Andrea Smith, Franklin Solicitor, Co-Chair of the Northampton Town Centre Ltd, talks about Northampton BID, the imminent BID ballot and how our town centre is likely to look in the future.
“With the impact of COVID-19 and Brexit, the national economy is in uncertain times and whatever happens, many challenges lie ahead and the commercial world continues to change at an ever-increasing pace.
It is evident that Northampton was exposed, even before COVID, to the same changing dynamics affecting the way in which people use all towns and city centres. The scale of change facing larger cities and towns is even greater but for smaller towns such as Northampton, there are new opportunities emerging.
In this very uncertain world, it is difficult to make any predictions for the long term. However, one thing is becoming clear in that people are starting to value their local town more and town and city centres of the future will become hubs for their local community for all aspects of people’s lives. They will not simply be shopping destinations but places where people will want to live, work and spend their leisure time in a flexible way.
In many respects Northampton is ideally placed to take advantage of these opportunities and start to develop into a safe, welcoming and forward-thinking town for the whole community. The new BID Proposal and BID plan builds on the work of the BID to date and makes a step change in terms of the influence the BID can bring to major plans and opportunities for businesses in Northampton.
There will be a number of opportunities to discuss these plans in more detail so please note the dates below in your diary and let’s create a new future together.”
Read the full BID Proposal and Business Plan HERE.
