Ilkley and Keighley are to benefit from an award of £1.28 million in Covid-19 grants to local Business Improvement Districts (BIDs).
The funding from Bradford Council is being provided to the BIDs to allow them to help local town centres to recover and grow strongly following the impacts of the Covid pandemic and resulting restrictions.
It’s expected the Additional Restrictions Grant funding will be spent on a range of programmes designed to support local businesses, drive footfall and improve the vibrancy of the city and local town centres.
The Ilkley BID will receive instalments up to a maximum of £320,000, with Keighley BID having a maximum of £362,000 and Bradford BID £603,000.
The allocations are based on proposals put forward by each BID and the programmes of support needed for the number of businesses in each area.
Simon Blondel, Chair of the Keighley BID, said: “This funding will allow us to do some very targeted work to assist the Keighley town centre to grow back after what has been a very difficult time.”
Geraldine Thompson from Ilkley BID, said: “We are delighted to receive this grant which will help us support Ilkley businesses to recover from the adverse impacts of the pandemic and resulting restrictions. We are digitalising Ilkley town centre to provide a strong marketing platform for businesses and encouraging footfall through innovative augmented reality trails, and a public Wi-Fi network makes all this possible.”
Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “We have been working very hard to do everything we can to help local firms, protect jobs and support economic growth.
“This latest initiative will allow the Business Improvement Districts to tailor support to best match local needs and we are investigating options for supporting firms in smaller towns and villages across the district.”
