Welcome to our Huddersfield BID town centre blog where every month BID manager SAM SHARP looks at some of the exciting things going on in the town

Here at Huddersfield BID we’ve hit the ground running in 2023 and we’re already working on some exciting partnerships which are going to make a big difference for town centre businesses.

We worked really hard to make the Christmas trading period as good as it could be and to ensure the town centre looked the part and the feedback we’ve had from traders, businesses and shoppers has been great.

But there’s no resting on our laurels and as soon as Christmas is over and the New Year sales are starting, staff at Huddersfield BID are working on plans, projects and events for 2023. It’s going to be a busy one!

We’ve got two really exciting projects coming up which we can give you a sneak preview of now. The full details will be announced soon.

Huddersfield BID has teamed up with South Pennine Community Transport to support them in the valuable work they do while promoting Huddersfield town centre at the same time.

South Pennine Community Transport run a community bus service for people in outlaying areas where there are fewer traditional bus routes or those people who struggle to access services.

Huddersfield BID will be placing local information about the town centre in the community transport, encouraging people to visit Huddersfield more often and re-discover all the great places to visit.

The Lawrence Batley Theatre has a full programme of shows

A lot is happening in Huddersfield town centre – the work to turn New Street into a ‘green street’ has just started – and over the past three years the Covid pandemic has meant people haven’t got out and about as much as they used to.

Thanks to the vaccine roll-out and seasonal boosters, people can now meet and mingle with confidence.

It’s amazing the number of events happening and we want to welcome people back into the town centre. You’ll be surprised at the changes if you haven’t been down in a while.

Huddersfield BID wants to encourage passengers on the 933 Meltham route, in particular, to carry on into Huddersfield but the booklets, leaflets, maps and flyers promoting Huddersfield will also be on board services which go into South Yorkshire too, encouraging people from further afield to give Huddersfield a try.

The other project that we feel will hugely benefit town centre traders is on security. We can’t reveal too much about it yet but our team visited Wakefield in December and discussed a new project with West Yorkshire Police.

Suffice to say it will revolutionise security in Huddersfield town centre. Watch this space!

Angel Falconry is back in the town centre

One of the added value initiatives that BID offers is free training courses for levy-payers. We recognise that all businesses are facing big cost challenges right now and this is one way we can help.

We’ve got a fire safety course in March, health & safety in August and food hygiene in November. For more detail please see the Events tab on the Huddersfield BID website HERE.

It’ll soon be half-term, of course, and our birds of prey are back at Nelson Mandela Corner. The ‘meet and greet’ falconry experience will be held on Thursday and Friday February 16 and 17 (11am-3pm).

Kevin from Angel Falconry will allow visitors to get up close to some very special birds. It’s free and you don’t need to book. Just turn up!

Finally, a couple of dates for your diary. Huddersfield Easter Egg Trail starts on April 3 and runs until April 17 and Get Your Geek On, our comic con-themed event, is happening on June 24.

Also, it’s still a bit of a secret but did we mention we’ll be running a Huddersfield Beer Festival…? Shhhh. More on that soon too.

Cheers, Huddersfield!