Proposals unveiled to launch new Business Improvement District in Liverpool city centre

A new Business Improvement District (BID) could be launched in Liverpool.

The proposed Liverpool Independents BID will cover the Baltic Triangle, Ropewalks, and Chinatown areas of the city centre.

The three areas will be led by local figures in a move to bring transparency and accountability to the organisation.

Businessman Peter Schriewersmann will lead the Ropewalks area, journalist Fiona Shaw will lead on the Baltic Triangle area, and financial director Allan Chan will lead on the Chinatown side.

Mr Schriewersmann currently chairs the Ropewalks Area CIC (Community Interest Company) and Ms Shaw chairs the Baltic Creative Area CIC.

He spoke with TheBusinessDesk.com and outlined the plans for the new BID.

Peter Schriewersmann

He said: “Our three areas are quite distinct, but we are joined in what is our most precious value, which is independence.”

Businesses eligible to join the BID will have a rateable value of £10,000 or above and will pay 1.6% of their rateable value as a levy towards the BID.

However, smaller businesses with a rateable value of less than £10,000, will be able to participate in the BID as associate members.

Mr Schriewersmann said this is expected to raise around £350,000 per annum from levies alone, but he added: “We can always raise more money by applying for funding.

“We are a legal entity now which means we can go for funding. We can also become a licensing authority, which could raise more money.”

And he pledged: “Money raised in each separate area will be spent in those areas.

“Self determination and independence is our core value.

“We are best placed to determine where the money should be spent.”

The idea for a specific BID for the three areas emerged during the pandemic: “It was about 18 months ago, during the pandemic, when all the areas felt we needed to take matters into our own hands and do something for ourselves.

“We want to self determine. Business people know what they need to do to make their businesses thrive in their environment.

“If you know what you need to do, come to us and it can be part of the business plan.”

Mr Schriewersmann said: “I have been involved with the Ropewalks community since 2010, first chairing the residents’ group, then the area CIC.

“We always struggled to raise money for anything and were dependent on handouts. We saw we needed a more stable income stream for our area.”

The BID area is mostly comprised of small businesses, apart from shipping giant Grimaldi, formerly ACL, which has its Liverpool base on Duke Street.

But one of the biggest industries in the area is the night time economy, which Mr Schriewersmann said has not been catered for as well as it might.

He said: “Our Independents BID is daytime and night time, but the Baltic and Ropewalks, and Berry Street in Chinatown, is a bustling night time economy.”

He said feedback for the new BID has been “very good”, adding: “The people involved are fantastic people. Chinatown, Baltic. They are all actively listening.”

If the new BID wins approval, it would sit alongside the much bigger Liverpool BID Company. But Mr Schriewersmann said the proposed independents structure is much better placed to serve the three different areas, although he added: “We will be good neighbours with Liverpool BID.”

Liverpool Independents BID has a five-year business plan that has been created through the involvement of resident businesses, a process that sits at the heart of the proposal, said Mr Schriewersmann: “Our main point in this BID is transparency. People can challenge us on the structure we will have, such as boards, and where the money is going.”

The aim is for the BID to be formally launched in the second quarter of 2023, following a ballot in the first quarter.

Mr Schriewersmann is originally from Germany but settled into the UK business environment almost 20 years ago.

He said: “I come from a working class background in rural Germany. I worked for a big German corporation for 14 years and I have been in the UK since 2005.”

In 2018 he founded a property business in Liverpool and, just before the pandemic, and as a confirmed Liverpool FC fan, acquired Hotel Anfield, on Anfield Road. Last year he, and a business partner, opened Onyx Real Estate in the city centre.

He said: “It has been a good journey and I don’t regret a single thing.”

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