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Some independent shop owners are raging after Nairn Business Improvement District (BID) was renewed by a wafer-thin 92-89 vote, it has emerged.

Following the results on August 25, Nairn BID celebrated winning the renewal ballot to operate for five more years by declaring the result was a ‘statement’ of what they had achieved so far and that they were delighted to be given a “clear mandate” from their members.

All businesses in a certain area and of a particular size have to pay the business group a levy, whether they voted for it to continue or not. Four voting papers were rejected as they were unmarked or voided for uncertainty.

Among the 181 votes, 19 came from organisations under Highland Council’s remit and – with a total rateable value of £138,100 – entitled to the corresponding number of votes.

Nigel Graham, owner of Vinyl 2 Vintage in Nairn High Street – as well as being under the Inverness BID remit running Union Vinyl – said: “If they have won by a one per cent majority, something is clearly not working.”

Being under two different BIDs, he said there is a huge difference in the benefits he gets as a small business owner in the Highland capital.

He said: “What we want is not what we are getting – such as cleaner streets – we get things we do not want instead.

“For myself and other small businesses on the High Street, the levy is a stealth tax and a burden and we really don’t get anything from it.

“With the results being so close and Highland Council owning almost 20 of the levy-paying businesses, it seems unethical for the council to turn the decision of the vote around like this.”

This represents a significant downturn for the Nairn BID after the first ballot in 2018 ended 107-23.

Iona Hampson, from Crafty Wee Birdie, said she felt let down by the Nairn BID in its first five years.

She said: “I voted in favour of the BID in the first ballot. At the time it felt promising, it sounded like something that could really benefit us and our businesses.

“However in the past five years little of what was promised was delivered. I have seen very few benefits from their activities and we have not seen the increased footfall which was pledged.

“Some events and services that the BID is taking pride in are services that we have had before, now we have to pay extra for the BID to deliver them.

“It’s already difficult for small businesses to keep going, and what we are forced to pay in levy does not help.”

BIDs are designed to be a partnership between local authorities and local businesses aimed at providing additional services or improvements to a specific area.

According to former shop owner David Ross, who owns a unit in the High Street and who is a BID levy member, the root of the problem lies in the legislation.

“BIDs over promise and under deliver,” he said. “They are limited in what they can do by the legislation and they can’t replace the council in terms of services they are responsible for.

“A lot of people are not saying anything publicly because they are fed up, and have actually experienced a decrease in customers.”

On the ballot results, he added: “Whilst it is legal for the council to be a levy payer and vote, it is morally questionable [by weighting the vote in favour of a yes vote], especially when the council is a supporter of the BID and the enforcer of the BID levy.”

Replying to these concerns, Morag Holding, chairwoman of Nairn Connects BID, said they are pleased to be able to continue their work for a further five years however, she agreed that there will be work to be done “to continue to engage with the smaller businesses” so that they can “understand the full benefit of the BID”

She said: “Looking to the future, we have another five-year business plan to deliver which was derived from what members have told us they most value. We actually had an overwhelmingly positive response to the business consultation last Autumn. For example, 79.3 per cent of members said that as a consequence of the BID, Nairn had definitely or maybe improved as a place to live and do business since 2018.

“The work to transform this new plan into a specific programme of work with a clear strategy is underway, but we always need members to get involved in the decision-making process. What we want from members is that they read the newsletters, respond to the surveys, and come to the meetings to share their ideas and opinions.”

She added: “Nairn BID has also recognised the hard times that businesses are facing. In 2020 at the height of the Covid pandemic, members were offered a 60 per cent relief grant on their levy payment. In 2021, we offered 50 percent and last year, we were able to offer a 40 per cent reduction.

“As well as the events, we took over the Visit Nairn brand giving our hospitality and tourism business a platform for publicity, we have lobbied about the A96 and secured well over £200k in additional funding for projects across the town.”

A Highland Council spokesperson said: “As part of the BID proposals, the BID proposer may include BID levy exemptions. This is an issue for the BID proposer. As a general rule, BIDs usually decide that all rateable premises should be included. However each is entirely within their rights to make these decisions and, having done so, the Council acts upon them.”

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