In 2024, Gloucester BID showed its commitment to supporting local businesses, enhancing a safer city, fostering community engagement, and creating vibrant cultural experiences. Here’s an overview of the highlights Gloucester BID helped deliver:
Business Support Initiatives
• Gloucester Gift Card & Mi Rewards: Promoted local spending and rewarded loyal shoppers, fostering growth in the city’s economy. In 2024 over £30,000 of gift cards were bought to be spent in, now, over 170 businesses. 2025 is predicting to see a 30% increase in sales.
• Business Community ASB Meetings, Retailers Meetings & Brunches: Strengthened partnerships between businesses and stakeholders to tackle challenges and share ideas.
• Wellbeing Training for Managers & Men’s Mental Health Workshops: Focused on workplace wellness and mental health awareness.
Safer City Projects and Commissions
• City Protection Officers, Street Medics (ENTE), and Night Safe Officers: Enhanced public safety, during daytime and nightlife activities, ensuring a secure environment for businesses and visitors. In 2024 the CPOs responded to just under 8,000 call outs from businesses and the public.
• The Manchester Anti-Violence Bee: promoted Bee Fearless, a campaign to speak up and stay safe.
• Defibs on the Gate Streets: installed with the support of Kingsholm Rotary and partners, 11 x 24/7 publicly accessible defibs with in the city. Adding to 17 within businesses.
• Hollie Gazzard Ambassador and Best Bar None: promoting and working with the Hollie Gazzard Trust to have a safer city environment for staff and visitors.
• Purple Flag Renewal: Celebrated Gloucester as a safe and vibrant evening and nighttime destination. This is a super partnership with all involved in the city, with the LVA, Gloucester City Safe, Gloucester City Council, Gloucestershire Constabulary, the Office of Police Crime Commissioner and the BID all involved to enhance the NTE.
Community Events & Campaigns
• BiG Tidy Up Campaigns: Mobilised community efforts to enhance the city’s cleanliness across key areas like Westgate and Northgate Streets. With the arrival of The Glutton, which assists on the tidy up. We welcome any to join us, first Monday of the month 10am-12pm.
• Summer Planters & Colour in Gloucester Project: Beautified the city with greenery and pops of colour and creativity through a community colouring book collaboration. Watch out for more colour pops coming in 2025 – it will be blooming good!
• Independents Week, Second Hand Summer Challenge & Small Business Saturday: Promoted the city’s offering of independent businesses, encouraged sustainable shopping and support for local businesses.
Festivals and Cultural Highlights
• Gloucester Folk Trail, Rhythm and Blues Festival and Americana Festival: Enriched the city’s cultural landscape with music, working with local artists, venues and producers.
• Gloucester Shanty Festival & Tall Ships Event: Brought maritime-themed entertainment and history to life. The Shanty Festival and Pirate Window Bingo provided an excellent fringe experience to the Tall Ships Festival.
• Submergence and Art in the City: Showcased immersive art and creativity in public spaces. Art in the City brought in artists from all over the city, as well as locally, to capture a view of the city in one day. The results were fantastic.
• Gloucester Goes Retro: A celebration of vintage, attracting visitors from far and wide. With over 35,000 visitors on the day, 2025 is the 10th anniversary of this event!
• Gloucester History Festival: Celebrated the city’s rich heritage through engaging programs and exhibitions.
Seasonal and Family-Friendly Activities
• Design Your Own Easter Egg Competition & Pirate Window Bingo: Brought joy to families with interactive activities. Working with Gloucestershire College on the Pirate Window Bingo was great fun.
• Gloucester Gingerbread Trail & Christmas Crafts Workshops: Spread holiday cheer and creativity. That White Room provided a great range of workshops over the festive period, free to take part in.
• Lantern Making Workshops, Parade Light Switch On, and Best Dressed Christmas Window Competition: Created magical moments during the festive season. Local artists and schools kicked off the festive season with the theme Enchanted Winter Forest and the Mayor and Sheriff chose the Best Dressed Christmas Windows – which was a close match this year.
• Santa Fun Run: Combined fun and fitness for a good cause, with over 600 Santas in the city.
Celebrating Excellence
• Believe in Gloucester Awards: Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Believe in Gloucester Awards recognised outstanding businesses and people in the city.
• Gloucester Foodie Awards: Honoured culinary excellence, with Mister’s Café bistro winning the Taste of Gloucester category.
What Gloucester BID Provides for the City
Gloucester BID continues to make the city a better place to live, work, and visit by focusing on three key areas:
• Safer City: Through initiatives like City Protection Officers and Night Safe programs, BID enhances safety for residents, businesses, and visitors alike. Gloucester BID have embedded Gloucester’s Business Crime Reduction Partnership (BCRP), into the day to day operational work, trying to co-ordinate police, council and businesses in a wide area of the city centre to reduce the amount of issues caused by crime and anti-social behaviour.
• Vibrant and Attractive City: Events like Gloucester Goes Retro, Gloucester Tall Ships, and festive activities ensure the city remains lively and welcoming throughout the year.
• Supported and Promoted City: By championing local businesses with programs like Mi Rewards and the Gloucester Gift Card, BID ensures the city’s economy thrives while also celebrating community contributions through awards and festivals.
Together, these efforts reflect Gloucester BID’s commitment to creating a dynamic, inclusive, and forward-thinking city for all.
If you have a business in the city centre and would like to accept the Gloucester gift card, please email .
If you would like to be signed up to Mi Rewards as a consumer – please register here: https://mi-rewards.com/sign-up or as a BID business please register here: https://business.mi-rewards.com/
We encourage businesses to sign up to our weekly e-newsletter. This way you can keep informed about campaigns, events, meetings and any promotions. Sign up by emailing us at .
We look forward to bringing more to the city of Gloucester in 2025!
