Final day operating for Kirkcaldy4All

It’s been a challenging decade for the BID company which saw the foundations of the traditional High Street dismantled as shopping habits migrated online, Kirkcaldy’s retail park expanded, and some of the biggest names in retail collapsed.

But it has also been a decade of lobbying and advising, staging and backing events, working with a raft of organisations at the very heart of this town, and helping to nurture the growth of the largest number of independent traders the town has seen.

The BID has been the go-to office for many people for many different reasons.

And for Bill Harvey, who has been the manager for almost all of that time, its absence will be felt.

“People will really see what we have been doing once we have gone,” he said.

Bill joined the BID after the departure of Sunil Varu who saw it through the first ballot in 2010.

It was a hard sell.

The concept of a BID was new - the idea stemmed from Canada - and it came with a cost as every businesses within the defined BID area had to pay a levy, whether or not they voted in favour.

A steering group made up of local businesses and politicians, guided by the Scottish BID network, drew up its operating zone which ran the length of the High Street to the harbour, and all the streets off it up to, and including, Fife College.

Not everyone was in favour - the night-time economy didn’t embrace the new concept from the start - but a 66 per cent majority, bigger than anticipated, gave Kirkcaldy4All the green light to launch, effectively replacing the old Kirkcaldy Town Centre Management (KTCM).

It successfully negotiated a second ballot of levy payers, but opted against a third vote in 2020.

The loss of major levy payers such as M&S, Tesco, BhS, and Debenhams allied to the closure of a number of traders meant its revenue streams were down at the same time as collection rates dipped, and grant support from Fife Council was being cut.

“We couldn’t go back to the businesses and ask for their support in the next ballot when we knew we would do less,” said Bill.

It’s a scenario facing many other BIDs across Scotland as the winds of change which have swept through every town centre now threaten the organisation set up to give that area a very specific voice.

As a body, it was certainly used to difficult times.

“We started in the teeth of recession,” recalled Bill.

“That’d be the wrong time to launch any business, but we’ve met those challenges.

“We’ve faced fundamental changes in shopping habits, a loss of investment in the town centre and gone through a period of incredible change - but we have worked hard and increased the number of small independent businesses.

“When we launched, we had the major development plans from CSE, owners of the Mercat, up against Morrisons, the swimming pool had not long opened, and traders were still very raw with the loss of Tolbooth Street as a car park.

“The retail park expansion followed, and we had Phase II of the High Street revamp underway which caused huge disruption.”

The BID’s key aims were built into a business plan delivered to all levy payers, against which its successes could be measured.

It wasn’t there to replace services delivered by Fife Council - it was independent of the local authority but also had to work with it.

It brought a specific focus to the area, and much of its work was done out of sight.

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The BID office was the first port of call for many businesses looking to move into town as well as those already here who needed advice on grants or who needed help on a wide variety of issues.

It cleaned up old buildings, removing all the hanging gardens ignored by landlords and owners, bought and paid for the installation of the town’s free wi-fi - it switches off today too - took on the Christmas celebrations, and helped the town to win a host of UK and Scottish awards for its environment.

“Most people,who came in and found out what the team did, went away with a very positive attitude,” said Bill. “A BID is a different concept to understand. We are all things to all men – but we have been vociferous in talking up our town centre.

“We have brought people together, and pushed the case for our town centre very, very hard. We always wanted to attract people here to do business.”

The BID was never set up to be an events organisation, but it also took on the task or organising, or supporting, a raft of showcase initiatives.

It launched Kirkcaldy Comedy Festival, took on the town’s Christmas celebrations – culminating with fireworks at the Town House – introduced the Market of Optimism to the West End back in 2010, brought an international carnival to the High Street, brought the Halfords Tour cycle race to town, and teamed up with Fife College to stage a hugely successful food fair as part of the Festival Of Ideas.

It also provided crucial funding to underpin Fife Pride, now one of the most important events in Kirkcaldy’s calendar, brought the Beach Highland Games to the Esplanade, and was a key player behind the scenes of the revival of the town’s half marathon.

That bank of knowledge doesn’t have to be lost once the doors close.

Bill said: “All these papers will be available to anyone who wants to utilise them - going forward, we are very happy to do anything for the benefit of Kirkcaldy. If we are able to help we certainly will - our board of directors has made that very clear.”

That knowledge also extends to the most detailed analysis of one of the biggest issues facing the town centre - parking charges.

The debate has spanned the whole of the BID’s decade.

It has played a key role in pushing for a change of thinking, and, in doing so, it certainly ruffled feathers up at Fife House. Its stance was based on one of fairness - that someone parking in Kirkcaldy pays the same as someone parking in Newburgh.

The reality is, Kirkcaldy’s car parks are the single biggest income generators - Tolbooth Street and the car park above Tesco were key to transportation’s budgets.

“Kirkcaldy was the most prosperous town in Fife 40 years ago. Not now,” said Bill.

“We pay more than our share of parking revenue– we are subsidising other towns – and it was our report which brought this to a head, and moved it up the table.

“We have been working behind the scenes with Fife Council to bring about a distinct change in parking charges for one that is fair and equitable.”

The launch of free parking on Sunday - announced last month - and an extended pilot project for discount season tickets underlines, it is a debate which still has some way to go.

One area where there was measurable success was with business rates – the other major barrier to investing in our town centre.

Kirkcaldy4All’s work at national level was key to bringing change, with a number of businesses benefitting.

Explained Bill: “Business rates were astronomical. There was a downturn in revenue for businesses and yet their rates were going up.

“We were the only BID to be invited to the Barclay Review - ahead of Fife Council - and we were able to tell politicians how it was at ground level which was very, very important.”

It also led to a direct cut in rates for a number of High Street traders - in some cases, the difference between staying open and closing down.

Success in growing the independents’ sector was another part of the BID’s legacy - to the extent it was looking at marketing Kirkcaldy as an independents’ town.

“Decisions taken by major retailers were outwith our control, which made it so frustrating - M&S closure came completely out of the blue - but encouraging small, independent businesses happened all the time.

“We were able to liaise with landlords, offer advice and put them in touch with the people they needed to help get their doors open who are thriving and working incredibly hard.”