By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
There are concerns Cheltenham businesses will be footing the bill for staff redundancies at the spa town’s Business Improvement District as new bosses plan to restructure the organisation.
Cheltenham BID, which was set up in 2016, represents some 800 levy paying businesses and promotes the town as a safe, secure, attractive, clean, welcoming, vibrant, and connected place to spend time.
BIDs are geographically defined areas where businesses come together and agree to invest collectively in projects and services which improve their trading environment.
However, there are concerns over planned changes at Cheltenham BID after the departure of its operations manager in December and other staff face redundancy.
This comes after the board appointed a new chief executive for the organisation in April last year. Its CEO Francesca Inman said the board gave their backing to a staff restructure plan last autumn.
She said it is aimed at “creating efficiency savings” while allowing more of the levy funds to be spent on essential projects and services that directly benefit the spa town’s streets.
A source told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that they fear all current staff will be made redundant and a new team appointed ahead of a ballot to renew the BID in the autumn.
They are concerned that staff who have developed strong working relationships with businesses and who have been successful in winning previous ballots will be let go while people will be brought in from outside of the spa town.
“The operations manager departed in December by mutual agreement and the new CEO is making all staff redundant,” the source said.
“There are 800 that the BID serves, the levy is going to be paying redundancy, and more money for higher wages for this new team, which may be from out of the area.
“The businesses all pay a levy, and it’s mandatory. And that money is supposed to pay for improvements to the town and any help that can be given in trading conditions.
“It’s particularly important to retail and hospitality, but also services, offices, and things like discounted parking.”
The source said some businesses in the town don’t feel they are currently getting any help from the BID and their levy is to be going on redundancy payments.
“The BID is up for re-ballot in October, which is why the CEO has taken the action that she’s taken,” the source added.
“She wants a really good team to come in, but it’s getting rid of all the staff that have built relationships with all the businesses.
“The new CEO is from Bristol, so she wants to bring a crack team in to make sure she gets through the re-ballot, which is in October.”
Ms Inman said it is incumbent on Cheltenham BID to thoroughly review its operations and the needs and wants of its levy payers.
She said work has been underway to reach out to our wider partner and stakeholder organisations so they can attract extra funds beyond the BID levy.
And one of the early outcomes of this is the recently launched graffiti tagging removal project.
“As we move towards our next renewal ballot in the Autumn which if successful, will provide five more years of investment in Cheltenham from 2026 to 2031, it is incumbent on Cheltenham BID to thoroughly review its operations and the needs and wants of our levy payers,” she said.
“We acknowledge the importance of the relationships built by our staff with local businesses and are dedicated to preserving and strengthening these connections.
“In Autumn 2024, the board fully approved a staff restructure aimed at creating efficiency savings, enabling a greater portion of levy funds to be allocated to essential projects and services that directly benefit Cheltenham’s streets.
“Work has also been underway to reach out to our wider partner and stakeholder organisations so we can attract extra funds beyond the BID levy.
“One of the early outcomes of this strategy is our recently launched graffiti tagging removal project, alongside Cheltenham Borough Council, that utilises £15,000 from the Police and Crime Commissioner budget.
“This initiative has already made a significant impact, with positive feedback from local businesses as the clean-up progresses.
“Our consultation for our forthcoming renewal ballot will be launched very soon and we encourage contributions from all businesses large and small to share their perspective on how we can collectively enhance the vitality of our town.”