Traders in Brighton's first Business Improvement District (BID) have elected a board of directors to oversee projects worth £1 million during the next five years.

The ten-strong committee, which was elected on Friday, includes three representatives from North Laine, three from The Lanes and two from North Street.

Sue Addis, from restaurant group Donatello, Simon Leigh-Jones from fish restaurant English's, and Anastasios Tsakonis from the End of Lanes Caf will represent The Lanes.

Andrew Fisher, of Pokeno Pies, Grenville Nation, from furniture shop Ananda, and Ed Birch from clothes shop One 40 Five Store, will sit on the board for North Laine.

Jennifer Lacoste, manager of women's fashion retailer Mango, and Michael White, manager of national opticians Specsavers, will represent North Street.

There are also two non-elected representatives, Scott Marshall, assistant director of economic development and regeneration at Brighton and Hove City Council, and Nigel Newman, from the Brighton and Hove Business Forum, which is running the BID.

The first board meeting will be on Monday and one of its first tasks will be to decide on the design for this year's Christmas lights.

Tony Mernagh, chairman of the Business Forum, said: "We have to make a quick decision on the lights because they have to be in place by December. Likewise we would like some sort of security patrol in place by autumn."

At least £60,000 a year has been ring-fenced for the lights which were identified as the number one priority for the BID, ahead of security and marketing.

Mr Mernagh said: "Having someone from the council on the board means they can tell us whether or not there are any obvious legal problems with what is being suggested."

Shopkeeper Ed Birch, who has been in Sydney Street for 10 years, was delighted to get the vote from fellow traders.

He said: "I am really looking forward to the challenge. It's a huge responsibility but because I have been in the area for so long people trust me."

Traders voted in favour of establishing the BID in May this year. In doing so they agreed to pay a levy on their business rates amounting to about £300 a year.

An invoice will be sent out this month to about 380 businesses in the BID area. Other BID schemes around the country have collected an average of 97 per cent of the invoices.

Traders who refuse to pay will be taken to court.

The levy will bring in £933,000 and it is hoped more can be raised from matched funding from Europe and other government grants.

The BID borders were drawn up after a consultation exercise by the Business Forum, which included 1,000 leaflets, 800 face-to-face interviews and 300 phone calls.

Tuesday, July 4, 2006