I went to the meeting at Foxy's to hear about the Penarth BID on Thursday (January 14) and was very surprised at the negative opinions that were raised by some of the attendees, but pleased that the responses were aired as its important for all business who are going to be affected by the BID, whether it is successful or not, to understand just what is involved, what it will cost and then make an informed decision as to whether it is worthwhile.

I had also read the letters in the Penarth Times, from Nick Osborne and Bernard Cody and was aware of their concerns, primarily the cost of administering the scheme and the lack of benefit to businesses outside the town centre. These are very valid concerns and need to be considered by all business owners before they cast their vote.

I have to say that in my opinion our town needs the BID to be successful. I am a relative newcomer (27 years ago) but have lived here long enough to know that Penarthians love their town, (as I do) and there is great concern about empty shop units and businesses struggling to compete with internet providers and out of town shopping outlets, channels that I also shop with, as well as our local independent retailers.

I did speak at the meeting and said that our business would not benefit from the BID being successful, we are in the printing business, but operate on a business to business basis with customers all over the UK.

However after the meeting ended I did put more thought into my comment and realised that we could and should also benefit. There is no reason at all why a BID Manager could not arrange cost saving initiatives on a wide variety of areas, from electricity, to gas, to refuse collection, to internet provision and phone lines. Group purchasing deals are very common in business and if I could save money on the costs of running our business I would see my investment in the BID as worthwhile. I can’t see any way that something like this could be put in place by anyone operating on a voluntary basis, it needs to be a paid role, with the businesses that will gain from the role funding it.

I would also make benefit on a personal basis because I feel that a successful BID will make our town a better place to live, work and shop.

Most of the focus of discussion is on increasing the footfall in the town centre, this is rightfully the primary concern of a successful BID. Whenever I visit Cowbridge I always wonder why Penarth is not as busy, and the answer is that it has a better mix of outlets, with more parking and overall a better offer to shoppers.

This is not a criticism of our local shop owners, the likes of Hamptons, Foxy’s, Dear Doris, Northern Star (and so many more, sorry for not mentioning you all) all make our town what it is. Penarth is on the up, James Sommerin’s restaurant will contribute to making it a destination place, but I do feel that with a more co ordinated approach Penarth’s offer could be so much better, which in itself would encourage more independent retailers to set up in the town, which would encourage more visitors which would encourage… ..you get my drift I’m sure.

I feel that if Penarth had someone actually driving the town forward, giving retailers a voice and lobbying for local businesses then this is more likely to happen. The Council will not do this for us and a Chamber of Commerce would rely on the largesse of voluntary contributors. I am sure that all of your readers will have fond memories of Maggie Knight, without whom we would not have an award winning pier gracing our seafront, we need someone like Maggie to do their magic on our town centre. We can’t expect anyone to do this on a voluntary basis, we are all too busy running our businesses.

Therefore in my opinion the BID needs to succeed, it needs to finance a Maggie who will fight and cajole and plan and encourage and help every interested party in making our town the best town in the Vale and beyond.

Maggie, where are you cobber?

Dave Noble

The Edge (Systems) Ltd

Windsor Place

Penarth