York BID hosts Annual General Meeting

York BID welcomed local business representatives and partners to its Annual General Meeting last night, which took place at the Principal York Hotel Events Centre.

Guests heard from a variety of speakers at the event, including David Skaith, Mayor for York and North Yorkshire. Skaith gave an overview of his early days in office and his ambitions for supporting high streets across the region. Allan Cook, Founder of Arlington Real Estate, also delivered an update on progress for the York Central development, ambitions for the site, and how businesses can get involved.

Andrew Lowson, Executive Director of York BID, presented on a ‘health check’ for the high street, and discussed how York is performing economically compared to the rest of the UK. He then welcomed the wider York BID team to the stage to present on key projects and successes delivered during the previous year of operations (2023/24), including Colour & Light, Ghosts in the Gardens, York Restaurant Week, York Mural Trail, plus York BID’s intrinsic Street Rangers and Street Cleaners initiatives.

A Q&A segment gave audience members the opportunity to ask questions to the speakers. Topics included sustainability in the city, boosting affordable housing on the York Central development whilst discouraging short-term lets, and how local businesses could get involved in the future. David Skaith also gave an overview of what the High Street Fund would look like.

The event continued with formal business, including the ratification of York BID director appointments and a members’ voting process. Guests then enjoyed an evening of networking once the presentations had concluded.

Andrew Lowson, Executive Director of York BID, said:

‘It was encouraging to see so many business representatives and partners attend our AGM. York’s High Street offer continues to be strong compared to the rest of the UK, and we must now embrace city developments to diversify our city centre economy. We need public realm investment, greater capacity within planning departments and strong leadership to stimulate growth, as demonstrated by our speakers. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our guest speakers, attendees and the team for a successful event, and look forward to seeing the city flourish further in the coming months.’

For further insights and updates, take a look at our most recent Annual Review.