City centre businesses rates payers are to decide by ballot whether Exeter’s Business Improvement District, branded InExeter, should continue for a third five-year term from April next year.
InExeter charges a levy of 1.25% of the rateable value of the premises of the 670 businesses located within its operational areas whose premises have a ratable value of at least £7,500.
These cover a total of 44 streets including Fore Street, Exeter High Street and part of Sidwell Street. They also include Princesshay and Guildhall shopping centres and the areas around the cathedral and castle, as well as Magdalen Road.
In return it provides services and support to businesses in its operational areas and is responsible for the city centre Christmas lights, among other things.
InExeter Business Improvement District operational area map. Image: InExeter.
InExeter’s 2025-30 business plan says the top three priorities for the businesses it represents, identified during a consultation process last year, are anti-social behaviour and criminal activity, high car parking charges and vacant city centre properties.
The plan lays out its strategic aims for the next five years, which cover safety, street cleaning, marketing and advocacy, and outlines its proposals for spending the £2.8 million it expects to raise via the levy during the period, based on its current 95% collection rate.
Exeter City Council collects the levy on InExeter’s behalf, for which it charges £14,400 each year. It also runs its ballots: it approved a budget of £7,000 for this year’s ballot in July.
InExeter plans to increase its levy to 1.5% from 2025. It may then increase it by another 0.05% in each of the following four years of the term.
The council’s own 2023-24 levy liability came to a total of just over £32,000 payable across fourteen premises. This is expected to increase only slightly to £33,000 from next year provided it no longer has to pay for the car parks in Harlequins shopping centre or Mary Arches Street.
Exeter City Council BID levy expenditure 2023-24
| Premises | Amount |
|---|---|
| St Sidwell's Point Leisure Centre | £6,750 |
| Guildhall car park | £6,156 |
| Civic Centre | £6,000 |
| Mary Arches car park | £4,531 |
| Magdalen Street car park | £3,200 |
| Bampfylde Street car park | £1,094 |
| Harlequins car park | £1,031 |
| Princesshay 2 car park | £875 |
| Exeter Corn Exchange | £800 |
| Royal Albert Memorial Museum* | £544 |
| Guildhall Chambers | £506 |
| CCTV control room | £256 |
| Former Tourist Information Centre | £234 |
| Underground Passages | £141 |
* Royal Albert Memorial Museum café and the second floor of the Exeter Phoenix building in Bradninch Place, where some museum staff are based, are levy-liable, but not the museum itself.
Exeter Business Improvement District launched in 2015. It was renewed for a second five-year term after 72% of the businesses which took part in the 2019 ballot voted in its favour. The turnout was 48%.
A board of directors drawn from local venues and businesses, which currently also includes city councillor Laura Wright and county councillor Carol Whitton, oversees its operations, which are led by CEO Nicola Wheeler.
The ballot on InExeter’s 2025-30 term opens on 24 October and closes at 5pm on 21 November. The result will be announced the following day.
