The Opportunity Kensington Business Improvement District is centred around Kensington High Street. It stretches east to Kensington Palace and the junction with Kensington Court and west to Edwardes Square. To the north it encompasses a portion of Kensington Church Street, up to the junction with Campden Grove, and to the south it reaches Earls Walk, Scarsdale Place and Kensington Court Place.
Our purpose is to create a shared vision for Kensington that celebrates, connects and supports its businesses, its people, its places.
Business Improvement Districts are not-for-profit partnerships in which local businesses have chosen to invest together to improve the environment of their local area. There are now around 60 in London and over 300 across the UK. A BID is established through a democratic ballot process in which businesses in the defined geographic area vote in response to a proposal. All services provided by a BID are additional to those delivered by the statutory authorities.
If a ballot is successful, it is then managed and operated by a BID Company – a non-profit business run by and for its members – and is funded through the BID levy, which is a small percentage of a business’ rateable value.
Businesses with a rateable value of £30,000 and above within the BID boundary contribute 1% of this amount through an annual levy. Over the five year term, this will see at least £5 million invested into Kensington High Street and its environs. This
income will be bolstered by additional funding secured by the BID through partnerships and grants, which helps make the levy go further.
The BID’s services are above and beyond what the local authority currently provide. To ensure that the services the BID provides are additional to what’s already delivered, the BID has a Baseline Agreement with Kensington and Chelsea Council which details the services they currently deliver.
Registered charities will receive an 80% reduction on their levy payments. A cap of £50k has been applied so that no one business will contribute more than this.
All eligible businesses within the defined area around Kensington High Street, with a rateable value (RV) on their premises of £30,000 and above, will contribute an annual levy which is calculated at 1% of their RV. A cap of £50k has been applied for larger businesses, and where a business occupies multiple hereditaments (business rate paying premises) in the defined area. Registered charities will receive 80% relief on their levy payments.
Over the next five years, Opportunity Kensington will secure around £5 million of investment into the local area through this levy. It will act as a catalyst for further investment by leveraging extra funding through partnerships and grants, furthering the impact of the levy.
