Welcome to the first day of our 15th year!

Organising a host of different crowd pulling events and activities, during the past 14 years, footfall cameras prove that we have brought more than 1 million visitors to Hinckley town centre.

In addition, we introduced the Loyalty Card scheme which now has almost 10,000 holders – we have an e-mail list of some 14,000 people who have requested a monthly e-Newsletter and to whom we send details of all the new town centre businesses as well as promoting any BID member’s Special Offers if they wish us to.

We have also helped many, many Hinckley businesses solve a host of different issues and provided a wide range of services as part of your BID membership, including free recycling.

We were the first BID in Leicestershire and there were only 73 across the UK – now there are 335 BIDs and Leicestershire now has BIDs in Leicester City centre, Ashby de la Zouch, Melton Mowbray and Loughborough. Our www.hinckleybid.co.uk website is respected as one of the best – and we can update your business content on it at any time, without charge.

So, as we start our 15th year – what have we got lined up to support our business members and help them to recover from both Covid and inflation?

What exactly is the issue and why does it keep happening?
Shoplifting across the UK is on the increase - we hear of cases daily where shops and stores in Hinckley are losing goods through opportunistic theft.

How do we know for sure? … because the Radio-Link system paid for by Hinckley BID, which connects a number of outlets town-centre wide direct to both the Council’s CCTV system and the Police on duty, allows us to hear the whole story in the BID office as it happens. We also attend regular meetings with the Police who update us.

Due to an increase in overall crime and a need for Officers to be elsewhere at times (although their shop-lifting arrest rate is to be admired), it is not always possible for them to catch the shoplifters, even though some are regular criminals stealing to sell goods to create money for drugs. And due to leniency by the Courts, the same faces are often back repeating their crimes…

In the past, profit margins were higher, as were staffing levels – but now the regular loss of a few items from shoplifting can mean serious financial hardship to the shop or store involved. ‘Distraction theft’ is a popular way for the crime to be committed, with the owner not realising that the goods are missing for a while.

The other issue is that whilst some of the criminals are recognised by CCTV or the Police Officers – the shop and store staff have no way of physically recognising prolific offenders – until now!

What is the Solution?
DISC is a proven and purpose-built IT Desktop system and APP used currently by nearly 600 different organisations and thousands of outlets. Having heard about DISC some 3 years ago, we did some research and then discussed the idea with Hinckley Pubwatch – as a result they have been using it successfully for 3 years now – and in close co-operation with Hinckley Police. We (Hinckley BID) fund it.

Ideal as a retail shoplifting deterrent, DISC would be administered through us at Hinckley BID. Member retail businesses would be encouraged to join the scheme and thus share in both pictorial and written details of the known offenders.

A specific Retail Watch scheme has been set-up to meet our local need, and which will enable every member joining to quickly communicate with each other if there are any issues in their establishment, as well as to log photographically (and share with each other) those individuals who are either banned or who are suspected trouble-makers.

The Administrator maintains the system and through Hinckley BID regularly shares intelligence with the local Police – one of our Local Beat Officers really liked this DISC system when working with Northampton Police and knows how effective it is. And it is legal – it’s use does not infringe data protection Law. It is an ‘Invitation Only’ system, only those outlets that the Administrator believes are trading legally will receive an invitation to join.

We also have the latest state-of the-art CCTV within the town centre paid for by the Council, but we at Hinckley BID have augmented that with our Radio-Link scheme, where our hand-held radios are selectively placed around the town with a direct link to CCTV, so that when issues happen in that area, CCTV can swiftly train their cameras on to the location to record.

As you can see, we are determined that Hinckley will be a low-level crime-free area, allowing our Police Officers to concentrate on more important crimes.

Cost
The cost of installation of the DISC system is around £10,000. In addition, we would wish to supply a further 12 Radio-Link radios to key BID members joining the DISC scheme, in order that we have complete coverage of the retail area – cost around £6,000. We also need to finance an administrator to log all the input and keep the businesses informed – circa £5,000 annually.

Funding
Hinckley BID (with the support of Hinckley Police, HBBC and the Police & Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire and Rutland) are introducing ‘DISC’ to individual retailers during May. Unlike in most towns and with many BIDs this is being done with the help of a 50% grant through the HBBC Community Safety Partnership - Hinckley BID will cover the remainder of the cost.

A brochure containing all of our Events Details has been printed and distributed, but if you would like more copies please call us. In addition, the details can be found on the BID website www.hinckleybid.co.uk.

By prior arrangement our meeting Room is available to BID members for no charge. It can accommodate 18 around a large table, or 24 ‘theatre’ style. It also has a screen projector in place.

Despite an increase in cost, we have managed to retain this free weekly service that we provide to all smaller BID member businesses. In many instances the cost is greater than the annual BID levy payment, providing exceptional value. All small to medium size businesses are welcome to join – just contact martina@hinckleybid.co.uk.

Following nearly 15 years at Hinckley BID, Steve Wegerif will be cutting back to around 2-3 days a week from June 1st ,until the end of the year. Much has changed over the period, and there is a greater need for a person to take on the day to day ‘administration’ requirements to allow the BID team to spend more time with BID member businesses. As a result, and following recent interviews, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Hannah O’Dell as Administration Assistant from May 9th. Hannah has a great deal of relevant experience, largely with retailers.

The Team moving forward will be:

• Steve Wegerif – BID Director – 2/3 days a week working on major projects
• Martina Smullen – Assistant BID Manager – 3 days/week
• Toni Scott – Events Manager – 3 days/week
• Hannah O’Dell – Administration Assistant – 3 days/week

This re-organisation ensures that employment costs have not risen overall.

BID Member, Armstrongs, is pleased to offer you an up-to-date Tax Pocket Guide.

Please find details of their tax rates pocket guide, which summarises many of the rates and allowances fundamental to both business and our personal lives.

The guide contains information on income tax rates. It also includes information on ISA's, capital allowances, corporation tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax rates.

Please remember - we can promote YOUR business through our Loyalty Card Scheme!

We currently have almost 10,000 residents signed up to our Hinckley Town Centre Loyalty Card scheme and this number is growing rapidly.

Every Loyalty Card applicant receives a welcome letter with their card, which contains useful flyers promoting BID businesses. Any flyers you may wish us to include can be dropped into the Hinckley BID Office at 76 Castle Street.

Around 60 businesses are currently making an offer and benefitting from the Loyalty Card Scheme – your offers can be changed or withdrawn at any time you decide. If you haven’t tried this route to extra sales yet, just ask us to tell you more about it. This service is included in your Hinckley BID annual fee!

Please don’t forget to tag us in your social media posts so we can share far and wide through our social media pages.

Our Facebook page has a fantastic 6,000+ followers (and growing daily) and we receive great engagement on posts.

Please tag us on facebook using @hinckleybid and for Instagram please tag @bidhinckley

A ‘Hinckley BID Welcome Pack’ has been given to the businesses below who have recently moved into Hinckley town centre.

• The Cosmetology Nurse – Regent Street
• House of Gold Tattoo Co – Regent Street
  
• Tranquility Homes Estate Agents – Castle Street
• Art Grill Bistro Café – Lower Bond Street
• Baton Rouge – Regent Street
• Sainsburys New Food Hall (Caffe Carluccio’s, Harry Ramsden’s, and Ed’s Easy Diner) – scheduled opening 4th May 2023

Would your business benefit from 10 hours of FREE training on how to create and implement a strategic marketing plan? Sign-up today for this excellent course organised by Hinckley BID in collaboration with NWSLC.

• FREE to Hinckley BID Members
• Increase your online presence
• Help your business stand out
• Tuesday evenings from 5.30pm and 7.30pm for 6 weeks (start date tbc)
• Held in the BID Office (Castle Street)
• Training delivered by NWSLC
• Course content tailored to suit the needs of attendees

To register for the course, please contact toni@hinckleybid.co.uk or call 01455 698494. Attendance numbers will be limited, so book early to avoid disappointment.

Please remember that Hinckley BID is available to you to help with virtually any business problems. Our volunteer and unremunerated Board of Directors represent many different sectors and we are very grateful to them for all their help and advice. All matters that you bring to us will be treated with the utmost confidentiality.

Many thanks.

The Team at Hinckley BID.