The first steps in forming a Business Improvement District (BID) have been taken and in the coming months 182 businesses and organisations based in the centre of Barrhead will be consulted on how they think the future of the town should be shaped.

A steering group comprising local business people has been established and charged with the task of devising a five-year business plan tailored to the specific needs of Barrhead.

The project is one of a growing number of similar BID initiatives sprouting up across the country, with 27 already up and running, including in Giffnock and Clarkston, and a further 19 in development.

The BID framework has been used to enhance town centres, tourism or business parks with successful examples bringing a range of improvements such as better safety and security measures, community events, marketing and loyalty schemes, all of which can drive footfall and attract more investment.

Project co-ordinator Laura Molloy, of Giffnock-based RPL Marketing, has been recruited by East Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce to help establish a BID for Barrhead, working in tandem with local business owners.

Laura explained: “My role is to get the steering group together and facilitate them through what is quite a heavy legislative process leading up to a vote. It involves lots of consultation with all the businesses in the collective, in this case Barrhead town centre, and from that consultation we then pull together a five year business plan.

“There is so much going on in Barrhead, such as the local development plans and further incoming investment, it’s a question of how do you maximise that for your town centre, what do you want your town centre to look like?

“That’s what comes from the consultation and that then goes into the business plan which is built by the steering group. The business plan then goes to a vote and all the businesses within the area get to vote on the business plan and whether or not they want it to go ahead.” The BID, run independently from the local authority, is open to all premises that have a rateable value so that includes churches, banks, businesses and organisations like Barrhead Housing Association who are all being encouraged to get involved over the coming months.

The process began in November last year and since then all 182 organisations that come into the town centre area have been contacted, with a public meeting having taken place at the Barrhead Foundry to explain how the BID works and how it can benefit the local economy as well as individual businesses.

Laura pointed out the wide range of steps that can be taken and says different towns take different approaches, with some taking a community-led approach involving schools and community groups.

Other examples include organising a Christmas extravaganza, strategies to drive footfall, energy cost reduction, shop front improvements, and marketing initiatives to attract new retailers to the town.

There are 14 people on the steering group including Paul Santi, of the New Yorker fish and chip shop on Main Street and Sara Park Patterson of Bluestone gift shop on Cross Arthurlie Street.

Both are enthused about the BID’s potential and are looking forward to seeing the project come to fruition in a round one year’s time.

Paul said: “I’ve been working in Barrhead for most of my life and I’ve seen a big improvement over the past five years. I think it looks a lot nicer and there is a lot less trouble than there used to be. It feels a lot safer and East Renfrewshire Council have put a lot of money into the Main Street. I think, as town centres go, it’s pretty good but I think it can be better and I’m sure the BID can play a big part in making that happen.” Sara, too, is eager to see the project find its feet and is convinced Barrhead can benefit in the same way as other towns who already have a BID in operation.

She said: “We have three shops and we are already part of a BID in our Largs shop so we have already seen the benefits of having a BID and we were quite keen to get involved, in particular with the consultation process to try and encourage other surrounding businesses to get involved and to see the positive impact it could have on their businesses.” Further discussions with all the businesses will continue over the coming months leading up to a vote and if all goes well the BID is expected to get the green light in around 12 months’ time.