Boosting Bath’s evening economy by encouraging shops to stay open later, introducing ‘welcome hosts’ to greet visitors and recycling food waste from city centre businesses are among ideas being considered by the city’s Business Improvement District (BID).
The BID, which has been in operation since 2011, has been seeking the views of its 655 members and other businesses on a range of new initiatives to boost the city centre.
Having been set up following a ballot among city centre businesses, it has concentrated on three areas of work – making the streets cleaner and safer, promoting the city by creating events like Bath in Fashion and the Great Bath Feast, and saving firms money through its trade waste and travel discount schemes. 
But as it seeks to win a second ballot later this year to continue in operation, it has asked businesses for feedback on new schemes to further boost the city centre.
BID chief executive Andrew Cooper said: “We quite rightly concentrated on the three key areas that were the most important to our members in our first four years.
“I believe we have demonstrated a credible contribution to the success of the city over that period. Now as we enter our fifth year we want to look again at some of the schemes that we left in the ‘hard-to-do’ box last time around.”
Mr Cooper said there was a “significant opportunity to dovetail” the retail and hospitality offerings through shops opening until at least 7pm to encourage visitors to stay in the city centre longer.
“This is important for our standing as a tourist and heritage city,” he added. “We have a great retail offer but that tends to start winding down at 5pm. We also have an excellent hospitality offering with fantastic bars and restaurants, but that doesn’t really get started until around 7pm.
“We want to encourage visitors to stay in the city centre between these hours. At the moment many go back to their hotels or guest houses. It will also encourage people who live in Bath to spend more time during the week in the city centre.”
A similar scheme in Newcastle, called Alive After 5, had been extremely successful, said Mr Cooper, and given its city centre a new lease of life in a previously quiet period with shops and eating and drinking places all benefiting.
‘Welcome hosts’ are being used in other UK cities to encourage visitors to stay longer, often by pointing out places of interest or hospitality venues they would otherwise have missed.
Bath, with 5.5m visitors a year, would benefit from such a scheme, said Mr Cooper.
“Visitors only tend to walk so far around a city that is unfamiliar to them,” said Mr Cooper “They often get to a crossroads or junction and turn back because they don’t know what’s close by. But a welcome host can chat to them about what they would like to see and recommend places that they may not have otherwise gone to.”
The BID idea is for a small, salaried team of hosts with a much larger group of volunteers.
The third idea is to build on its successful trade waste scheme, which the BID estimates has saved businesses £300,000 a year, by introducing food waste recycling – turning it into energy that could power the vehicles operating the scheme.
The Bath BID, one of more than 200 across the UK, raises money from businesses in the city centre through a levy based on their premises’ rateable value.
It has attracted more than three-and-a-half times more additional income than its original business plan projection through initiatives such as Bath in Fashion and The Great Bath Feast, which attract sponsorship and bring in money from ticket sales.
The BID also operates the night marshal and taxi marshal schemes.
