Chippenham Business Improvement District (BID) has strengthened its board with the appointment of Antony Bulley, managing director of Wiltshire estate agents Strakers.
The BID was formed in November 2014 to promote the town to bring in more visitors and improve it for residents. It has introduced free wi-fi in the town centre, brought in a free-after-three parking scheme on Thursday afternoons and employed three welcome hosts. 
Mr Bulley, pictured, a Chippenham resident for more than 45 years and a business owner for the past 15 in the town, said he had watched the progress these initiatives with interest and wanted to become involved in helping the BID achieve more success.
Estate agents Strakers has one of its eight offices in Chippenham.
“The BID is hugely important for the town, not only as a mechanism to drive promotion and better management of the town centre, but as a vehicle through which the business community can come together for the communal betterment of the business and trading environment,” he said.
“That sense of community is vital. It is too easy to run our businesses in isolation, but through the BID we can all get involved and make a contribution to ensure the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. As a long-standing business operator with deep knowledge of the town, I believe I can make a strong contribution to the BID.”
BID chair Melody Thompson added: “Antony’s passion and enthusiasm, along with his long-standing experience, will help us as we look to build on the first year successes, and address the early teething problems of the BID.
“Antony understands the importance of engaging with levy paying businesses and the challenge of keeping momentum.”
She said the BID was now looking to attract more retailers, especially independents, to its 13-member board.
“The office sector is well represented, however we need more retailers to bring their experience and enthusiasm into the mix. Once we have achieved that, we will be even better positioned to take the BID forward,” she said.
The BID, one of more than 200 BIDs across the country, was launched after being approved by town centre businesses in a ballot. The 377 businesses included in the BID pay a levy based on the size of their premises. This is generating a total of £365,500 a year over the next five years which will be invested in marketing and events, as well as addressing
