Beyond the Awards Ceremony: How BIDs Can Turn Recognition Into Lasting Improvement

Awards provide an excellent opportunity to celebrate the businesses and people contributing to a successful town or city centre. For Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), however, their value extends beyond the ceremony. 

When an awards programme is created with carefully designed criteria, independent mystery shops and detailed reporting, it can help BIDs understand customer service standards across the whole area. Businesses receive meaningful recognition and practical feedback, while the BID gains insights that can influence future improvement initiatives.

At Proinsight, we have seen this through our continuing work with BIDs across the UK. We recently completed another year of award visits for Lincoln BIG, ahead of its ceremony later this year. We have also carried out award visits for CityCo and Manchester BID, and are currently completing visits for Liverpool BID. Every location has different priorities, but the programmes show how independent assessments can turn local awards into a credible tool for recognising excellence and supporting long-term improvement

The Role of Customer Service Awards in a Successful BID

The experience people have in a town or city centre is influenced by several interactions. A visitor might arrive by public transport, ask for directions, browse multiple shops, stop at a cafe or restaurant, and visit an attraction.

Although these businesses all operate independently, the visitor is likely to form an overall impression of the destination. This means customer service isn’t only important for individual organisations; it can also affect dwell time, repeat visits, local recommendations, and overall perceptions of the area.

A BID awards programme helps examine individual experiences more closely. It enables BIDs to identify those who are delivering exceptional service every day, as well as those who need additional support to meet expected standards. For frontline teams, recognition can be particularly meaningful. Small actions, such as a friendly welcome, showing impressive product knowledge or helping a visitor navigate the area, can easily go unnoticed otherwise.

Creating an Awards Process Businesses Can Trust

Awards are most valuable when businesses understand how the results have been reached. Public votes and written entries can generate attention, but they don’t always provide a real picture of the customer experience. Larger organisations might have more resources to promote a vote, while familiar businesses can attract attention more easily than smaller independents.

Mystery shopping creates a more balanced process. Each participating business can be assessed against agreed criteria, with assessors considering factors such as: friendliness and professionalism, speed and attentiveness of service, the general environment and the overall impression of the visit. The criteria can also be adapted for different sectors. A restaurant shouldn’t be assessed in exactly the same way as a retailer or attraction. However, using a consistent framework within each category helps ensure the results remain fair and credible.

This was particularly important when we began working with Lincoln BIG on its Going the Extra Mile Awards, better known as the GEM Awards.

Developing the Lincoln BIG GEM Awards

Lincoln BIG introduced the GEM Awards to recognise excellent customer service among businesses across the city. Following challenges with the accuracy and consistency of the original assessment process, Proinsight was appointed in 2024.

Feedback from local businesses helped shape the new programme. For example, independent restaurants and retailers felt they weren’t always competing on an equal footing with national chains. So, additional categories were introduced to create a fairer comparison. Participating organisations were mystery shopped using tailored criteria. The assessments reflected four central pillars: friendliness, speed of service, staff knowledge and the general environment.

One of the biggest differences is that each participant would receive an individual mystery shopping report after the awards. The programme has since gained considerable momentum. Participation increased from 89 businesses in 2023 to approximately 150 in both 2024 and 2025. This shows that businesses see value not only in the possibility of winning an award, but also in the opportunity to understand their performance.

Turning Award Visits Into Practical Business Insights

Recognition is important, but the most beneficial awards programmes also provide participants with something practical. A mystery shopping report offers an impartial view of the customer journey. It can confirm what a business is doing well and highlight any details that might be difficult to notice during everyday operations.

For instance, a team might be friendly once a conversation begins but fail to acknowledge customers when they first enter a store. Staff might understand their own products extremely well but have limited knowledge of nearby attractions, transport or other services. These are often manageable issues, and with clear feedback, businesses can make focused changes rather than relying on assumptions about what customers experience.

The Lincoln BIG programme provides businesses with the insights they need to improve. Some also choose to visit category winners to see for themselves how they’re performing day-to-day. This creates a healthy sense of competition while encouraging high service standards throughout the local business community.

How BIDs Can Measure Progress Across Their Area

Independent mystery shops also give BIDs an easier way to monitor changes over time. A single visit provides a snapshot, but repeated mystery shopping award programmes can show whether service standards are moving in the right direction. Results can be compared by year, category, location or even an individual assessment question.

Lincoln BIG has already seen impressive progress. The average Net Promoter Score among participating businesses rose by six points in one year, increasing from 53 in 2024 to 59 in 2025.

This doesn’t mean every improvement across the city can be attributed to the awards. Town and city centre performance is influenced by many factors, including events, investment, tourism, transport, economic conditions and wider BID activity. Nevertheless, the results provide evidence that customer service standards among participating businesses are improving.

Using Recognition Programmes to Build Stronger BID Relationships

A continuing challenge for BIDs is showing businesses how their levy is being used and what they receive in return. An awards programme provides a visible example of BID activity. Participating businesses receive an independent mystery shop, a detailed report and the possibility of being recognised publicly.

Lincoln BIG has described the GEM Awards as a “door-opener” that has helped deepen relationships with local organisations. Once businesses become involved with the awards, they also develop a better understanding of the BID’s wider work. This engagement contributed to Lincoln BIG securing its fifth term. The 2024 ballot had a record turnout and the highest ever vote in favour at 85.6%.

Awards shouldn’t be a substitute for the BID’s wider services, but they can provide an effective starting point for building stronger relationships with levy payers.

Expanding Our Work With UK BIDs

Our work with Lincoln BIG has continued with this year’s awards visits, and the presentation ceremony is planned for later in the year. Alongside this programme, we have recently carried out mystery shopping for awards for CityCo and Manchester BID, and visits are also currently underway for Liverpool BID.

Each BID serves a different mixture of businesses, visitors and communities. For that reason, an effective programme doesn’t ask the same questions everywhere. The categories, scoring criteria, reporting and visit scenarios should reflect the location and the outcomes the BID wants to achieve. Some might focus on visitor welcome and local knowledge, while others might want to explore accessibility, consistency, or the memorability of the experience.

Working collaboratively at the planning stage helps ensure that the final programme is relevant for participating businesses and produces useful insight for the BID team.

Create Lasting Value Through a BID Awards Programme

The awards ceremony might be the most visible part of the programme, but the insight gained through mystery shops can continue to support improvement long after the winners are announced. Combined results can highlight shared strengths, recurring service gaps and opportunities for further support. A BID can then use these findings to support levy payers with more focused guidance, workshops or additional resources. Future assessments can then measure progress and create an ongoing cycle of recognition, feedback and development.

At Proinsight, we design each awards programme around the BID’s objectives, business categories and local customer experience. Our continuing partnership with Lincoln BIG, together with our recent work for CityCo, Manchester BID and Liverpool BID, has given us extensive experience of delivering fair and credible assessments for varied business communities.

From initial planning and questionnaire design to mystery shopping visits and reporting, we provide the independent insights BIDs need to recognise excellent businesses, identify meaningful opportunities for improvement and demonstrate value to levy payers. Contact our team to discuss how a tailored awards programme could help your BID create lasting value.