A Bristol district has announced that its Business Improvement District organisation is to be discontinued.
Bedminster's Business Improvement District (BID) was set up in 2013 and operates on behalf of 350 local businesses. It is funded via a small levy on all eligible businesses in the South Bristol area and is spent on community projects.
Bedminster is home to many independent businesses and in a ballot its trading community on North Street, West Street and East Street voted against continuing the BID with a 6% margin.
Bedminster BID chair and local pharmacist, Ade Williams, said: "We’re very disappointed that with so much still to do for the area, the BID won’t be able to supplement the work of the Council at a time when resources are so stretched.
Read more: Bristol's Independent Design Collective on the future of independent retailers
"We will be meeting next week with traders to discuss next steps and if there is a way to continue to work together as a community."
The BID said the vote came in the face of tough trading conditions for Bristol’s high streets and a cost of living crisis impacting spending with local businesses.
If traders had voted to continue the BID, it would have operated for another five-year term under a new business plan.
Most Read
Ruth Green, BID manager, said: "I’ve only been supporting this community of traders since June 23 and it's been a privilege. The board and the traders working alongside us have achieved some amazing things over a decade from creating brilliant Make Sunday Special events, supporting the Lantern Parade and Upfest, improving the street scene with murals celebrating local and planting pocket parks. We’ve amassed over 20,000 followers on social media channels and helped to make Bedminster what it is today.
"The business plan focused on the request from traders to increase cleaning in the area and improve safety, as well as supporting events such as the eat:Bedminster market and continuing the recent work to create Bristol Art District. As a local resident I’ve watched as Bedminster has undergone a transformation, with hundreds of new traders and shortly 6000 new residents moving to the area as developments come to completion. If this is the end of the BID, then we will be leaving it in a much better position than when the BID was first created."
Th BID has ring-fenced funds for street cleaning and Christmas lights throughout the Bedminster area and will continue to support traders until the end of its current five-year term on October 31.
Like this story? Why not sign up to get the latest South West business news straight to your inbox.