CH1ChesterBID announces new chair

CH1ChesterBID has announced that Katrina Kerr (previously Katrina Michel) has been appointed chair of the city centre’s business improvement district.

Katrina will take on the position from Eryl Edwards, who held the position for over a year. Edwards moved into the role after managing the city’s busy Primark store.

Katrina brings with her a wealth of experience of place marketing, having acted as CEO for Marketing Cheshire between 2013 and 2018. In that role, she transformed the visitor economy for the region by focussing on both inward investment and tourism.

Carl Critchlow, Chester BID manager, said: ‘Katrina is an ideal chair for our organisation. She has been championing the region to great success both outwardly and inwardly for most of the past decade. She is renowned for her passion for all things Cheshire and she already has strong relationships with many of our important stakeholders and our city business owners.

Carl added: ‘We need to extend a huge thank you to Eryl our outgoing chair, whose patience and determination has proved invaluable, especially over the past few months where he has guided our city centre through the Coronavirus crisis with incredible grace.’

Katrina sits on several other boards, including Storyhouse, the Halle Orchestra, The Tourism Society and LTE Group; CH1ChesterBID will be her only chair role. Previous to Marketing Cheshire, Katrina held a notable career in advertising where she sat as Executive Chair at J Walter Thompson Manchester, as well as other senior strategic roles with both Ogilvy and Publicis.

Katrina said: ‘I’m delighted to be able to offer my service to CH1ChesterBID as chair of the board. We’re facing a challenging time helping to steer the city’s business district in the right direction and as a reflection of the times, I will be concentrating on understanding and supporting our levy payers, marketing that adds real value and collaborating with CWAC and others across the city to reflect what is different and special about Chester. Coronavirus will leave a lasting impact on our city centre businesses and we need to support the path to change and innovation on their behalf.

She added: ‘Having said that, Chester is in the fortunate position of holding a unique place in people’s hearts. We have already seen the fondness in the city be reflected in visitor numbers after lockdown - and witnessed the innovation and heart in the businesses who have been determined to move past this crisis from the outset. We have every faith the city will weather this particular storm and I’m honoured to help play a part in that resurgence.’

About CH1ChesterBID Company

A Business Improvement District (BID) is a business-led, business-funded body created to improve a defined commercial area. The CH1ChesterBID is funded solely by the businesses within the city.

There are over 460 businesses in Chester’s BID area with a rateable value of more than £18,000. Each of these contribute a levy equal to 1% of their business rates every year to fund a wide range of improvements identified by the businesses themselves. It is expected that approximately £2.5m of private sector funds will be generated over the five-year BID term and this money will be reinvested back into the city centre.

In June 2019, hundreds of businesses voted in favour of the plans to renew the BID’s term in Chester and on September 1^st, 2019, CH1ChesterBID Company started a second five year-term with the intention of continuing to deliver a more vibrant and successful trading environment for Chester city centre.

For more information, visit www.CH1ChesterBID.co.uk

Pictured - Katrina Kerr, incoming Chair of CH1ChesterBID