Key Priorities

Reading’s Abbey Quarter BID is a private sector-led vehicle with a goal to create a world-class business environment. Its aim is to establish and sustain Reading’s Abbey Quarter as a thriving business location, providing added value through a number of key priorities. These priorities form the basis of the team’s working during the five-year term.

Cleaner and greener
We work with the BID committee to identify streets that are seen as a priority, levering in public sector match funding to enable a programme of improvements to be made over its five-year lifespan. 

• We deliver enhanced twice-yearly seasonal and floral displays in summer and winter
• We’ve initiated (pre-Covid) a new annual summer floral festival which built on the BID’s awards in Britain in Bloom, across 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019
• We run a hugely successful free cardboard collection scheme which removes 4-6 tons of cardboard weekly
• We fund and manage twice-yearly deep cleansing and gum removal of 64,000 sq. metres of pedestrian thoroughfares
• We manage Reading town centre’s Christmas lighting scheme and Christmas trees throughout the festive period
• We supplement Reading Borough Council’s services by organising a rapid response to the removal of graffiti, pavement detritus, fly-tipping, fly-posting

Safer
We ensure the Abbey Quarter area feels safe and secure, identifying and implementing a number of safety initiatives to maximise security for residents, workers and visitors.

• We employ two full time professional Business Wardens who patrol the BID area 7 days a week, helping to combat shoplifting, aggressive begging, drug taking, rough sleeping and anti-social behaviour
• We part-fund two CCTV operators to help ensure the BID area achieves security coverage
• We support the Reading Business Against Crime (RBAC) and Town Safe radio scheme used by over fifty businesses, linking them with CCTV, PCSOs, Business Warden and Police
• We work closely with partners – police, council, member organisations and the voluntary sector to maximise security for visitors, residents and workers promoting the Abbey Quarter as a ‘low risk’ location

Connected
We understand the importance of being connected, managing an events and a communications plan which fosters positive work-life balance perceptions among workers and helps maximise staff retention and loyalty.

• We host regular eye-catching events to animate public spaces in the Commercial District to ensure a vibrant environment for workers
• We have introduced an ongoing networking schedule allowing businesses to showcase their offer and provide valuable business to business opportunities
• We initiate and manage a series of Abbey Quarter health and social initiatives such as choirs, aerobics classes, mindfulness, health screening, jogging
• We hold regular BID member socials and networking events
• We have developed Visit-Reading and ReadingBID.co.uk and social media as key channels of communication
• We send weekly and monthly updates to the BID community with latest Reading news

Branded
As guardians of Reading’s place brand, we ensure that Reading is consistently promoted as a great place to live, work and do business. We manage marketing campaigns and events which showcase Reading’s, supporting the visitor economy and attracting inward investment.

• We identify and implement branding initiatives throughout the Abbey Quarter to reinforce its sense of place, identity and excellence
• We continually celebrate the Abbey Quarter’s untapped cultural heritage showcasing Reading Prison, the historic Abbey Ruins and surrounding waterways to brand the area as an iconic business destination
• We implement regional and national place marketing programmes such as improved wayfinding and signage
• We support and lobby the agencies charged with attracting inward investment to the city region, ensuring that the Commercial District remains a key driver of our economy