Newly launched Stockton BID drives up town centre visitor numbers

Stockton’s Business Improvement District (BID) is celebrating after holding a number of large events and driving up visitor numbers just six months after launching.

Since it was established earlier this year, the BID team has delivered a string of busy activities in the town centre, including fashion show Stockton in the Spotlight, science fiction festival Kapow, and a Strictly Valentine’s tea dance attended by BBC Strictly Come Dancing star Giovanni Pernice.

According to BID manager Karen Hindhaugh, the events have helped raise the town’s profile.

She said: “Of the people who attended our Strictly Valentine’s event, more than 40 per cent told us in a survey that they hadn’t been to Stockton in the last three years but loved the experience and have returned since.

“During the weekend of our fashion shows footfall in the town centre was at the highest since the Stockton Calling event in April, peaking with around 20k people in the town centre on the Saturday.”

Kapow managed to attract 16k visitors to the town centre, despite bad weather on the day.

The BID team has also launched an Eat and Drink guide, helped with the town’s Peculiar Past history tours and distributed a book of offers from local retailers to 10k homes and businesses.

Additionally, the BID has been involved in a number of measures to keep the area safe, including work with Cleveland Police, Stockton Town Council and the North East Retail Crime Partnership.

Speaking further, Karen said: “We’ve also got an exciting programme ahead in the next few months, including our Stockton-by-the-Sea beach at the High Street in August plus the production of a market guide.

“We will also be seeing more schools involved in the history tours which will then be rolled out so that local groups and then public at large will be able to enjoy them.”

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