The hunt is on for the public face of the Altrincham BID as Trafford Council announced a shake-up in the way Altrincham Forward operates.
The Altrincham BID Manager will be paid £35,000 to manage the day-to-day operation of the Business Improvement District (BID), which was voted for by businesses in November and which encompasses a range of projects designed to improve the town centre.
He or she will be the “first point of contact with the 500+ levy-paying businesses in the BID area” and will manage the BID team and “ensure the financial viability” of the BID. The role is based at the Altrincham BID Company Office, the location of which is still to be confirmed.
The start of the recruitment process coincided with the widely expected announcement that Altrincham Forward’s presence in the town centre would be scaled back.
The work of the BID and Altrincham Forward overlaps in a number of ways, so the latter will now “re-focus as an overarching strategic body” in an attempt to complement rather than clash with the BID.
Instead of the current team permanently based on Shaw’s Road near the Market House, the council announced it will be setting up a new ‘Town Centres Team’ with a wider remit covering not just Altrincham, but Partington, Sale, Stretford and Urmston.
The team will be focused on “business support, inward investment, facilitating development etc” and will spend a minimum of one day a week in Altrincham.
The new team could “potentially” co-locate with the BID Company. Further details about the redeployment of the current Altrincham Forward staff – who are mostly on permanent council contracts – will be announced soon.
The Altrincham Forward Board will however continue to meet regularly.
Councillor Sean Anstee, chair of Altrincham Forward and leader of Trafford Council, sought to reassure that the council “remains focused on the future growth of Altrincham and will continue to support Altrincham Forward, and the BID Company”.
He added: “The sustainability and transformation of all the main town centres in the borough is a key priority, hence the investment in the new Town Centres Team to provide an overarching town centre management function which will include business support, inward investment and facilitating development, for all the main towns, including Altrincham.
“It is anticipated that the new town centres team will be operational by the start of the new financial year and a seamless transition will be made to ensure continuity of service provision.”
