Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are some of the most quietly effective engines of place-making in the UK. They sit in a practical sweet spot between ambition and delivery: close enough to businesses to understand what needs to work on Monday morning, but empowered enough to convene partners, unlock funding, and shape a coherent offer for residents, visitors and investors. Through working with BIDs across the country, I’ve seen first-hand how events within a BID programme can do far more than drive footfall; they can strengthen identity, accelerate regeneration and build confidence in a place.

What makes BIDs uniquely positioned to lead event programmes is their deep, hyper-local understanding of place. They know the trading patterns, the pinch points, the local politics, and the opportunities hiding in plain sight – the underused square, the overlooked story, the community group that already has trust. That intelligence is invaluable when designing event activity that is both meaningful and operationally realistic.

BIDs also bring convening power, which is particularly important for community projects, local celebrations and ideas that emerge organically. When an event requires highways, licensing, police, cleansing, communications, businesses, cultural partners and community stakeholders to align, the BID often becomes the thread that ties it all together. In practice, this means less duplication, faster decision-making, and delivery that feels joined-up rather than piecemeal.

A strong BID event programme is rarely about one big moment. It’s about rhythm: a calendar that creates repeat reasons to visit, spend time, and feel connected to the town or city centre. When I support BIDs with delivery, the focus is on building programmes that are:

  • Purpose-led, with clear objectives beyond “we should do an event”, and outcomes that deliver genuine value for stakeholders
  • Operationally robust, with realistic budgets, defined roles, clear governance, licensing pathways, contingency planning and proportionate crowd and risk management
  • Brand-consistent, reinforcing a place narrative rather than feeling like disconnected activity
  • Measurable, using simple but meaningful evaluation to support learning, reporting and future investment cases

Often, the most valuable work happens behind the scenes: structuring planning cycles, embedding scalable risk and safety processes, clarifying decision pathways, and creating templates that reduce workload year on year. My goal is always programme development and delivery that is “awesome, done properly” — high quality, repeatable and sustainable.

Community-led and community-focused events are sometimes dismissed as “nice-to-haves”, but in regeneration terms they function more like social infrastructure. They create shared moments that build familiarity, trust and a sense of belonging: all of which underpin thriving high streets and resilient places.

BIDs are increasingly leaning into this role: supporting grassroots partners, enabling cultural celebration, and ensuring town centres are not just commercial zones but civic and social spaces too. Done well, community event activity also broadens who feels the centre is “for them”, which matters for inclusion, long-term loyalty and emotional connection to place.

In practice, this often looks like co-design with local groups, micro-grant approaches, event planning support, simplified permissions, or providing infrastructure that community organisers struggle to access such as stewarding, barriers, amplified communications, insurance guidance or supplier frameworks. Small interventions can unlock significant impact.

Regeneration is complex and slow, and events cannot solve structural challenges alone. But they can be powerful accelerators. They can demonstrate possibility quickly: showcasing meanwhile spaces, trialling pedestrianisation, building momentum around investment corridors, or shifting the narrative people hold about a place. This is where strategy becomes as important as delivery. Mapping assets, audiences and gaps; clarifying the “why”; shaping an annual rhythm; and creating a pipeline of activity that builds capability rather than draining it are all critical to long-term success.

For destinations, events are part of the overall experience – the product we are effectively “selling”. They can attract first-time visitors, extend stays, drive off-peak demand and differentiate places competing on similar offers. However, tourism-focused event strategies only work when anchored in what is distinctive about a place: its stories, landscapes, makers, communities, heritage or subcultures. Within BID contexts, tourism strategy often involves bridging local authenticity with visitor appeal. This might include curated seasonal campaigns, carefully scaled signature events, partnerships with regional DMOs, alignment with transport and accommodation providers, and ensuring the visitor experience is frictionless, with clear wayfinding, good information, safe environments and thoughtful programming that encourages dwell time and optimises economic impact.

Across all of this, the consistent challenge is translating ambition into action without burning people out. BID teams are often small and stretched, stakeholders are numerous, timelines are tight, and public perception is unforgiving.

That’s why my approach blends strategy, project management and risk-based operational planning: clear outcomes, realistic delivery models, shared responsibility, and decision-making that is structured enough to be safe but flexible enough to respond to real-world conditions. When those foundations are in place, events stop being a scramble and start becoming an asset, building year-on-year value for businesses and communities.

Working with BIDs across the UK has reinforced a simple truth: events are one of the most human tools we have in place-making. When they’re planned with purpose, delivered professionally, and connected to wider regeneration and tourism objectives, they become far more than a day out – they become a lever for pride, identity, confidence and economic resilience.

I’m genuinely delighted to have been asked to judge this year’s awards because BIDs play such a critical, and often under-recognised, role in shaping places. Having worked alongside BID teams across the UK, I’ve seen the creativity, resilience and sheer graft behind successful programmes. Judging these awards is an opportunity to celebrate that work properly, to recognise projects that are ambitious, well-executed and grounded in local need, and to champion examples of “awesome, done properly”, where strong strategy, thoughtful delivery and genuine place-making come together to create lasting value.

—

________________________________

Claire Drakeley

Senior Academic Leader | University Of Northampton