Practice director spearheads BID proposal

The director of an optometry practice in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire, is driving a call to designate the area as a Business Improvement District (BID).

Sian Wilkie is director of Wilkie’s Eyecare, which has a practice in Alexandria, as well as Dumbarton, and in Bearsden in East Dunbartonshire. 

A BID is a body formed to improve a local commercial area, funded and led by businesses. The BID can only be formed following consultation and a ballot in which a clear majority of local businesses must support the proposal.

Describing the reasoning behind the BID proposal, Wilkie said: “Alexandria has a unique Main Street, with lots of independent firms and shops, but it has seen a real fall-off in recent years, both in its aesthetic appeal and with loss of retail offerings.”

“We must make sure that more enterprises are not lost and, as a local business owner myself, I want to protect jobs for the greater good of the West Dunbartonshire community,” she said, adding: “We want to work with the council to affect change, but the BID will allow firms here to put a pot of money up to take ownership of their own future.”

Wilkie argued that the town, which is close to Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, could be made more attractive to visitors and accommodate higher footfall.

“We are very close to the National Park here, but visitors just pass us by. There is no signage to direct people to us, which the BID could help with, and we could provide support for businesses in areas such as staff training, advertising and better branding,” she added.

A BID operates for up to five years and is developed, managed, and paid for by businesses through a compulsory BID charge. In Alexandria this would start at £360 a year for smaller businesses.

Wilkie shared: “There’s such a lot that can be done.”

“First of all, we have to address the current state of the town and then, once we’ve improved it, shout from the rooftops to let people know about it,” she added.

The vote will take place on 14 November.