BID 4 Plan – A Place For Life
A Place for Life
Our Vision
One of Europe’s most attractive places, at the forefront of Britain’s Ocean City, Plymouth’s City-Centre Waterfront is a healthy, prosperous, resilient environment and vibrant destination for business, entertainment and regeneration.
Attractive, safe, secure, verdant and celebrating global embarkation, exploration, innovation and science, this is an exceptional place for people to live, work and visit, where an outstanding quality
of life is enjoyed by everyone.
- A place of big horizons
- A place of endless creativity
- A place of living adventure
We’re passionate about the interconnectivity of the themes Planet, People and Place.
Our restorative approach will put Nature and Climate resilience at the heart of our work.
- We’ll champion environmental excellence for our Planet.
- We’ll celebrate our vibrant culture during day, evening and night for our People.
- We’ll prosper with a more regenerative and supportive business culture for our Place.
Our Actions
Delivering our vision, we’ll use our passion
to focus on four targeted actions:
- Celebrating Our Vitality
Events, marketing and place curation - Moving People Around
Marine Park interpretation,
signage and transport - Shaping Our Place
Barrows, city strategy, restoration
and waste reduction - Supporting Each Other
Business savings, security and staff development
You’ve Told Us What You Wanted Next
This plan has been shaped by business owners, managers and stakeholders in a nine month-long consultation process.
This has been done via a series of area networking meetings, two business surveys, newsletters, individual face-to-face meetings and through our BID Board and Advisory Panel, who believe in the objectives of the BID and represent a variety of sectors and different locations across the City-Centre Waterfront area.
Since our beginnings in 2012, the City-Centre Waterfront is continuously improving with footfall rising, more businesses opening and numbers of
residents increasing. We have been given a directive by our BID levy payers to create a new 5 year plan which makes the most of our opportunities to shape the City-Centre Waterfront area as an exceptional place to live, work or visit, where an outstanding
quality of life is enjoyed by everyone.
We’ve been asked to ensure our vision is designed to stretch long into the future as a consistent goal beyond a usual 5 year duration of a BID. This aligns with city strategy and will consistently shape our
priorities, for this plan and future plans, layering delivery to build on successes and provide firm foundations for business resilience and support within the area for decades to come.
September 2025
Economic impact survey carried out with visitors to Seafest. Media release on success of Seafest (following on from the same for Pirates Weekend in May).
South West Visitor Data Hub analysed and footfall shown to be increasing year on year.
November 2025
Stakeholder engagement began with 1-2-1 meetings which have continued since.
December 2025/February 2026
Initial consultation survey sent to all BID members and feasibility study on new BID proposals.
Plymouth City Council Natural Infrastructure & Growth Scrutiny Panel presentation and consultation completed.
February 2026
Six BID area networking meetings, attended by 50+ businesses with presentations on current BID
successes, and Q&A on challenges and priorities for 2027-2032.
April 2026
Six BID area networking meetings, attended by 70+ businesses with presentations on current BID successes, feedback from survey, and Q&A.
May/June 2026
Second consultation BID survey of levy-paying businesses to canvas opinions and identify priorities.
We received 48% engagement rate from businesses, clearly identifying the following as main areas of priority for the next business plan:
- Develop and expand our events programme
- The need to improve the look and feel of the area
- Transport improvements and strategic planning
- Celebrate our heritage including the blue, green andhistorical assets
July/August 2026
Survey analysis completed, BID Board and Advisory Panel consulted, presentation to Plymouth City Council Cabinet and unanimous support for proposals secured.
BID plan written and designed.
August/September 2026
BID website www.waterfrontbid.co.uk updated to include information on the ballot for the BID to continue for another 5 years and the proposed main projects.
Business plan uploaded to BID website.
Visits to more than 100 individual businesses.
New BID launch event and all levy payers invited to attend.
VOTE YES– When your ballot papers arrive during the week beginning 14th September 2026. You can only vote by post, so please vote as soon as possible and post using the envelope provided.
BID4 news updates
Meet Your Waterfront BID Team – Area Meetings (September)
Please Note: For Waterfront BID Members Only Following on from the success of our previous...
Notice of Ballot
Notification of Ballot letters are sent out separately to printed copies of the BID4 plan. About...
New Vibrant Plan Unveiled for Plymouth’s Waterfront
Celebrating vitality, moving people around and supporting each other are some of the actions...
New Plymouth Waterfront Plan Celebrates People, Planet and Place
Carnival and a magical Elizabethan Christmas weekend could be part of an exciting events line up...
Consultation: Plymouth Waterfront BID Fourth Term 2027-2032
Plymouth Waterfront BID will come to the end of its current term on 31st March 2027. For 14 years,...