Welcome to the award winning Ilkley Chat!

This week Ilkley BID have launched their Christmas campaign ‘It’s An Ilkley Christmas’ to help boost local trade.

 

Timed to coincide with the national campaign Small Business Saturday on 7th December, the campaign incorporates a printed and digital gift guide and a town centre ‘elf trail’.

 

The 12 page guide is being distributed in The Ilkley Gazette and The Wharfedale Observer this week and copies will be available from a variety of outlets around the town.  Helen Rhodes, Ilkley BID Manager told us “Everyone talks about the importance of great coverage on social media which we know can reach a large audience but putting the guide in the local newspapers means we get to those potential customers who for a variety of reasons may not be as active online. This booklet just gives a taster of some of the many gifts available locally from stocking fillers to ‘blow the budget’ options. For many years I’ve chosen to do the bulk of my Christmas shopping in Ilkley. You get all the Christmas spirit without the chaos of the city centres and the knowledge that you are helping to recirculate the local pound.”

 

Ilkley BID have also organised an elf trail which sees 50 elves sitting in windows around the town centre. Trail sheets can be picked up from Walton’s Fine Furnishings on Leeds Road, The Art Shop on Church Street or the Visitor Information Centre on Station Road. Each completed sheet returned to a pick up point is exchanged for a Christmas treat and entries received before 23rd December will be entered into a prize draw to win a beautiful pendant kindly sponsored by Nicholson’s Jewellers or a £20 voucher to spend with one of more than 300 businesses who are BID members.

 

Jim Toomer, Managing Director of Walton’s Fine Furnishings, was happy to get involved and said “This is a simple idea which encourages people to come and look in windows in areas of the town they might not usually visit. People are creatures of habit and even visitors who come to Ilkley regularly often walk the same route and miss seeing some of the really interesting shops and independent cafes on the outskirts. We have an entry in the gift guide too which will hopefully make people realise we don’t just sell carpets and wallpaper, we have a large Soft Furnishings Department.”

 

Helen added “We’ve had a lot of interest in the campaign which, this year, is only available to BID members who still have time to send through some product details to be included in our social media campaign. Potentially we could expand the campaign next year to involve more local businesses and I would encourage anyone interested in the Business Improvement District projects to sign up for our newsletter via the website www.ilkleybid.co.uk.

 

Ilkley BID is governed by a board made up of BID levy payers who represent businesses in the Ilkley BID area. This means that businesses have a genuine voice to decide and direct what they want for the area.  All enquiries should be directed to Helen Rhodes, BID Manager by emailing info@ilkleybid.co.uk.