Liverpool BID Company has appointed four new ambassadors after a first 12 months of the ‘meet and greet’ patrollers supporting businesses in the city’s commercial centre.
Katie Rainford, Mark Williams and Barbara Fox will be joining the team and looking after a wider zone to include the high street, Cavern Quarter, Bold Street and in and around Clayton Square and St Johns. Sue O’Neill will be joining the current ambassadors Nathan Marsh and Michael Jaeger in the Commercial District.
First introduced in January 2016, the BID Ambassadors, wearing long dark coats and bowler hats, have been working in the Commercial District acting as a friendly face to sign-post visitors and provide a link between them, the Liverpool BID Company and city centre partners. Using a digital reporting app, the ambassadors can report issues affecting businesses in the area such as anti-social behaviour, and litter and graffiti.
During 2016, the ambassadors welcomed 32,000 people in the Commercial District, raised 2,500 cleansing and environmental issues such as street lighting, graffiti, anti-social behaviour and street furniture damage with 80 per cent of those being resolved within five days. The ambassadors also made over 1000 personal visits to BID members to discuss issues of concern in the city centre.
Their daily contact with hospitality businesses in the area also led to the development of the Leisure and Hospitality Forum, as a platform to discuss issues and for members to engage with like-minded businesses.
Bill Addy, chief executive of the Liverpool BID Company, said: “The ambassadors have been our eyes and ears in the Commercial District over the last 12 months and the information that they have provided has been invaluable for us to deliver the best service possible. Based on their reports, we’re able to directly address any issues or do more of what people like to help make the area the best place to live, work and socialise. Now we hope to see equal success on the high street as we extend the programme.”
The new BID Ambassadors will work Monday to Sunday, from 8am to 7pm. Visit http://www.liverpoolbidcompany.com.
