BUTE has overwhelmingly rejected continuing support for the UK’s only island-wide business improvement district or BID.
The decision, as voted by members of the Bute BID, comes at the end of a turbulent first term for the organisation and a year after it had changed its board and direction.
Under the guidance of one of Scotland’s leading place developers, Phil Prentice, the Bute BID was aiming to secure a second five-year term focusing on tourism and events to help boost business and economy across the island.
He told this newspaper its fall is a failure of the renewal campaign.
Colin Moulson heads the BID for Dunoon, operating under the name Dunoon Presents. He said it is vital the work of a BID is clearly visible to both business and community. He warned people need to see it in action, or they will perceive inaction.
The economic cost to Bute of the collapse of the BID is estimated to be in the realms of £8million over the coming five years.
The loss of the Bute BID will have a direct impact on tourism and planned events.
The VisitBute website will be closed and with immediate effect there will be no dedicated marketing, publicity material, grants for business or support for event design or delivery on Bute.
Because of the decision by Bute’s businesses, there will be no further access to funds to plant public gardens or collective lobbying for investment.
BIDs are often “replacements” for local trade or business associations and operate in defined geographical areas where local businesses collaborate and vote to invest collectively in improvements that boost their economy and environment.
Dunoon is into its third term of hosting a BID called Dunoon Presents. It successfully delivers a range of events including Punk on the Peninsula and the inaugural annual Food Festival launched this year.
BIDs operate for up to five years and are developed, managed and paid for by businesses through a compulsory BID levy.
At the end of the five year period, if the businesses that are part of a BID want to continue, another vote, a renewal ballot, must take place. As a result of that democratic process the local BID gets support to continue – or it folds.
Here, we present two voices: Phil Prentice reflecting on the loss of the Bute BID and Colin Moulson, head of the Dunoon Presents BID on the important role it plays across Cowal.
Phil Prentice writes:
The Isle of Bute Business Improvement District is no more. The businesses on the island have clearly said that they don’t want it. So be it. As adviser to the Board this defeat falls on my shoulders squarely. I’m extremely deflated, a personal failure.
I was asked to come to Bute a year ago by the previous board who engaged my services to shut the BID down. Staff and Directors were facing extreme, and in my mind, unfair criticism. They’d had enough.
I came back to Bute to meet them and it immediately stirred fond memories. A beautiful Island in the Firth of Clyde, Gothic mansions, Victoria villas, glorious beaches, independent retailers, characters galore and all a hop, skip and jump from mainland Scotland. Lots of things to build on. The Victorian Winter Garden and world famous toilets, the renovation of the Pavilion, Mount Stuart House, Rothesay Castle and so much more.
The Isle of Bute BID was the first Island BID in the world. It had also been the first to start during the Covid pandemic. Not the easiest set of circumstances to deal with.
However, the voluntary Board managed some impressive outcomes: the outdoor piazza at the amphitheatre which allowed small traders to keep open during Covid 19 was copied all across Scotland. The BID also delivered big time on the key objective of marketing the Island to the central belt and beyond. CalMac confirmed visitor numbers were up 16% year on year. All on a shoestring budget and a board of volunteers.
So we tried to reset rather than close down. We knew business was being taxed heavily and facing challenges so we kept levies at 2021 levels and ensured charities and churches, schools, medical facilities etc were exempted.
A new board was put in place. A superb project manager was appointed. We turned the corner. Open meetings with levy payers were held. We listened and undertook to carry out the key actions to remedy concerns. Finances were published, more marketing, more transparency, more communication. Regular newsletters were introduced. Halloween and Christmas went well, visitor numbers kept increasing.
Bute was also being considered for the European Democracy conference and for the UK Town of Culture. High stakes, lots of funding. The regeneration the Island deserves.
All to no avail. The renewal campaign has failed. The businesses have said no.
So, without the BID, important events such as the Christmas Lighting Festival won’t happen. The Visit Bute web and marketing platform will close. The Amphitheatre, Kids Playpark, Gardens will be left unfinished or without a maintenance plan.
Perhaps the naysayers will fill the space. I won’t hold my breath.
For Duncan Martin as Chair, Jill Devlin as manager and the directors – I wish you all the best. You are the invisible and humble volunteers who strive to make Bute a better place for all.
Colin Moulson writes:
I think it is important to recognise that all BIDs are different and that no two are the same in the way their output is produced. It is also relatively unusual for re ballots to fail and indeed there are more recent examples of successful ballots including Falkirk (5th term), Lerwick and St Andrews.
The BID model still appears to be seen as the ideal partnership and resource for business communities to achieve objectives that may not otherwise be possible or affordable and the Dunoon Presents team firmly believe the BID structure is key to the town’s future, as do many other business communities across Scotland and the UK.
We have to work with what we have available at our disposal in every respect and this means relationships with wider stakeholders such as Argyll and Bute Council and community councils are also vital going forward.
In the case of Dunoon, a mission was laid out which was to reposition the town into becoming a modern destination for tourists and visitors with a tangible, enticing and clear proposition.
In this case it has been to a large extent to harness the natural resources of the area via an events strategy that is demonstrably working to the town’s benefit, which is now well into its third five year term.
The stakeholders are key to everything the BID does and help guide the direction of the output in any given term and it is also key that the BID is flexible and adaptable when the circumstances require it.
For example, during exceptional circumstances in the Covid pandemic the BID had to pivot and operate in a completely different way. The BID also had to step in via close collaboration with the local lights group and in doing so, secured the long term future of the town’s Christmas lights.
A brand new event was also introduced in 2026 and proved to be a big success: The Taste Dunoon Food and Drink Festival is estimated to have brought £414,557 direct economic impact into the local economy. This was calculated using competition entry form data and conservative estimates of local spend using the event impact calculator referenced by Visit Scotland.
The town was full and the atmosphere was second to none. Visitors, locals, stallholders, shops, restaurants, cafes and accommodation providers all had a great weekend.
We believe this new event has a long term place in the town events calendar. The new Dunoon West Bay Parkrun is another long term event that is now a weekly occurrence and is already bringing tourists from across the UK. This was part funded by Dunoon Presents.
It is also vitally important that the benefits the BID brings to the town are unmissable to both the business and local communities. This visibility brings a confidence that the project is delivering real, tangible growth for the town and wider area.
In this third term the BID focus has also developed more in that we are now actively working on some non-event projects in addition to the core events, for example, the new digital notice board was identified as a priority for the town and that has now been delivered and will prove to be a useful asset going forward thus leaving a legacy.
Work to develop a permanent cycling pump track facility is currently also ongoing.
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