NE1 launches consultation to shape business plans for the next five years

NE1, the Business Improvement District company for Newcastle city centre, has published a consultation document outlining its proposed plans and priorities for Newcastle city centre over the next five years. The plans were presented to an audience of invited businesses at a breakfast briefing session on Thursday, 15 June.

A ballot will be held later in the year giving the city’s business community the chance to reinstate NE1 for a fourth term and ring-fence more than £10m investment over the next five years. The money will be spent improving and shaping the city centre, at a time when Newcastle is undergoing transformational change.

The consultation document has been distributed to 1,400 businesses in Newcastle and NE1 are requesting feedback and input to help develop and agree a business plan that will determine the strategic direction of the company from 2024 - 2029. In September businesses will be balloted on whether to support NE1 to develop and deliver these agreed priorities and help set the agenda for the city until 2029.

In advance of the ballot, NE1 has spent the last six months holding extensive talks and face-to-face meetings with businesses across the city, as well as conducting consumer and business research. The aim has been to identify the priorities that best reflect the ambitions businesses have for Newcastle and help set the themes and ideas for the next round of consultation.

If successful in the ballot, NE1 will focus on these key themes and actions to create the best possible trading environment for the city’s businesses for the future.

Through local and national lobbying, NE1 secured a further £41.4m investment on top of the levy, for projects in Newcastle, including the retail core redevelopment, Newcastle’s Christmas and New Year experience, and £470,000 in grants for 224 hospitality businesses to create pavement cafés to operate post-Covid.

Even with two years of pandemic, NE1 delivered a hugely successful events programme which played a critical part in helping the city bounce back quickly post-Covid, attracting over 340,000 visitors to the city centre in the last year alone.

During this time, NE1 also played a prominent role in attracting and delivering major events including the Rugby League World Cup, three Magic Weekend events, as well as its own annual programme including Newcastle Restaurant Week which generates £1m for the sector each time it is delivered, Summer in the City events and activations, and Screen on the Green.

Businesses can expect the same level of investment and activations over the next term if they vote ‘Yes’ to NE1’s BID renewal.

Stephen Patterson, chief executive of NE1 Ltd said: “It is a hugely exciting time for the city and NE1. Over the past six months, we have been discussing the challenges and opportunities facing the city’s business community and today, we have launched our formal consultation on businesses’ priorities for the next 5-years.

“Over the next month, we will be contacting all of our businesses to test and refine these priorities. It is an opportunity for each business to influence and shape NE1’s plan for the future.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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