From helping police investigations to lobbying for improved highways maintenance – here’s a few weeks in the life of a Business Improvement District Manager

Time for an updated diary blog

By John Bownas – Hastings BID / Town Centre Manager

A while back, during the COVID crisis, I wrote a detailed blog post about what I’d been doing over a two-week period. Some of it was unique to that time, and some was still day-to-day business as usual.

Now we are well out of the shadow of COVID I thought it was time to repeat the exercise, so that levy payers (businesses who put money into Love Hastings every year after voting us back for a second term) can get a better understanding of what the BID does on their behalf.

So here goes with a quick canter through my past fortnight working to support Hastings businesses – I’ve missed a lot of phone calls and messages on the multitude of social media channels that we all have to monitor these days, but these are the highlights:

---

• Started off the week by spending a fair bit of time examining the new long term endowment grant fund announced by the government and began to draft a proposed community engagement survey to find out what priorities are shared by local people. Hopefully this will be a starting point to help other partner agencies and stakeholders develop a full consultation plan.
• Boosted some social media poets to promote the mini-film festival project we are supporting this year ‘Trash Cannes’.

• Gave a presentation to the Priory Meadow tenants’ meeting (managers from all the stores in the shopping centre) alongside local MP, Sally-Ann Hart, who I’d invited down to discuss measures being taken to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in the area. Gave an outline of the BID-funded Business Crime Reduction Partnership and the ShopWatch scheme and also outlined the outcome of a previous meeting hosted by Sally-Ann where we had obtained a promise from the Police Borough Commander that  her teams are being re-adjusted to give more police presence in the town centre and more focus on Business Crime. Took the opportunity to sign several more stores up on the DISC crime reporting platform and our new app-based secure radio channel.
• Raised concerns about the condition of one of the pier legs with HBC Building Control and planning – qute worried that this corner-leg of the pier is in a critical condition.

• Interview on BBC Radio to explain the Town Deal project to rebuild the West Hill cafe (and also give a crafty plug to the craft beer festival taking place in town this week).
• Completed the quarterly VAT return for the company – a necessary evil.
• Productive E-mail conversation with the director of British BIDs and the CEO of the Association of Town Centre Management about the government’s proposals for compulsory letting of vacant shops. Reached an agreement that it is unlikely this will be a power that is used very often, but it may be a useful ‘tool in the box’ for town centre regeneration.
• Spent an hour or two checking CCTV cameras in the town centre and provided footage to police in connection with a serious assault on the seafront
• Contacted HBC to advise that several pages on the Town Deal website were out of date.
• Wrote a press statement for the local paper’s front page story on the endowment fund announcement – managed to get three times the column inches of the PM.

• Met with the council’s new communications officers to look at ways of working together more closely.
• Updated the owner of Jempsons Cafe on the progress and future plans for the regeneration of the town centre as part of the Town Deal.
• Discussed the possibility of locally funded police with HBC community safety manager as an early exploration of options for the endowment fund.
• Put question to MP about whether the 25/75 revenue/capital split on the endowment fund might be up for discussion.
• Requested update on Town Deal ‘green town’ project – eventually advised that there is now £10million allocated, however rather worried to learn that the design consultants have still yet to be appointed despite assurances this should have happened at the start of the summer.
• Fixed a problem with a set of CCTV cameras that had lost power due to building works.
• Chased county council for news on long-overdue flood report that would underpin compensation claims by businesses who collectively lost millions as a result of the incident.

• Met with Tesco’s regional loss prevention manager and discussed a number of possible new ways of working to help them in reporting crimes to the police and ensuring that full statements and CCTV evidence packs are secured and passed on to investigating officers. Set her up on the local crime reporting system to share information.
• Linked a potential new trader with the market manager to help her get a place in order to kick-start her business.
• Flagged two new rough sleepers to the Seaview outreach team after a message from the council’s street sweeper, who is proving to be a useful extra pair of eyes around the town centre.
• Went a little outside the area on Sunday and painted over offensive graffiti outside a cafe bar in bottle alley.
• Requested clarification from government on which parts of Hastings will be covered by the endowment fund.
• Liaised with the police missing persons team to locate two young teenage girls.
• Reached out to two local schools to bring it to their attention that their pupils were being regularly identified shoplifting in town. Followed this up after a positive response that will help control the problem in the future.
• Supplied ID images to police to assist responding officers find them following making a 999 call on behalf of Boots relating to a £1000+ theft by three unknown men.
• Identified a man from CCTV who had stolen a charity box from a local pub and provided details to the victim and the police.
• Requested a meeting with police business crime admin team at Lewes HQ in order to introduce new members of their team to our processes and priorities.
• Requested meeting with Borough police Commander to discuss the forthcoming week of action on business crime
• Assisted Priory Meadow security resolve a problem with one of their BID-funded body worn cameras.
• Raised a variety of concerns regarding the suspect in the charity box theft with police, and provided a list of other offences they were suspected of committing in order to form part of a Criminal Behaviour Order application to the courts.
• Responded to complaints from market traders and subsequently moved an unlicensed charity collection team out of the town centre. Subsequently moved them again from outside Iceland and raised concerns with both the charity and the institute of fundraising about their unlicensed and inappropriate behaviour.
• Accepted an invite to the national Crimestoppers chairs induction meeting.
• Identified a further historic theft by the charity box suspect and had the specific case re-opened as police had filed it due to not having a name. Case involved theft and use of bank cards and also theft of the victim’s car
• Subsequently received report that the same individual had broken into a pub overnight as well as stealing a bicycle – linked both offences to police investigations.
• Requested update on letting of former Peacocks from agent and requested permission to paint over graffiti on hoardings – work will be done once we get a short dry spell.

• Received video evidence of a youth assaulting street drinkers. Brought the footage to the attention of the police and obtained details of the suspect’s social worker so that we can try and get them under control.
• Obtained the name of a previously unknown suspect involved in an altercation in the town and who had smashed a shop window with a catapult whilst trying to injure a victim – passed intelligence to the police investigating officer in order to have the case reopened.
• Continued to chase ESCC for answers to long-standing maintenance problems in the town centre… obtained confirmation that hundreds of broken and missing paving slabs will be replaced during November.

• Reached out to HVA for help getting more responses from young people to the ongoing music audience survey… currently standing at just under 500 responses.
• Wrote a story for the local paper on the charity box thefts in order to help promote the Bonfire crowdfunder – resulting in around £1,500 in additional contributions alongside the sponsorship we already provided.

• Drafted and sent a long email to the director of highways at ESCC, raising concerns about the performance of the new contract, and how Hastings has been overlooked for maintenance for years.
• Helped a shopwatch member with regaining access to their online account.
• Chased ESCC regarding long overdue street lighting upgrades. Found that the project had been ‘forgotten’ so hope it is now back on the cards.
• Obtained an FOI response from ESCC about a few potholes that have been repaired approximately 30 times in three years (coincidentally, this was followed by a slightly more substantial repair happening two days later).

• Updated our local events calendar and produced and distributed the weekly ‘what’s on’ email guide.
• Discussed synergies between Bexhill and Hastings with Bexill Chamber in terms of ‘common problems’ that could be addressed by the endowment fund to achieve economies of scale.
• Shared the first draft of the endowment fund survey with a small group of businesses for initial feedback.
• Meeting with the new events promoter for the former Opus Theatre and a representative from another local venue to look into a possible partnership arrangement.

• Requested that the Town Deal Board ensures that the endowment fund is on the next meeting agenda.
• Provided information to a musician looking to busk in the town and directed her to our published code of conduct.
• Investigated why the traffic information board on Eversfield Place put in by HBC has never been working – hoping for an answer soon, as it has been there for two years.
• Added new business FaceBook pages to the Love Hastings website news feed.
• Met with the regional co-ordinator for CrimeStoppers (of which I am the Vice Chair for Sussex) to look at ways we can encourage more anonymous reporting of intelligence that could be used to detect and prevent crime – particularly the handling of stolen goods that have been shoplifted from local stores.
• Spent a few hours watering some dry flower troughs and weeding others that needed maintenance. Requested the council add a few areas around the edge of the town centre to their cleaning rota.

• Began reading 500+ pages of the Levelling Up white paper to look for proposals that might impact on the town.
• Reported several outstanding highways defects to ESCC and challenged why a category-one health and safety concern remains unattended after two weeks.
• Added the police licensing team members to the business crime reporting system so they have access to reports by members.
• Received an update from Neighbourhood Police Inspector on the names of the officers who will lead on different elements of crime that affect local businesses, and subsequently arranged a meeting with licensing sergeants to train them on using the crime reporting system to issue messages to members
• Gave local paper a tip about the fact that a Hastings band (HotWax) were this week’s ‘front cover’ of the NME – hooked them up with the band’s manager for a story.

• Discussed options for repainting damaged murals that had been put in place by Coastal Currents with our support.
• Met with the Sussex Police force lead on business crime and the data analyst for the East Sussex Community Safety Partnership to discuss a presentation to be given to the partnership board later in the year aimed at focusing attention on shoplifting as a serious and problematic issue that affects every consumer in the UK.
• Discussed the agenda for the National Business Crime annual conference with the event organiser
• Met with new police Licensing Inspector and Licensing Sergeant to work on proposals that would see a better interaction between police in the town centre and pub and club door staff during the evenings at weekends. Also discussed plans for another intensive day of action with undercover and uniformed officers tasked with patrolling the town centre and adopting a zero tolerance stance on shoplifting.
• Offered to share request from HBC to display white ribbon domestic violence stickers in windows to local shops.
• Set up laser show and DJ PA for the start of the bonfire procession.

• Notified HBC event control about a fight between street traders outside council offices
• Suggested to police a way we could do more to ensure shop CCTV is secured and passed to police to support investigations
• Investigated an alternative Christmas tree supplier for Priory Meadow
• Employed a casual worker to string a new lighting display for Christmas and began to put together the licensing paperwork for this year’s displays.
• Introduced a reporter from the Daily Telegraph to several local businesses and discussed the challenges facing Hastings, at the same time promoting it as a visitor destination and a great place to live.

• Reached out to HBC’s cabinet member for regeneration to discuss the approach to consultation on the endowment fund, and had very positive feedback supporting community leadership of the project.
• Attended court for the scheduled hearing of a prolific offender – he failed to show up so expecting a warrant will be issued for his arrest.
• Shared Trading Standards contact with police regarding illegal vape sales.
• Received confirmation from Department for Levelling up that Old Town and St Leonards can also benefit from the endowment fund.
• Attended a meeting of Rye Chamber of Commerce to explain to them the benefits (and potential pitfalls) of setting up a BID.
• Contacted council out of hours service regarding a report from Priory Meadow about masonry falling from the town hall. Discussed risks with the duty officer and agreed that barriers needed to be put out to protect pedestrians.
• Made arrangements with police for undercover anti-shoplifting operation tomorrow, including agreeing to collate CCTV regarding offences committed by a prolific offender to assist with his arrest and prosecution, and arranged for the issue of shopwatch radios to officers during the operation.
• Received and reviewed the pre-publication Section 19 flood report from ESCC and raised questions about findings as I felt the report left many questions unanswered.
• Represented Hastings at the National Association of Business Crime Partnerships annual conference, and raised several questions and suggestions regarding changes in the criminal justice system to better tackle business crime.
• Drafted a press statement regarding the flood report questions…which helped uncover an interesting Victorian map showing the original old Hastings harbour estuary and route of the stream.

• Responded to questions from local businesses about the endowment grant and some small local improvements to lighting that could be made in their area.
• Visited various local shops and pubs to secure CCTV as part of prosecution of the prolific shoplifter who we learned had been placed in custody the night before following a joint operation with the police, which had also resulted in two further arrests for shop theft.
• Wrote up and published results of the recent Hastings Live Music Audience Survey.