Kingston First: what Kingston's businesses pay for their town centre, and what they get back

If you've walked through Kingston at Christmas, you've seen some of what Kingston First pays for. It's a partnership the town centre's businesses vote for and pay into, and the money goes on town-wide things such as the Christmas lights, events and extra cleaning, while the council keeps the day-to-day street cleaning, lighting and car parks. It has worked in Kingston town centre since 2005, and on its own site it calls itself "the UK's first Business Improvement District".

Businesses voted it a fifth five-year term in 2024. The result published that July shows 94% of those voting said yes, on a turnout of 56%, and that term runs to the end of 2029.

What it costs a business

Each business pays 1.6% of its property's rateable value, the figure business rates are worked out from. Every business in the area on the business rates list pays it, with no exemptions. At that rate, a shop with a rateable value of £20,000 pays £320 a year. That's our arithmetic, not a figure Kingston First publishes. Leatherhead's new partnership works differently, charging 2%, and only on larger premises.

What businesses can take back

Beyond the lights and the events, the part a business can choose to use, or ignore, is the services. Kingston First's latest annual report lists:

• Cheaper recycling, through its partnership with First Mile.
• Free training for members and their staff.
• The InKingston app, with offers and discounts for visitors and people who work in the town.
• Networking, and reports on how many people visit the town centre and what they spend.

Is it worth it?

A business pays whether it uses any of this or not, so it's only worth it if what comes back is worth more than the charge, and that depends entirely on using what's on offer. If you run a business in the town and have never tried the recycling deal or the training, start with those. Kingston First measures how members rate it, not what it does for any one business's takings, and we found no independent study that measures that either.

Questions about the spending can go to its annual meeting each September, where the audited accounts are presented. The rules every partnership like this works to are short, and worth knowing before you go.

Surbiton is only a mile along the river, but it's a very different town to trade in, as trading a mile from Kingston explains. Epsom's equivalent is Go Epsom, and Kingston is one of the towns on our page for businesses in Surrey and South West London.