Dear Colne BID Businesses – Your Year 2 Colne BID levy bills for 2019/2020 have been posted out ( Friday 24th July) and you can expect to receive them any day.
We know that the current COVID-19 Pandemic is causing great uncertainty and will have an unprecedented impact on the overwhelming majority of businesses within Colne Town Centre. We fully understand the difficulties which many of you will be facing at this time and the financial pressure you may be under, and we are aware some businesses still remain closed. However, we are legally obliged to issue the Year 2 BID levy invoices in line with BID legislation and the Business Plan approved at the BID ballot in 2018. Please note that levy bills are normally due for payment in April. The Year 2 bills should have been issued on 1st April 2020 but due to going into lockdown late March the BID Board has reviewed the billing situation monthly and taken guidance from other BIDS in a similar situation. Payment terms are usually to pay within 14 days. We have delayed the billing process by almost 4 months and have also extended the payment terms to allow up to three months to pay your levy. Your BID Levy payment is due by 30th October 2020 (or before this date if you can). This will allow you to budget and have chance for most of you to resume trading.
Colne BID is a small business too, that has been affected by COVID-19 as we have delayed the billing cycle which has an impact on our income. We’re a non- profit making limited company, set up to deliver the Colne BID objectives as a result of the BID Ballot held in June 2018. Unless we receive cash /income we cannot deliver the BID objectives on your behalf. We are currently still operating on cash reserves from Year 1 BID levy income, that we are making last until our Year 2 income starts to come in.
If you are in a position to pay your BID levy now this will ease our cash flow (as we can’t operate without income). This will enable us to plan future activities, events and campaigns with confidence to launch as soon as restrictions of movement and events come to an end. If you are genuinely struggling to make payment, we encourage you to contact Lisa Durkin, Colne BID Manager: manager@colnebid.co.uk as soon as possible to discuss what options may be available.
We will work hard to ensure value for every penny of your levy money, and to ensure that our wonderful town not only survives but becomes stronger when the COVID-19 pandemic ends, with more focus on shopping local, business resilience, a safer town centre and supporting our local High Street. You can download our Colne BID Review here.
Together we will come through this and emerge even stronger and Colne will bounce back.
We look forward to seeing you all again soon and holding regular business and face to face meetings when the situation allows. In the meantime please contact us to discuss any issues you may be facing, your bill or payment terms.
Yours sincerely,
The Directors & Team at Colne BID
To keep up with the latest Colne BID news visit www.colnebid.co.uk or www.cometocolne.com for our visitor and shopping information.
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