Consultancy Programmes
The “Builder” programme is to put something new in place, either a partnership or a strategy.
The “Review” programmes look at what has gone before and this will help to refine, direct and re-energise.
The “BCRP Development” programme does just that, drawing from both the Builder and Review programmes. Business Crime is a major concern for town & city centres. The BIDs & Business Crime: A Manifesto, written on behalf of retail industry business leaders has prompted BIDs to look critically at their offer and relationship to existing BCRPs.
Partnership Builder
A one day programme to enable a new partnership to start up or develop in your location.
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Strategy Review
Taking a step back and asking if your current strategy is fit for purpose is often the basis for moving forward.
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BCRP Development
Setting up a new Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP), or integrating an initiative into an existing…
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Ged Gibbons
The town centre trading landscape is changing at a frenetic pace. The last few years has been compared to the industrial revolution, as a period of “creative destruction”. Old ways of doing business are no longer as effective and new opportunities are emerging. One thing is abundantly clear, businesses working together have a much better chance of succeeding than trying to act alone.
Martin was commissioned to review and write new National Standards for BCRPs, which have been adopted by the National Business Crime Centre and led administered by Secure By Design. He also authored BIDs & Business Crime: A Manifesto, written on behalf of retail industry business leaders has prompted BIDs to look critically at their offer and relationship to existing BCRPs.
After 25 years working in and around business partnerships, including starting a local town centre partnership from scratch to being CEO of the Association for Town and City Management (ATCM), Martin Blackwell is able to share his experience and expertise in support those looking to grow business either by setting up a new initiative or building on an existing one.
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Blog
Toilets and Car Parking
The two topics in the headline seem to be dominating the conversation at the moment. I can’t do much about the first, but car parking has been a pain point for customers for years. In over 20 years of place management, I have seen a number of schemes try, and fail, to drive location footfall Read more about Toilets and Car Parking[…]
The Importance of Public Space in the Recovery
Not being able to “go out” when we like is very stressful. The classic view is that, under stress, men respond with “fight or flight,” i.e. they become aggressive or leave the scene, whereas women are more prone to “tend and befriend,”. A new study suggests that acute stress may actually lead to greater cooperative, Read more about The Importance of Public Space in the Recovery[…]
Parklets: “transforming parking spaces to people spaces”
A Parklet is a pavement extension that provides more space and amenities for people using the street. Usually parklets are installed on parking spaces and may use several parking spaces together or separately. Parklets typically extend out from the pavement at the level of the pavement to the width of the adjacent parking space. Starting Read more about Parklets: “transforming parking spaces to people spaces”[…]
Free Access to the NBCS Business Crime data share
The National Business Crime Solution, (NBCS) has taken two decisive steps that will transform access to crime and incident reports available to local Business Crime Initiatives: Firstly, to make their data FREE to all BIDs and BCRPs. Secondly, to collate and share local data. These are massive steps in creating a truly national, central data Read more about Free Access to the NBCS Business Crime data share[…]
Collaboration in Crime Reduction
BIDs are increasingly filling a strategic data vacuum in the crime prevention landscape. The National Business Crime Solution has approached all of the UK’s BIDs with a strong message about its own crime intelligence database: “We know who’s targeting your levy payers …and we know when they are in your area!” The approach highlights that Read more about Collaboration in Crime Reduction[…]
Collaboration in Crime Reduction
I am delighted to be asked to speak about tackling Business Crime at the Collaboration in Crime Reduction conference in May. A hugely important topic that has been a subject close to my heart since I was responsible for the installation of a town centre CCTV system way back when. I recent years, I’ve become Read more about Collaboration in Crime Reduction[…]
Donald Rumsfeld once said,
“as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.” One thing is clear, there has been so much research and comment about “The High Street” there is a great Read more about Donald Rumsfeld once said,[…]
BIDs & Business Crime: A Manifesto
Last week saw the publication and launch of BIDs & Business Crime: A Manifesto, which I was commissioned to write on behalf of retail industry business leaders, at Blackfriars in London. With 60 guests, including government officials, BIDs organisations, but primarily retailers, the audience heard about the concerns of business about growing levels of crime Read more about BIDs & Business Crime: A Manifesto[…]
Lessons from Red Bull
I was recently lucky enough to attend a seminar hosted by Red Bull at their factory in Milton Keynes. The session was on the concept of Community Guarding, but what I didn’t expect to find was that there are lessons to be drawn from how a Formula One racing team is run that can be Read more about Lessons from Red Bull[…]
Revitalising Town Centres
Back in January 2017 the House of Commons debated on the future of town centres and high streets. The LGA briefing at the time set out some of the challenges facing High Streets and town centres, stating, The future looks bleak as retail spending on high streets continues to decline, leading to an over-supply of Read more about Revitalising Town Centres[…]