Business Neighbourhoods

Business Neighbourhood

Stepclever recognises that if businesses are to grow and thrive in the area, we need to address environmental issues;

Reducing business crime and anti-social behaviour
Improving the physical environment
Developing a business neighbourhood approach

Business Neighbourhoods will provide a neighbourhood management approach to businesses operating in the Stepclever area, seeking to identify the needs of businesses and responding to them through a menu of appropriate interventions. The project will be business led and will be supported by a core staff team working across the Stepclever area and will focus upon providing practical interventions to improve the physical operating environment for business. This will include business crime and anti social behaviour, environmental issues and services and working to bring new life into local shopping parades and district centres.

The project is structured into 3 themes:-

Businesses in deprived neighbourhoods – focusing upon areas with smaller shopping parades that suffer from high crime rates and a poor physical environment, Stepclever will work in partnership with a range of agencies to identify needs and implement responses including:-

Crime prevention advice and support to businesses to improve security measures
Targeted diversionary activities with young people congregating in the vicinity of the businesses and causing anti-social behaviour (ASB)
Proactive programme to tackle derelict shop frontages to improve the visual appearance of areas
Enhanced targeted cleansing of main arterial routes into and out of the Stepclever area
Removal of fly tipped waste and waste enforcement measures used where necessary
Promotion of Tidy Business Awards
Promotion of recycling and green business practices.

Town Centre management – focusing upon the Bootle Strand and the peripheral area as a town centre for residents of the whole Stepclever area and recognising that town centres require different responses and approaches to the smaller retail areas across the area. Activities could include:-

Securing the viability of the Strand and promoting it as a destination of choice to complement the major planned developments of Project Jennifer, for example
Work with businesses to develop their trading potential
Identify needs to support continuing trading
Raise awareness amongst businesses of current and proposed developments.

Maritime sector and industrial estates – businesses in these areas will receive benefits from specific aspects of Business Neighbourhoods such as enhanced arterial cleansing and advice services.