Coventry Best 4 Business

Members of the city-wide Business Improvement District will vote for new board members after strong interest was registered during the nominations process.

Thirty candidates will contest 12 seats, with BID members receiving voting papers and supporting documents, in August.

The new board, which will sit until 2012, will help deliver an effective BID with Coventry Best for Business, the private, non-profit company which runs it.

Electoral Reform Services (ERS) sent out nomination papers for the BID board on July 6, and 30 individuals are now in contention for the seats.

Voting papers and candidates' statements will be issued by post on Monday, 10 August. The voting papers will have a unique set of security codes enabling online voting should the voter wish to vote via the internet rather than by return post. 

The deadline for voting is Tuesday, 1 September at 2.00pm and the results will be announced by ERS on Friday, 4 September.   

The voting papers will be sent to the address of the ratepayer as listed on the Council's business rates database (which may or may not be the local Coventry address) and there is one vote per BID levy paid.

Stephen Welch, chief executive of Coventry Best for Business, said: "The board elections are very important as it is a democratic process. The board is made up solely of BID levy payers and is key to the delivery of an effective BID.

"Electoral Reform Services will be independently distributing voting papers to ratepayers on August 10 and I look forward to hearing the results and welcoming new board members to their first meeting in mid-September."