Business owners in Portsmouth, Hampshire, have voted to establish the city’s first-ever Business Improvement District (BID), which will see £1.6 million invested into the city centre over the next five years. The decision follows a ballot that closed on 13 March 2026, with 93 per cent of local businesses voting in favour of the initiative.
The project will be funded through a 1.75 per cent levy on approximately 289 local organisations. According to the Portsmouth City Centre BID proposal, this money will be used to fund security marshal patrols, improved cleaning services, marketing campaigns, and new events to attract more people to the area.
Portsmouth City Council will support the project as a partner and is set to contribute £35,000 every year as the scheme’s largest levy-payer. A steering group including representatives from Boots, Primark, and the Cascades Shopping Centre helped develop the plan to address long-standing concerns such as anti-social behaviour.
Work is set to begin on 1 October 2026 and will continue through September 2031. The scheme is designed to give local businesses more control over how their community is managed and to help the local trading environment grow.
