Newbury town centre businesses voted 98 to 35 to keep the BID until 2032. Most will pay 2% of rateable value, raising £1.5m. Who pays and what it buys.

Newbury Business Improvement District will run for another five years. Town centre businesses voted to keep it in a postal ballot that closed on 8 October.

Of 133 valid votes, 98 were in favour. That is 73.7% of votes cast. Measured by rateable value, the yes side held £4,568,300 of the £6,043,600 that voted, or 75.6%. A BID ballot has to pass on both counts. (West Berkshire Council, 9 October 2026)

Turnout was 31%. The council, which ran the ballot, said 138 businesses took part. The result was confirmed by Civica Election Services. (Newbury BID, 9 October 2026)

The new term starts on 1 June 2027 and runs to 31 May 2032. It will be the BID’s fourth since it was set up in 2012.

What businesses will pay

Every business in the BID area pays a levy on top of its business rates. The rules for the new term are in the BID’s proposal document. (Newbury BID Proposal Document 2027-2032)

  • The rate is 2% of rateable value, fixed for all five years. A shop with a rateable value of £20,000 pays £400 a year.
  • Premises below £5,000 rateable value are exempt. So are places of worship and phone masts.
  • Small business rate relief does not reduce the levy. Nor do hardship, discretionary or partly occupied relief.
  • Empty premises pay the full levy. The person entitled to possession on 1 June is liable, with no three-month empty period.
  • Half rate applies to charity offices, not-for-profit clubs funded only by subscriptions, and units inside a shopping centre that already pays for services through a service charge.
  • The bill comes once a year, in advance, from West Berkshire Council.

The area covers more than 440 businesses. It runs from Bartholomew Street through Market Place and Northbrook Street to Western Avenue, and takes in the Kennet Centre, Park Way, the Wharf and Station Approach.

What the money buys

The BID expects to collect £1,534,982 in levy over the five years. With voluntary contributions and its own commercial income, it budgets £1,628,921 in total. Its levy budget assumes 97% of bills are paid, and falls by 1.5% a year to allow for empty units and changes of use.

Bar chart of Newbury BID's planned spending from June 2027 to May 2032: Destination Newbury £727,500, Safer Newbury £350,000, management and overheads £316,250, Working for Newbury £155,000 and contingency £76,749, a total of £1,625,499.
Newbury BID's planned five-year spending. Source: Newbury BID Proposal Document 2027-2032. Chart by The Newbury Times
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The plan splits the spending three ways.

Destination Newbury, £727,500. This pays for the free events the BID already runs: the Christmas lights switch-on, Krazy Races, the Italian Auto Moto Festival, and the artisan and antique markets. It also covers the Christmas lights and the Market Place tree, the Visit Newbury website and marketing aimed at visitors from further away. The BID says smaller seasonal trails will come back.

Safer Newbury, £350,000. The biggest change is to the BID Ambassador scheme. A second member of staff will cover Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so the town centre has an ambassador seven days a week. The BID will also set up a Shopwatch scheme for daytime retailers, modelled on the town’s Pubwatch. It keeps paying for the shop radio scheme and the DISC crime-sharing system, and helps run the town centre CCTV. Its upgrade, with two new cameras funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner, went live in summer 2026.

Working for Newbury, £155,000. This covers business support, lobbying on businesses’ behalf, and the community clean-up days.

A further £316,250 goes on management and overheads, and £76,749 is set aside as a 5% contingency.

How the vote compares with the BID’s own survey

Before the ballot, the BID surveyed its levy payers in December 2025. It got 42 full replies, 8% of businesses, and 80% of those backed a fourth term.

The ballot drew more than three times as many businesses. Support came in a little lower, at 73.7%, but still nearly three to one.

Ian Batho, who owns the Cow & Cask micropub and chairs the BID, said the team had “some great ideas lined up to benefit local businesses in the new term”.

Newbury BID's 2027 to 2032 business plan, held up beside the BID's banner, with a BID Ambassador in the centre The BID’s 2027 to 2032 business plan, with a BID Ambassador, centre. Photo: Newbury BID

What it means for you

  • If you run a business in the town centre, the current levy carries on to May 2027. The new 2% levy bills start from 1 June 2027. If your rateable value is £5,000 or more, expect one.
  • If you are taking on an empty unit, budget for the levy from day one. There is no empty-property break.
  • If you shop or visit, the free events continue. The next is the Christmas lights switch-on on Saturday 14 November. Our switch-on page has the details as they are confirmed.
  • The seven-day ambassador cover only begins with the new term in June 2027.
  • The council is separately reviewing the town centre’s public spaces protection order. Our PSPO consultation story explains what is proposed.

Sources: West Berkshire Council ballot result, 9 October 2026; Newbury BID announcement, 9 October 2026; Newbury BID Proposal Document 2027-2032 and its levy rules (Schedule 2). All read on 15 October 2026.