The short answer
Traders new to Kings Heath ask it. Customers ask it. Councillors ask it too. KHBA and the BID both work in the same neighbourhood, so which body does what? Here it is, plainly.
What KHBA is
KHBA is Kings Heath Business Association: a member-led trade association founded in 2001. It is voluntary, independent and funded by membership fees. Its members choose to join because they want a collective voice for independent businesses on and around the High Street.
The Association currently has 152 paying members, including independent retailers, professional practices and service businesses. It has run the Saturday Farmers’ Market since May 2006. Its elected committee is Stan Hems, Chairman; Steve Bairstow, Treasurer and Membership Secretary; Paul Reynard; Mary Reynard; and Gurdip Singh. The Deputy Chairman and Secretary roles are currently vacant. Since its founding, KHBA has been recognised by HM Government, Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police.
What a BID is
A Business Improvement District, or BID, is different. It is a statutory body under the Local Government Act 2003. It is funded by a mandatory levy on non-domestic ratepayers within a defined boundary, following a ballot of local businesses. BIDs typically fund streetscape work, area-wide events, marketing and environmental projects. The Kings Heath BID was established in 2008, and it does useful work for the area.
KHBA is voluntary, funded by its members and led by those members through an elected committee. It is 25 years old, has a long memory of local trading issues and runs the Farmers’ Market on the first Saturday of the month. Its role is to represent the businesses that choose to belong to the Association, including those who want steady contact with neighbours facing the same practical pressures.
Why both can exist side by side
The BID is statutory, funded by the levy and focused on the defined BID area. It is area-led rather than membership-led in the same way as a trade association. Its work is usually seen in streetscape, wider promotional activity and programmes that apply across the boundary. It is legitimate, useful and doing a different job, with a formal mandate set by the ballot and the business plan that follows it.
Kings Heath High Street is better served by both. KHBA brings committee continuity, a long record of local representation and the Farmers’ Market. The BID brings a levy-funded budget, streetscape capacity and area-wide programmes. Members of one are not necessarily members of the other, and the two organisations can operate side by side without needing to collapse into one another.
The practical takeaway
The simple takeaway is this. If you want a voice in your trade association, join KHBA. If your business operates within the BID boundary, you are already paying a BID levy whether you are in the trade association or not. Both can sit on the same business because they answer different needs.
Twenty-five years in, KHBA's job has not changed. Represent independent traders. Keep the committee table open. Meet monthly. Run the Farmers’ Market on the first Saturday. Keep a clear, local voice available when businesses need one, and when decisions affect the street.