Promote Committee Meeting February 2026

Wednesday 25^th February, 10am

PARTNER EVENTS

Poppies on the Pier: 5^th – 16^th November

Fireworks: 31^st December

City Day: 7^th March

BID EVENTS

Southend Food and Drink Festival

• Good engagement and opportunity to spotlight hospitality venues which have struggled in recent years due to rising costs.

• Offline marketing – posters, leaflets, banners.

• Online marketing - Organic - reach 30,121, 56,962 views, Paid ad - additional 12,989 reach, 7,379 views. (These figures excludes LinkedIn and X)

• Event will return for 2026 but looking for ways to enhance it.

Christmas

• Positive event with great attendance. Placed our storytime bus at south end of the High Street to encourage footfall on the switch on, increased number of free crafting stations. Thanks to both centres for hosting Festive Sunday activities in December. Marketing activities included:

• Press Releases – 7, media pick up – Echo, YourSouthend, BBC Essex, LeighonSea.com, Business on Sea, Essex-TV, Oracle

• Radio – partnership with BBC Essex, promoting the event prior to and on the day.

• Digital brochures, A5 summary leaflets, banners, posters, socials

• Positive feedback from businesses, particularly hospitality that saw real benefit.

BID member event

·         Hosted by Caddies, a Monday in April or May

STREETSCAPE

Bunting and Baskets

• Installation end of March.

Banners

• This would be a joint activity with the council as they produced the banners, but we would install them and I have been quoted circa £1,600 for install and removal of 37 banners. Consider if budget permits.

Litter Pick

• Great British Spring Clean Tuesday 17^th March 9.30am – 10.30am.

Cleaning

• Update on activity provided by Suez and council.

OPPORTUNITIES

“Beyond the Black Friday”

• Not much uptake from businesses to submit.

Blue Monday

• Street Rangers handed out flowers to people visiting the city centre. Really positively received.

World Book Day

• Looking to secure book donations from BID stores and place these around the city centre.

AOB

Suez Membership

• Agreed to recommend to board to invite Suez to join the committee.

National BID Awards

• Proud to have been selected as a finalist in the Safety and Security category. Even though we didn’t take home the win this time, it is a great recognition of the positive impact and hard work we deliver as a BID.

Southend City Partnership

• A shared vision create a 10-year vision that ensures a thriving, inclusive, and resilient city.

Annual Survey

• Completed and will be reviewed.

Next meeting - w/c 11th May at 10am