Yorkshire Coast BID directors appointed: 'open communication will be at the heart of strategy'

A statement says the Board of Directors has been appointed and first met a couple of weeks ago but says they delayed announcing their appointments "to provide them with the time to review how the BID (Business Improvement District) was developed and the feedback received over the last six months".

The last appointments to the 14-person board were made early this month, and it is as follows (occupation in brackets, as stated on Companies House website):

Rudi Barman (attraction director)

Richard Bradley (local government officer)

Dean Bullen (company director)

Andrew Clay (CEO)

Maureen Driffield (store manager)

Peter Gibson (general manager)

Benjamin Gilligan (director)

Michael Graham (director)

James Hodgson (hotelier)

Shaun Horton (councillor)

John Miller (company director)

Jayne Nendick (CEO)

Clive Rowe-Evans (hotel and leisure consultant)

John Senior (company director)

More than 1,000 tourism businesses with a rateable value of above £12,000 will pay into the BID levy, at a rate of 1.5% of rateable value, which aims to raise approximately £5 million over five years to promote and organise events from Staithes in the north of the region to Spurn Point in the south.

The first bills will go out on August 1.

Meeting over BID; read HERE about what was said

Whitby Board Director Mark Miller said: “It was important for us to understand what has happened over the last 18 months and, like others, I had concerns, but I can reassure businesses that everything has been done correctly.

"The BID is here now and it is all of our responsibility as business owners to make the BID a success”.

The statement added: "To ensure the BID commits to operating openly in businesses best interest, the BID Team asked the Board to approve changes to policies such as the Member Company Rules to encourage and allow businesses to actively participate.

Scarborough Board Director Rudi Barman said: “Open communication and transparency is key. We decided unanimously to change the Company Member Rules to show that we are listening and ready to drive the BID forward in a way that fits with businesses need".

Over the following weeks the BID will be making a series of announcements setting out the Year 1 strategy and inviting businesses to meet to provide feedback on specific projects.

Any businesses with questions are encouraged to get in touch with the BID Team or join the mailing list to receive updates.