many false dawns and lots of reports into how it can be improved. Newport Now, if successful if about action. Making a real difference now, not in five years’ time.

As a letting agent working within the city, we also believe potential new occupiers for the city centre will be encouraged by Newport Now and be encouraged by the proactive work the group will take to help improve the city. That’s why we support Newport Now and encourage other to do the same.

A BID is a business-led and business funded body formed to improve a defined commercial area. A BID can only be formed following consultation and a ballot in which businesses vote on a BID Proposal or business plan for the area. If a ballot is successful, it is then managed and operated by a BID Company – a non-profit company run by and for its members – and is funded through the BID levy, which is a small percentage of a businesses’ rateable value.