BID Leicester Projects and Initiatives

Our Street Ambassador Service launched in September 2018 and has proven invaluable to businesses in the city centre. The ambassador’s duties include liaison with BID businesses as an everyday point of contact, working with businesses to identify any issues that need to be addressed as well as communicating the latest BID projects and opportunities. They also provide a signposting service to the general public, helping to ensure that visitors to the city centre have the best possible experience. Some of their achievements to date include deterring shoplifters, reporting street cleansing issues, reuniting lost children with their parents and helping vulnerable people in the city centre.

On top of this, our Street Ambassadors are out talking to businesses every day, building a clearer picture of the issues affecting the city centre so we can fully understand the needs and concerns of our levy-payers and plan BID activity accordingly. If you haven’t met your Street Ambassador or if you need assistance from the team, drop us a line on [email protected]

LoyalFree is an innovative digital loyalty scheme which helps businesses attract new customers and encourage repeat custom via a profile showcasing their offers, a digitalised loyalty programme and more.

We started 2021 with over 9000 app users in Leicester – that’s 9000 potential customers who have engaged with the app in the city centre. Businesses can upload loyalty stamp schemes, special offers, flash sales, event details and more.

The app has a trails feature to encourage moving footfall around the city and a competitions feature to help incentivise app users. As of January 2023, the app has over 12,500 engaged app users in the Leicester area, and the app has received more than 218,000 interactions.

BID levy payers can access the app, create a profile for their offers and start attracting customers, and/or set up an online marketplace store for free – drop us a line to get started: [email protected]

The data collected is scrambled at source so it cannot be used to identify individuals and is fully GDPR compliant.

These reports will be made available to BID businesses free of charge, and can be used to help businesses understand peak times in the city centre, which can inform planning marketing and promotions, events and staffing rotas.

BID Leicester continue to sponsor a spotlight feature in the weekly Cool As Leicester e-newsletter. The spotlight feature is open to BID Levy-Payers and is sent out to over 5,000 subscribers as well as being promoted across the Cool As Leicester website and social media (over 450k monthly reach). This package would cost over £250 but is free to BID Leicester businesses.

For the chance for your business to feature simply send us your news! From events to new menu offerings, special offers or news of exciting things happening at your business, send your story to [email protected].

BID Leicester has worked alongside city centre partners to secure Leicester the prestigious Purple Flag accreditation for its evening and night-time economy (ENTE), recognising the city as a vibrant destination for dining, entertainment and culture between the hours of 17:00 and 05:00, while promoting the safety and wellbeing of visitors and local residents.

Since then, we have continued to build on achieving Purple Flag status by implementing a series of practical initiatives to help promote the evening and night-time economy. Read our Purple Flag project page for all the latest details.

Over 150 businesses are registered to accept The Leicester Gift Card and are already benefitting from this additional revenue channel. The city-wide gift card offers customers a great choice of spending across food, drink, leisure and entertainment. We will continue to promote the card to the public as a way to give the gift of Leicester – we have already achieved sales of over £100,000. The gift card locks in spend to the city, guaranteeing money will be spent in a registered business and help local recovery.

It costs nothing for businesses to redeem the gift card. All you need is a card machine that allows magnetic swipe transactions.

Corporate businesses who purchase the Gift Card as employee rewards can access a discount for orders over £5000.

Give Leicester was launched in October 2019 to provide a secure and convenient way for the public to help people who are homeless in Leicester. The project, designed by BID Leicester with match funding from Leicester City Council and in partnership with the Leicester Homelessness Charter, saw the installation of 15 contactles giving points in Leicester city centre. Members of the public can tap their contactless cards to donate £3 to registered charity Help the Homeless Leicester. Previous charities that have received support through GIVE Leicester include The Bridge Homelessness to Hope, and One Roof UK. 

100% of money donated through contactless donation points is paid directly to Help the Homeless Leicester and used to help people experiencing homelessness in the city. See our project pages below for more details on how the money is being put to use.

The project has so far raised over £56,000 in donations, and has helped more than 12 people out of homelessness into permanent accomodation.

Businesses interested in hosting a Give Leicester contactless giving point can get in touch with the team to discuss options.

Keep up to date with the project on the Give Leicester website.

Independent Leicester is a creative collaboration between BID Leicester and a host of local independent businesses, designed to encourage customers to shop local and discover what the city’s thriving independent scene has to offer. Through an online campaign including a directory listing website, Independent Leicester is the place to discover the best of Leicester’s independent culture.

Any independent business in the BID Leicester area can get involved:

• Any independent business in the BID Leicester area can have a website directory listing.
• Follow on Facebook and Instagram @IndependentLeics and tag us in any messages you would like shared.
• Display a yellow “We’re in” sticker in your window, so the public can quickly recognise independent businesses. Email the BID Leicester team and we’ll bring a sticker to you.
• Look out for future promotional opportunities – from videos to competitions and events, we’ll email everyone listed on the Independent Leicester website whenever new campaign opportunities arise.

From cafes, restaurants, bars and nightclubs to theatres, culture and leisure activities, you can find the best of Leicester through the This is Leicester interactive map.

BID Leicester worked with Reach Plc to deliver an interactive digital map-based guide, titled “This is Leicester.” The digital guide includes short, itinerary-based recommendations, directing readers to businesses located in Leicester city centre.

7000 strut cards featuring a QR code, through which the This Is Leicester map could be accessed, have been printed and distributed to hotels throughout Leicester and Leicestershire.

The key objectives of this scheme are to:

• Provide added value for hotels to give to their guests.
• Give businesses and other key partners a channel to reach visitors in Leicester.
• Provide an overview of the city centre that is useful and easy to navigate, that can be visitors in the city for a short time.
• Raise the profile of Leicester’s businesses.
• Drive footfall directly into city centre businesses leading to increased customer spend.

You can scan visit the This is Leicester interactive map here: thisisleicestermap.co.uk 

We work with Place Support Partnership to operate a business consultancy and savings service that will generate economic benefits for BID Businesses. This service will include cost effectively purchasing a range of products such as energy, telecoms, water, waste management, HR, legal, digital, print, stationery and more. The service will also include identifying additional income generation opportunities and operating efficiencies where appropriate.

Email the team to set up a meeting and start your savings journey today: [email protected]

We are committed to making Leicester a cleaner and greener place by:

• Funding enhanced hours for the street washing machines, keeping our streets clean.
• Funding graffiti removal on private premises.
• Funding chewing gum removal.
• Sponsoring the e-bike scheme to encourage more sustainable journeys and cleaner air for our city centre. BID Businesses will benefit from the opportunity to claim free membership to the scheme for their staff, and BID Leicester will be able to offer members of the public free use of the scheme to coincide with our events programme.

In 2024 we will deliver an exciting events programme to drive footfall into the city and encourage engagement with BID Leicester businesses. Our plans included:

• Leicester Comedy Festival, February 2024
• Paint to Pixel x Repainting Subway Art Exhibition, February 2024
• Bring the Paint Festival, May 2024
• Midlands Makers Markets, Summer 2024
• Street Stories, Summer 2024
• An Indian Summer, August 2024
• Brew Beat Festival, September 2024
• Roman Festival, October 2024
• Leicester Restaurant Week, October 2024
• Best Bar None Awards, November 2024

Plus more events TBC.

For more information on upcoming events, please see our Events Schedule.

In 2023 BID Leicester, in partnership with Leicestershire Police, Leicester City Council and Leicester City Watch, launched the Best Bar None scheme in Leicester. Best Bar None (BBN) is a voluntary national assessment and accreditation scheme that awards and recognises well-run alcohol-licenced premises based on national standards of best practice.

47 venues achieved accreditation in 2023, and the scheme won the ‘Best New Scheme’ award nationally. Applications will be reopened later in 2024.  

Leicester’s fourth Restaurant Week is taking place in October 2024, bringing some amazing food and drink deals to the city centre. Restaurant Week will encourage members of the public to dine out, downloading an online voucher to access and enjoy bespoke menus at the city’s finest eateries. We will run a multi-channel promotional campaign to raise awareness and create excitement about the event in the city.

See leicesterrestaurantweek.co.uk for more information

Businesses will need to craft a bespoke, fixed-price menu for their venue that is either £5, £10, £15 or £20pp in value. Businesses can offer more than one fixed price menu at different price points during the promotion (e.g. lunch and dinner, or 2 course and 3 course).

BID Leicester has worked alongside city centre partners to secure Leicester the prestigious Purple Flag accreditation for its evening and night-time economy (ENTE) for the fourth year, recognising the city as a vibrant destination for dining, entertainment and culture between the hours of 17:00 and 05:00, while promoting the safety and wellbeing of visitors and local residents. 

Read our Purple Flag project page for all the latest details.

BID Social is a series of exclusive events aimed at encouraging employees to stay in the city after work.

This is an opportunity for employees of BID levy-paying businesses to experience the fantastic range of venues in the city at just a fraction of the cost.

With only limited places available at each event employees can register their interest here to be the first to hear about upcoming BID Social events and the opportunity to purchase tickets. Events are only accessible to employees of BID Leicester levy-payers. Register for updates at bidleicester.co.uk/bidsocial

Not sure if you work for a BID Leicester levy payer? Get in touch to find out.

In 2023 we will deliver an exciting events programme to responsibly drive footfall into the city and encourage engagement with BID Leicester businesses. Our plans included:

Leicester Comedy Festival, February 2023
Punk, Rage & Revolution, May to September 2023
Brew Beat festival, September 2023
Leicester Monsters, October 2023
Leicester Restaurant Week, October 2023
Emergence, December 2023

For more information on upcoming events, please see our Events Schedule.

In 2023 BID Leicester, in partnership with Leicestershire Police, Leicester City Council and Leicester City Watch, will be launching the Best Bar None scheme in Leicester. Best Bar None (BBN) is a voluntary national assessment and accreditation scheme that awards and recognises well-run alcohol-licenced premises based on national standards of best practice.

The primary purpose is to promote excellence in the licensed trade, leading to a more enjoyable, safer experience for the customer and more collaboration between partners. It’s also an opportunity to celebrate quality operators. 

Leicester’s third Restaurant Week is taking place in October 2023, bringing some amazing food and drink deals to the city centre. Restaurant Week will encourage members of the public to dine out, downloading an online voucher to access and enjoy bespoke menus at the city’s finest eateries. We will run a multi-channel promotional campaign to raise awareness and create excitement about the event in the city.

See leicesterrestaurantweek.co.uk for more information

Businesses will need to craft a bespoke, fixed-price menu for their venue that is either £5, £10, £15 or £20pp in value. Businesses can offer more than one fixed price menu at different price points during the promotion (e.g. lunch and dinner, or 2 course and 3 course).

BID Leicester has worked alongside city centre partners to secure Leicester the prestigious Purple Flag accreditation for its evening and night-time economy (ENTE), recognising the city as a vibrant destination for dining, entertainment and culture between the hours of 17:00 and 05:00, while promoting the safety and wellbeing of visitors and local residents. We will work hard to ensure this continues to be the case in 2023 by:
Funding St. John’s Ambulence trained medical professional to have a presence in the city centre on key dates, safeguarding members of the public.
Establishing Best Bar None – a supportive framework for raising standards, and recognising quality operators in the ENTE.

Read our Purple Flag project page for all the latest details.

BID Social is a series of exclusive events aimed at encouraging employees to stay in the city after work.

This is an opportunity for employees of BID levy-paying businesses to experience the fantastic range of venues in the city at just a fraction of the cost.

With only limited places available at each event employees can register their interest here to be the first to hear about upcoming BID Social events and the opportunity to purchase tickets. Events are only accessible to employees of BID Leicester levy-payers. Register for updates at bidleicester.co.uk/bidsocial

Not sure if you work for a BID Leicester levy payer? Get in touch to find out.

In 2022 we delivered an exciting events programme to responsibly drive footfall into the city and encourage engagement with BID Leicester businesses. Our plans included:

Light Up Leicester, March 2022
Bring The Paint, May 2022
Midlands Makers, July 2022
The World Reimagined, August – October 2022
An Indian Summer, August 2022
BrewBeat, September 2022
Leicester Cocktail Week, September 2022
Leicester Restaurant Week, October 2022
L.O.V.E Art, October – November 2022

For more information on upcoming events, please see our Events Schedule.

June 2022 saw the transformation of Leicester’s St. George’s tower take place, colloquially known as the Blue Tower and located at the top of Granby Street, as the iconic building is set to become home to Europe’s tallest piece of street art.

The BID Leicester-funded project has been developed alongside local arts organization Graffwerk, which has been involved in the project from conception to delivery. The sky-scraping artwork is being painted by a team of Leicester’s most talented street artists, Leigh Drummond, Rich Peacock, Wing Lo and Ben Edwards.

Standing at an impressive 82 metres tall meters high, is the third tallest mural in the world and the tallest in Europe, almost doubling the current UK record and covering 717.5 square metres.

Learn more about the project here.

Leicester’s second Restaurant Week is taking place in October 2022, bringing some amazing food and drink deals to the city centre. Restaurant Week will encourage members of the public to dine out, downloading an online voucher to access and enjoy bespoke menus at the city’s finest eateries. We will run a multi-channel promotional campaign to raise awareness and create excitement about the event in the city.

See leicesterrestaurantweek.co.uk for more information

Businesses will need to craft a bespoke, fixed-price menu for their venue that is either £5, £10, £15 or £20pp in value. Businesses can offer more than one fixed price menu at different price points during the promotion (e.g. lunch and dinner, or 2 course and 3 course).

BID Leicester has worked alongside city centre partners to secure Leicester the prestigious Purple Flag accreditation for its evening and night-time economy (ENTE), recognising the city as a vibrant destination for dining, entertainment and culture between the hours of 17:00 and 05:00, while promoting the safety and wellbeing of visitors and local residents. We will work hard to ensure this continues to be the case in 2022 by:
Funding a trained medical professional to work at the City Bus, safeguarding members of the public.
Commissioning a series of promotional videos to showcase the very best of Leicester at night.
Establishing Best Bar None – a supportive framework for raising standards, and recognising quality operators in the ENTE.

Read our Purple Flag project page for all the latest details.

BID Social is a series of exclusive events aimed at encouraging employees to stay in the city after work.

This is an opportunity for employees of BID levy-paying businesses to experience the fantastic range of venues in the city at just a fraction of the cost.

With only limited places available at each event employees can register their interest here to be the first to hear about upcoming BID Social events and the opportunity to purchase tickets. Events are only accessible to employees of BID Leicester levy-payers. Register for updates at bidleicester.co.uk/bidsocial

Not sure if you work for a BID Leicester levy payer? Get in touch to find out.

In 2021 we plan to deliver an exciting events programme to responsibly drive footfall into the city and encourage engagement with BID Leicester businesses. Our plans include:

Rocket Round Leicester, July – September 2021
Architects of Air Luminarium, July 2021
BrewBeat, August 2021
Bring The Paint ,August 2021 – POSTPONED
Restaurant Week, October 2021
Where There Is Light, October 2021
Rhizome light installation, November-December 2021

Our events programme is subject to the government roadmap for easing coronavirus restrictions, and all events will be held to be compliant with the prevailing regulations at the time. For more information on upcoming events, please see our Events Schedule.

We will launch Leicester’s first Restaurant Week this October, bringing some amazing food and drink deals to the city centre. Restaurant Week will encourage members of the public to dine out, downloading an online voucher to access and enjoy bespoke menus at the city’s finest eateries. We will run a multi-channel promotional campaign to raise awareness and create excitement about the event in the city.

See leicesterrestaurantweek.co.uk for more information

Businesses will need to craft a bespoke, fixed price menu for their venue that is either £10, £15 or £20pp in value. Businesses can offer more than one fixed price menu at different price points during the promotion (e.g. lunch and dinner, or 2 course and 3 course). 

We are currently signing up businesses to take part in the scheme. Take a look at the slides from our Business Information event, and if you’re ready to submit a menu you can email the team to sign up: [email protected]

We have extended our partnership with Yoello to help BID Leicester hospitality businesses implement Covid-secure measures in a cost-effective manner. Yoello is a simple yet highly versatile secure mobile ordering solution that allows customers to order food and drink from the comfort of their table. Customers simply scan a QR code or type in a URL, using any smartphone, and without downloading an app. With Covid-safety in mind, Yoello minimises unnecessary contact, removes queues, and replaces physical menus. BID Businesses can get a free twelve month subscription.

13 BID businesses registered to use Yoello and a total of £228,000 worth of transactions were made through the app in Leicester businesses in 2020 – we want to increase this number in 2021 and help our businesses reopen in a safe and efficient manner.

Email the team to sign up today.

We delivered an art project involving levy paying ‘wet pubs’ in the BID area, creating large scale artworks to form a mini trail around selected licensed premises. The artworks attract customers directly into businesses and create photo opportunities for user-generated online and social media content.

Find out more and follow the trail: bidleicester.co.uk/art-on-tap

BID Social is a series of exclusive events aimed at encouraging employees to stay in the city after work.

This is an opportunity for employees of BID levy-paying businesses to experience the fantastic range of venues in the city at just a fraction of the cost.

With only limited places available at each event employees can register their interest here to be the first to hear about upcoming BID Social events and the opportunity to purchase tickets. Events are only accessible to employees of BID Leicester levy-payers. Register for updates at bidleicester.co.uk/bidsocial

Not sure if you work for a BID Leicester levy payer? Get in touch to find out.

BID Leicester has worked alongside city centre partners to secure Leicester the prestigious Purple Flag accreditation for its evening and night-time economy (ENTE), recognising the city as a vibrant destination for dining, entertainment and culture between the hours of 17:00 and 05:00, while promoting the safety and wellbeing of visitors and local residents. We will work hard to ensure this continues to be the case in 2021 by:
Funding a trained medical professional to work at the City Bus, safeguarding members of the public.
Commissioning a series of promotional videos to showcase the very best of Leicester at night.
Establishing Best Bar None – a supportive framework for raising standards, and recognising quality operators in the ENTE.

Read our Purple Flag project page for all the latest details.

Dine in the Square opened in May 2021, bringing outdoor seating to three public areas in the city centre. The public can order from a choice of city centre food and drink providers through the Yoello mobile ordering system. The public spaces has made tables available for those without a street cafe when hospitality operated as an outdoor-only service, and continues to provide extra capacity and an additional opportunity for sales through to September 2021.

Find out more about the project at bidleicester.co.uk/dineinthesquare

Businesses that want to take part can get in touch with the team to find out more: [email protected]

As well as projects to help drive footfall back into the city, we will continue with providing practical support, including distributing free social distancing floor stickers, posters, signage and hand sanitiser for businesses to use.

BID Leicester is working with De Montfort University to help provide training and support to people starting new businesses that have a physical presence and / or provide a new product or service in the BID area. The support will include advice and mentoring, training courses and access to learning materials to help businesses that are 0-2 years in their development.

If you would like more information on this programme, please drop us a line: [email protected]

We led a joint lobbying campaign, writing letters to the Chancellor requesting additional support for the city’s businesses and backing the national #RaiseTheBar campaign to include larger businesses in the government’s financial support packages.

On a local level, we assisted our businesses with reopening plans, including practical measures such as producing and distributing over 1,000 social distancing floor stickers, posters and signage, and over 60 litres of hand sanitiser for businesses to use.

13 BID businesses registered to use Yoello in 2020, and a total of £228,000 worth of transactions were made through the app in Leicester businesses.

We started 2020 with some great news – we have achieved Purple Flag accreditation! Purple Flag status allows members of the public to quickly identify town & city centres that offer an entertaining, diverse, safe and enjoyable night out. 

In 2020 we will build on achieving Purple Flag status by implementing a series of practical initiatives to help promote the evening and night-time economy. Read our Purple Flag project page for all the latest details.

We worked with Arch Creative to deliver a new Vacant Units project in 2020 called Street Stories. Street Stories is designed to improve the appearance of empty shops in the city centre and turn them into points of interest. The artworks celebrate the wonderful achievements of pioneering people from our city. All of the sites include an integrated Augmented Reality twist that brings the artworks to life! 

The trail launched in August 2020, providing an opportunity for visitors to enjoy a safe, outdoor and socially distanced leisure activity in the city centre whilst businesses were still under restrictions.

Find out more at bidleicester.co.uk/streetstories

BID Leicester worked with Graffwerk in 2019 to improve the appearance of empty units within the BID area – find more information on that project in our ‘Past Projects’ section below.

This project was postponed to 2021-22 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Please see the project details above.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we postponed these events to 2021-22 – please see our updated project plans above. 

BID Leicester partnered with Leicester Comedy Festival and levy-paying businesses to offer festival-goers great discounts on food and drink in the city for the duration of the festival.

This was the second year a food and drink scheme was been organised by BID Leicester in order to showcase the city centre in its widest possible sense to the festival audience. Leicester Comedy Festival is the largest event of its kind in Europe, bringing over 135,000 people to events across the  city. This represents real potential customers in Leicester city centre during the month of February. BID Leicester committed to a £5000 marketing campaign to promote the offers, including directly targetting of festival ticket-holders, online and social media advertising, BT InLink advertising and a large format advert on the Comedy Festival Hub in Jubilee Square. The scheme also received positive coverage from Leicestershire Live and Cool As Leicester.

Click here to read our news item on the project for full information.

Our planned events schedule for 2020-21 was largely postponed due to national restrictions because of Coronavirus. We committed to running these events when it is safe to do so. For more information on upcoming events, please see our Events Schedule.

Events delivered in 2020 include:

Chinese New Year Spring Festival Celebration
26 January – 8 February 2020
A series of events in partnership with De Montfort University and Cosmopolitan Arts to celebrate Chinese New Year. Events included an art exhibition at Curve Theatre, a public procession in Leicester City Centre and student facing events with a BID Leicester stall promoting BID levy-payers. The event gave us the opportunity to engage with students at DMU at promote City Centre businesses directly to them, giving out promotional materials and vouchers on campus.

BID Leicester worked with partners to deliver a series of events in 2019/20. Here are some highlights…

Bring The Paint, May 2019
We were a headline sponsor of Bring the Paint 2019, organised by local organisation Graffwerk. Artists from all over the world came together to showcase an impressive wealth of talent which has gone on to serve as inspiration for further artistic activities within the city of Leicester.
300 new street artworks were created, reaching 46,000 people during the festival over 7 days in May and further cementing Leicester as a destination for world class street art.
https://www.bringthepaint.co.uk/ 

Mods: Shaping a Generation and ReVive Festival, April – June 2019
BID Leicester were a headline sponsor of these events celebrating Mods and Mod culture in the East Midlands. The attracted 35,000 people to Leicester, and over 4,000 attended the spin-off ReVive Festival. The festival was supported by over 40 venues and businesses in the city centre.
http://shapingageneration.co.uk/
https://revivefestival.co.uk/ 

One Giant Leap, July & October 2019
BID Leicester worked with a number of partners including Inspirate, Metro Bulot Dodo, SideFest, and Leicester Cathedral to put together a programme of out-of-this-world events to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the moon landings. Events included an exhibition of Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon, BRICKLIVE Outer Space trail of LEGO sculptures in BID Businesses, Creat-A-Con in Space event at Haymarket Theatre, and Outdoor Cinema in Jubilee Square and Interactive digital games on public screens in the city. Over 13,500 people attended the events in Leicester city centre during October half-term week.
https://onegiantleap-leicester.co.uk/ 

LightWeight, December 2019
LightWeight returned to the city in 2019, this time to New Market Square to help animate this new public space. Sitting alongside Santa’s Grotto, the two events made the square a hub of family activity in the city at Christmas. Over 3,500 people attended the free installation across 10 nights in December

Our Street Ambassadors were well into their stride by BID year 2 – they walked 5,276 miles in the BID area! They spent the year busily helping BID levy payers, resolving over 500 Street Issues and interacting with businesses over 7,000 times.

On top of this, they were a constant friendly face in the city centre for the public. We love this bit of feedback from a member of the public:

My husband and I visited from Sheffield on Wednesday and bumped into three Street Ambassadors. They were extremely helpful, we’d only been in the city five minutes, so this was a great welcome. We had a lovely day out and intend on returning!

If you haven’t met your Street Ambassador or if you need assistance from the team, drop us a line on [email protected]

BID Leicester worked with Graffwerk to improve the appearance of empty units within the BID area. Launched in May 2019, the Vacant Units project targetted empty shop units and decorated them with inspiring artwork. As well as making the units look more attractive, the artwork is linked together through a trail in order to generate public interest and move footfall around the BID area. See the transformation of the units here.

In 2019 BID Leicester ran a series of training sessions in Digital Marketing, Customer Service, Sales, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Email Marketing.

Over 150 delegates from BID businesses attended these sessions, with 94% giving positive feedback.

We plan to run further sessions on a range of topics in 2020 and will develope an online Business Learning package – see our 2020 projects for more details.

BID Leicester undertook planning and research in 2018 to develop plans for the night-time economy. Over 400 people responded to a BID public survey on Leicester after dark, and we also ran a survey for businesses who operate in the evening.

This information was used to apply for Purple Flag accreditation for the city. Purple Flag status allows members of the public to quickly identify town & city centres that offer an entertaining, diverse, safe and enjoyable night out. The research will also be used to develop practical initiatives that address the needs of people who use the city at night. We’re pleased to say we were awarded Purple Flag status in early 2020! Check our Purple Flag page for information on how we built on this success.

BID Leicester worked with Crowdfund Leicester and Spacehive to help fund business start-ups in Leicester city centre. We pledged £10,000 to contribute towards creative and innovative start-ups and new project ideas that had a positive impact in the BID Leicester area. Click here for more information on how the scheme was set up. 

Projects that were funded from the BID Leicester crowd fund pot included a series of talks from Culture on the Offensive, a Create Leicester event, funding towards a statue of Joe Orton in Leicester and a Global Kitchen event in Leicester. Find out more about these projects on the BID Leicester profile on the Spacehive website.

The Christmas in Leicester campaign was run in partnership with Leicester City Council to establish Leicester as a destination to visit for shopping, leisure and nighttime economy during the festive period.

BID Leicester ran the following initiatives to help ensure Christmas was a success for the city.

Park & Ride

Extended Park & Ride service was funded from 9-21 December to help support late night shopping in the city in December. The service, which usually ends at 7pm, continued until 9pm with a buses leaving the city centre to all three park and rides sites at half hourly intervals. There was also an additional Boxing Day service from 10am – 5pm.

LightWeight / Festive Fun in the Square

BID Leicester brought LightWeight installation back to the city for the second year, this time into New Market Square. Together with the free Santa’s Grotto run by Leicester City Council, LightWeight helped to animate the public space as a family destination in the city at Christmas. Over 3,500 people attended across 10 nights.

Christmas in Leicester Guide

The Christmas in Leicester Guide was an A5 cross-fold brochure that featured information about the range of activities in Leicester over the festive period. The centre featured a fold out map of key attractions in the city. 130,000 copies were distributed.

Christmas TV advert

The Christmas in Leicester TV advert was filmed in 2018 to showcase Leicester’s Christmas offer, including ice skating, big wheel, shopping and dining.

Christmas in Leicester TV advert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8XEpiZ5D5k

In 2019, BID Leicester funded the advert to be broadcast over the Sky AdSmart network from 23 November to 23 December to all households in a 25 mile radius of Leicester.

Independent Leicester

The Independent Leicester Campaign was launched by BID Leicester in 2019 to support promotion of independent businesses and encourage customers to shop local.

Over Christmas the campaign was boosted to raise awareness of independent retailers in the city.

After a lot of hard work by a lot of people in the city, the first BID Leicester term began on 1 Februaray 2018.

This was the beginning of a long (and sometimes, lonely) process for our Operations Executive, James, who set out on the process to build the BID. He was joined by BID Director Simon in June, and from there they built the full team who were all in place by October 2019. The BID company was set up and both Simon and James completed their Certificate in BID Management qualifications.

They then went out into the city to talk to businesses! From starting in June, Simon had met with over 130 businesses by the end of the year.

Whilst not the most glamourous of time periods, this important preparation period laid the foundation to build on for the 5 year term.

The Street Ambassador Service was born in September 2018 when our four recruits jumped on board to shape what the role would become. After undergoing vital preparations such as first aid training, their first week on the job included a major public event – the city hosted an England footall international and an offical pre-match fan park!

They quickly settled into the role and in their first few months got 1,729 business interactions under their belts and walked an impressive 1,734 miles in just 5 months!

BID Leicester undertook planning and research in 2018 to develop plans for the night-time economy. We ran a survey for businesses who operate in the evening to gather their views, and got almost 200 responses.

This information was used to start our Purple Flag accreditation process. 

The Christmas in Leicester campaign was run in partnership with Leicester City Council to establish Leicester as a destination to visit for shopping, leisure and nighttime economy during the festive period.

BID Leicester ran several initiatives to help the city prosper at Christmas time

Park & Ride

Extended Park & Ride service was funded from to help support late night shopping in the city in December. 31 extra buses operated throughout the busy Christmas shopping period.

Christmas in the Gardens

BID Leicester brought LightWeight installation to the city for the first time as part of Christmas in the Gardens, to encourage people to move from the traditional shopping streets into the Old Town during the festive period.

Christmas in Leicester Guide

The Christmas in Leicester Guide was sponsored by BID Leicester, with 180,000 copies distributed.

Christmas TV advert

The Christmas in Leicester TV advert was filmed in 2018 to showcase Leicester’s Christmas offer, including ice skating, big wheel, shopping and dining.

Christmas in Leicester TV advert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8XEpiZ5D5k

The advert was broadcast over the Sky AdSmart network to all households in a 25 mile radius of Leicester.

Over 3 million people were reached by BID Leicester marketing efforts in December 2018, and BID Leicester achieved over 95,000 social media impressions in Q4 of 2018.