A primary school child could have produced.
Gibberish, bullshit and outright lies.
This was produced as financial report to support demand for BID Levy. Bottom right hand corner of second page is not a financial report.
They have made many false claims.
Local farmers market organized by the local Council nothing to do with the BID.
Their summer activities, could count on two hands the numbers.
Providing taxi marshals would be news to taxi drivers.
#Guildford #BIDs #BIDLevy
This morning, seven in the morning, thick pea soup fog. By midday brilliant sunshine.
Cappuccino in Koja.
Not my day. Miss by a couple of minutes train to Guildford.
On leaving Koja, where are my glasses? At the station where I stopped to buy a ticket. On the train?
Sickening. Half the stalls displaying the Great Taste Award scam.
If see award winning. If Great Taste Award, meaningless.
Lunch at Hanki. Only closed. Not open until five.
Coffee at Krema.
Late lunch at Krema.
Bitterly cold.
Ask at station. No luck. No glasses.
Miss my train.
Not the first time Experience Guildford private unregulated unlicensed security have been caught rifling through the rubbish bags that businesses have put out for collection by the Council.
Until the rubbish is collected, it is the responsibility and property of the businesses. No consent has been granted to rifle through this rubbish.
Town centre clowns. Rarely seen. If anyone sees these clown , take a photo, post on social media, date and time where seen.
Rifling through rubbish bags has been raised in the past with arrogant BID CEO Amanda Masters.
One of many examples of how Experience Guildford squanders the BID Levy.
Empty retail North Street Guildford. A photo survey of North Street last year. A year on it is worse.
Guildford has a BID. For perverse reasons only known to themselves they illegally fly post empty shop windows to highlight they are empty.
For good measure a rare sighting of unlicensed unregulated BID private security.
North Street runs parallel to the High Street. The connecting side streets have many empty retail units
#Guildford #BID #ExperienceGuildford
#Guildford
It is good to buildings brought back into use.
An old Victorian warehouse due for demolition, brought back into use as an art gallery with its own in-house coffee shop.
Artists rent their own studios. In return can have free exihibiotion space. Other artists pay to exhibit.
Accessibility no easy.
There are steps leading from Bridge Street but a locked face blocks access. This is a fire risk. Were there to be a fire at the front of the building the only escape route is blocked.
The easiest way to access is from the foot Bridge crossing River Wet. Though not obvious then where to go.
There needs to be better sign posting. Currently non-existent.
Not content with dumping shit in our rivers, not dealing with leaks, Guildford today had no water.
Every business, every household will be entitled to compensation for lack of water. In addition businesses forced to close should claim for the loss of revenue. Other businesses that carried on using bottled water should claim for the water they were forced buy to remain open.
Why did Thames Water not have a truck in the High Street handing out water?
Why did the local Council and Experience Guildford do nothing?
A failure of privatisation, failure to invest.
A year ago I carried out a photo survey of the empty shops in Guildford High Street. I was shocked by what I found.
Today, one year on, I repeated the survey. It has got worse.
Retailers I spoke to confirmed what I was seeing, yes, it has got worse since last year.
This is not at the level of Aldershot, but no other town centre I have visited over the last year has this number of empty shops, with the exception of Retford and Market Rasen. It only serves to highlight the failure of Experience Guildford and why it must be wound up.
I only noted from just below Quarry Street to Jeffries Passage. Had I wandered further up the High Street where I rarely venture, I would have found many more empty shops.
Guildford has a local BID.
If this is what BID success looks like, I hate to think what failure looks like.
BIDs are destroying local businesses across the country, unaccountable Experience Guildford is no exception.
Krema was closed. Why are they closing at four, it is not winter?
I decided on a coffee at Tattams. Not very good.
Stayed chatting to an attractive blonde. When her friend turned up and the two of them left, I stayed and had an espresso martini.
I was curious. They were using quality ingredients.
Everywhere does cocktails. No expertise. Cheap ingredients, high margins.
Classic espresso martini using Mr Black.
That was the only reason I stayed, espresso using Mr Black, not a cheap coffee liquor.
I can’t recall the vodka.
What I did not like, the fancy glass. Simple is elegance. Contrast with the coupe glass used at Notes.
Expensive, £10-50.
Downside, Mr Black has been acquired by a conglomerate. Not good news.
Excellent Korean lunch at Hanki, a little Korean restaurant in Jefferson Passage.
Would I miss the rain? Sadly not. Would I make a return train, train strikes tomorrow. Luckily yes.
A coffee at FCB kiosk on Guildford Station. I had not meant to stop. I pick up coffee beans.
Walking over the footbridge. I cannot believe the work not complete. It is still not possible to climb down to the river and walk along the river into the town centre.
Zero fairly busy. Last year empty. But no one manning the zero waste. Packaging on the floor as walk in, a trio hazard. Overroasted black oily beans, oxidized. Not the way to buy coffee beans.
Lion and Lamb shopping centre derelict. Why was a derelict shopping centre shortlisted for a consumer service Award? A convenient shortcut, nothing more.
I wished to have lunch in Atto, a Korean restaurant. It has been trashed. Widescreen TV. Why destroy an excellent restaurant? Very depressing.
Walking through the market, lunch at Hanki, a tiny Korean restaurant. It was excellent.
As I am eating, heavy rain arrives.
Looked in Sol Sisters. Last year empty, no customers. Today very busy. I bought muesli.
I wished for coffee at Krema. Closed. Why are they closing at four, it is not winter?
I visited Tattams. Last year I had a coffee. It was excellent. Today not good. I then stayed and had an espresso martini.
Far too late for M&S. Reluctantly I visit Waitrose.
Passing the bus station, a bus leaving Aldershot. Will not let me board. I don’t like the bus. But by the time I walk down to the train station, wait for a train if I miss a train , bus would be quicker.
Twenty minutes wait for a train. To my surprise the train waiting. I double check. At least can sit on a warm train, not a cold station.
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