Christmas 2020 Newsletter

Well I think it's fair to say that we had all hoped for at least some degree of stability by the end of the year yet still, we all face continuing changes and uncertainty. Despite this, it's been great to see our retailers back open and just wish we had been able to see our hospitality venues open too though yet again, many of you have taken up the challenge and brought festive treats and drinks to us for take-away and delivery. The resourcefulness amongst you has been amazing to see.

Some of you will have seen the press release about my resignation as BID Manager. To say it was a difficult decision is an understatement but having started a new business with my husband, it has quickly become clear that I cannot continue to give the BID work the time and focus it needs. I am therefore working with our Chairman Stuart and the rest of the team to find a replacement and the role is currently advertised with a closing date of 30th December. The details are below, please pass these on to anyone you think would be interested in this great opportunity.
BID Manager Vacancy

The BID Office will be closed from 24th December through to Tuesday 5th January. On behalf of the Ilkley BID team, we wish you a happy Christmas and look forward to working with you in 2021 and beyond.

Helen

Discover Ilkley at Christmas

We've had a challenging time this year and our "Discover Ilkley at Christmas" plans were scuppered by the second lockdown and the uncertainty of retailers not knowing if they were going to be able to open at the beginning of December. We did carry on with our plans and brushed aside our disappointment of not being able to do everything we wanted to do.

Here's a rundown of the Discover Ilkley at Christmas Campaign:

Two interactive Elf Trails and a Festive Window Display Trail have been running since the end of November on the LoyalFree app to encourage visitors to explore the Town centre and visit areas of the town they might not normally venture to. Thank you to the businesses that have donated prizes for the Elf Trail competitions - prizes will be allocated to the winners in the New Year.
Visitors can vote for their favourite festive window on the LoyalFree app and this has been promoted on the Discover Ilkley Facebook page. Please share, like and follow this page if you haven't already.
To brighten up the town, a number of empty shop windows have been professionally decorated with Winter Wonderland themes with one of them made into an Elfie Selfie Station so visitors can take a photograph against a fun Festive background.
Festive music has been playing at weekends in the town centre.
Real life Elves visited many retailers and businesses to make videos to promote festive tips and offer gift ideas from Ilkley businesses. These videos have been shared on the Discover Ilkley facebook page and you can see them all on the Discover Ilkley YouTube channel.
Welcome Elves (kind volunteers) were stationed in the town centre on Sunday 4th December which was the Real Food Ilkley market day. They were enlisted to help maintain social distancing and to help and direct shoppers to different areas of the town.

Discover Ilkley Website Update

To give more time for businesses to submit their details and to avoid duplicating the efforts of a couple of other local initiatives promoting a Christmas 'shop local' message, we decided to put back the launch of the new Discover Ilkley website to the new year. All the BID businesses will have the opportunity to be listed on the new website and we would like to thank those that have provided us with their images and business information. There are still some members that haven't replied to our email request for information. Please do get in touch with your details so you can be included on the new website.

To run alongside the launch of the new website here is a sneak preview of the Discover Ilkley video that has been created to help promote the town in 2021.
https://youtu.be/DcONDcLsokQ

HR Advice for BID Members

We are continuing to offer BID members with the HR & Employment Law Advice service until the end of February 2021. We understand that many businesses are facing difficult decisions so please take advantage of our local HR representative who will be able to assist with any HR or employment law matters.

Telephone / Online Support will be available regarding the following subjects:

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
Redundancies
Restructures
Terms and conditions of employment
Recruitment
Contracts of employment, policies and procedures
Legal documentation
Training
Disputes, grievances and disciplinary support

Please contact info@ilkleybid.co.uk to use this service.

Sparkling Bradford - Free Advertisting

Visit Bradford, The Broadway Bradford, Bradford Business Improvement District (BID) and Bradford Council are running the Sparkling Bradford Winter campaign. Their aim is to remind residents to discover the district on their doorstep safely, and find ways to support local during challenging times.
The campaign will promote "Eat Local", "Shop Local" and cultural experiences in the district

It's free to join the Sparkling Bradford campaign and they will be featuring businesses on the Sparkling Bradford website and also through a social media and PR campaign. If you would like them to promote your business please complete the form: https://ilkleybid.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Sparkling-Bradford-Winter-event-proforma.docx and send to lisa.brankin@bradford.gov.uk. The form does state to send by 6th November but we have been advised that the campaign is running until the end of February 2021 and entries at any date will be accepted as they will be updating their content throughout the winter.

For those that do operate online or have a website we do recommend you take part as your listing will link back to your website and provide free advertising and marketing. Please visit the website www.sparklingbradford.info

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!