Services

Ultimately, business is about making money, so as well as helping to improve your turnover by generating additional footfall, we have developed a range of services that will help your bottom line. Most services are exclusive to HBID members only (with the exception of Team Hereford) and we encourage you to get in touch if there is something affecting your business or another way we can support you.

Business Mentoring

Hereford BID Offers 1-2-1 Mentoring for businesses

The Hereford Business Improvement District offers members a business mentoring service for those wishing to boost profitability, whatever the size of your shop or operation.

Upon request, we will arrange for renowned retail specialist Mark O’Dolan to come in and spend time with you, listening and observing your business, all with one aim in mind - to help you make more money.

Hereford businesses, particularly independents, often tell us that running their business can be lonely at times and some extra support, when it is needed, can make a huge difference. Mark O’Dolan brings with him over 30 years of managing and improving retail performance from all genres of retail shops; he will be your confident, offering professional but honest and positive advice that will make a difference to those important sales.

All advice and conversations are confidential between you and Mark and the package offered to BID members includes two visits plus a written report and telephone support when required. If you would like to take advantage of this service please contact the BID team.

Testimonials from BID members: from Kim at KiKi's Juice Bar - "We were very pleased when Hereford BID organised Mark O'Dolan's visit. We were over the moon with the advice and guidance he offered which without any doubt will increase our sales and profits. We love our business and Mark very quickly identified the real strengths of the business but most importantly the opportunities to increase sales. This is exactly the kind of help retailers need in Hereford and I really hope we see Mark again. Well done HBID for taking this initiative."

Camperdown Lane - “Thank you to the Hereford BID for arranging for retail mentor Mark O’Dolan to come and spend some time reviewing our business. Mark was both complimentary and constructive about our thriving new business, highlighting our successes and providing some invaluable advice to help us grow. We feel inspired and motivated about putting Mark’s advice into action.”

Training

New Courses available EXCLUSIVELY for BID members.

Click here to view.

All courses are based on the subject's HBID levy payers told us they need, and from here we have sourced industry leading professionals to impart their knowledge and experience on best practices – helping Hereford to get the edge on other towns and cities.

Enhanced Street Cleaning

With a team of three highly motivated and committed handy staff HBID is dedicated to keeping things looking their absolute best in your street.

Our team is both proactive and reactive; on any given day they might remove unsightly chewing gum outside your shop, vacuum the edges of your premises & pavement (where Balfour Beatty cannot reach), paint and repair damaged benches or plant and care for flowers in your street. If there’s something specific that concerns you, then, we will come to you to see what can be done – your concerns are ours and we want your area to look it’s very best, at all times.

For your convenience, we have allocated a member of the handy team to each business, so do not hesitate to call if you need help – even if it is something that HBID are not directly responsible for, but may be able to influence, such as loose paving or ripped rubbish bags (all of which we have campaigned for and succeeded to improve in the City).

Utility Service Deals

Keeping overhead costs down is critical to any business and we have asked members for their ‘best deal’ on a range of utility services to then share with other members who might benefit.

We are also negotiating with a leading provider of discounted services on an offer for members where you can have access to a range of services such as free banking and low fee credit card transactions. If this is of interest, please contact HBID where we will get in touch once things are finalised.

HBID City News e-bulletins

We want you to have current and relevant information on opportunities in the City and therefore send out regular e-bulletins to members; these are always short and to the point – designed knowing you are busy but need to be informed.

Weekly Footfall Data Report

Each week we send HBID members an informative footfall report on visitor numbers across the city along with an overall trend (since records began), dwell and peak times, weather for the week in question and comparison against national figures.

We have also launched a separate report for the Night Time Economy that focuses on pubs, clubs and restaurants core hours of trading.

Marketing Services

We have a wealth of marketing channels to help your business reach thousands of consumer and ask that you send us your offers, products & services you would like to highlight along with any good news stories you might have. We can offer the following:

Inclusion in our consumer e-bulletin sent to over 10,000 registered users (via our Wi-Fi) who want to hear about news and offers in the City
Coverage via the official City Website: Hereford City Life where offers and news can be found – you can even have direct access to upload offers as and when you need to
Promotion via our Hereford City Life Facebook and Twitter pages

Facewatch Security

We offer all HBID members a free copy of Facewatch – an online security tool that allows you to report (both to Police and other members) a person that has committed a crime/ or a suspect in a crime. Partner agencies all look at the data and by sharing intelligence has led to the successful arrest and prosecution of hundreds of people. Every member can play a role and we encourage you to get in touch for more information.

Team Hereford

Driven by HBID and in mutual partnership with key city stakeholders, Team Hereford is for anyone operationally involved in the city; this could be security guards, public sector staff, store managers/ members, cleaning teams etc.

HBID chairs the meeting and intelligence is shared around the room on existing and emerging issues. Although there is a strong theme of city safety and security we also discuss cleanliness, rough sleepers, city maintenance etc. All HBID members are most welcome to attend.

Key Performance Indicator Reports

Currently in development, we are collating key performance indicators on a range of city outputs from car parking to monthly percentage changes on business takings. When we have sufficient data, all HBID members will have access to our report helping you to take a considered view on the direction of the City.

Investors Information Service

Coming soon we will be launching an investor service for anyone considering doing business in the city. The service will provide information on premises opportunities, local facts and figures and business services that are available.