Ian Sandison to leave CEO role at Cambridge BID

Cambridge Business Improvement District (BID) is seeking a new chief executive after Ian Sandison announced his intention to stand down after eight years in the role.

Ian, who intends to take time out to go travelling from early May, will remain involved in the BID for two days a week until a new chief executive is appointed.

Cambridge BID brings together 1,200 organisations to promote and improve the city, providing visitor welcome and business support services.

Ian, who has been involved in city centre management for almost 15 years, recently helped to secure a third five-year term for the BID, following a vote of members, who supply the funding for its activities.

He said: “It’s been a real privilege to be a part of the team working to make Cambridge an even better place to live, work and visit. In the past 15 years the city has been through huge growth and change, as well as the challenges of Covid, and I’m confident it is now more welcoming, exciting and varied than ever.”

Cambridge BID has two key themes - ‘welcome and experience’ and ‘connect and support’.

It created the city ambassadors scheme to help visitors find their way around the city, manages the Visit Cambridge website and PR for the city, looks after the Love Cambridge Gift Card and runs the citywide Christmas lights programme.

It has worked with partners to secure Purple Flag accreditation showing Cambridge offers a safe night out, runs the Love Cambridge summer film nights, provides additional street cleaning, works with the office sectors and runs a mystery shopper programme to celebrate good customer service.

Roger Allen, chair of Cambridge BID and manager of Lion Yard Shopping Centre, said: “Ian has made an enormous contribution to the city over the past 15 years. He has been a huge advocate for businesses in Cambridge and under his leadership we’ve seen innovations like the introduction of the City Ambassadors and the highly popular Cows About Cambridge art trail. We thank him for everything he has done and look forward to building on that with a new chief executive over the next five years and beyond.’

The job description and application process for the chief executive role will be displayed on the Cambridge BID website from mid-February.

For further information about Cambridge BID, visit cambridgebid.co.uk/what-we-do.